mark poulson Posted September 12, 2018 Report Share Posted September 12, 2018 I just posted a picture with build dimensions of a 4" PVC plopper I made a month ago. I let a 13 year old fish with it in a teen tournament I boated for, and he caught his three biggest keepers on it. I gave him my setup, warned him that my reel was set really loose, and he proceeded to put on a casting clinic, outfishing his 17 year old buddy from the back of the boat. I was blown away. He never backlashed once! I used it last Saturday to catch the big fish, 4.85#, in my club's tournament. It plops loudly, even on a slow retrieve, and lays almost level on the pause, so it doesn't pick up as many weeds when it lands. I carved the tail using a dremel with a small sanding drum. The paints are Createx, Wicked, and Folk Art, and the silver dots are "Big Silver Balls" nail polish. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobP Posted September 12, 2018 Report Share Posted September 12, 2018 It’s good to see a homemade Plopper that gets the job done, Mark. To me it resembles the new Whopper Plopper 75 in shape. Great minds think alike and converge on similar lure designs! Nice job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted September 12, 2018 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2018 (edited) 1 hour ago, BobP said: It’s good to see a homemade Plopper that gets the job done, Mark. To me it resembles the new Whopper Plopper 75 in shape. Great minds think alike and converge on similar lure designs! Nice job. Hahaha That "great minds" thing is a stretch. I was pleasantly surprised when my first plopper, three years ago, actually plopped more loudly, and outfished my factory made ones, so, of course, I set about building them like crazy. I've learned enough now to be able to shape one in an hour, but fine tuning the plopping tail still involves test swimming, so it's far from an exact science. I did learn that having the tail just slightly down is key for me, because the PVC I carve it from is so buoyant that it won't plop at low speeds if it sits level. The original hangs down at more than a 45 degree angle, so it's tail is already turning by the time it gets up to even with the water's surface. A combination of a thinner "shaft" for the tail, with less buoyant material, plus additional belly weighting in the back part of the front section, allows me to adjust the angle of float at rest, and to get a good plop at low speeds. The actual cupped fins on my PVC tails are thin, so they do not have enough tensile strength to take impacts with hard objects, but fish up to seven pounds have eaten them with no breakage or damage. I typically coat them with gap filling super glue to provide some reinforcement, but I don't throw them around rocks. Edited September 12, 2018 by mark poulson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
azsouth Posted September 13, 2018 Report Share Posted September 13, 2018 sweet build 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saugerman Posted September 15, 2018 Report Share Posted September 15, 2018 Great to catch a fish on a bait that you build from scratch. Great job Mark. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted September 15, 2018 Author Report Share Posted September 15, 2018 4 hours ago, Saugerman said: Great to catch a fish on a bait that you build from scratch. Great job Mark. It really is a thrill every time! On 9/13/2018 at 11:43 AM, azsouth said: sweet build Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
