Choppo vs. Whopper Plopper 2025
FryDog62 reply :
Had a chance to fish the new Choppo after using the Whopper Plopper the past 3-4 years. How does it compare??
It comes in a 120 and 90 size. Casts a mile, sharp hooks, water prop same as WP. Very similar action/sound if not the same. The 90 doesn’t nose dive like the WP version.
Biggest difference? It costs $3-7 less than the Whopper Plopper. Other than that no significant difference in my opinion. Can buy 3 for the price of 2 Ploppers. Plan to do so until I get any indication they aren’t as good. But I think they are.
Flattery is is the best compliment, but competition is sometimes a good thing for us consumers.
tcbass reply :
Wow, it looks exactly like the Whopper Plopper. Isn’t there a patent or something?
Good that it works though!
edfitzvb reply :
The Whopper Plopper looks like an old lure Named "Mud Puppy" from the 1920's or so that lure collectors should be familiar with. I have never fished one, only seen pictures. Don't know if the original one floated or not. Hard to get a patent on something that's been around that long
KDW96 reply :
Typical of Berkley. Another copy, just like they did with Kietech.
Brett's_daddy reply :
On 8/11/2018 at 9:05 PM, KDW96 said:Typical of Berkley. Another copy, just like they did with Kietech.
If they make quality baits at half the cost of other similar baits I'm all for it! The prices on the popular baits have gotten ridiculously expensive. I mean 15 - 20 years ago none of us would have dreamed of spending $20+ on a single lure but nowadays that's almost the starting point for a quality hard bait so if somebody like Berkley can come in and make similar baits for half the cost and they perform just as well people will buy them in droves and maybe that will make all the other lure mfg's take notice and they in turn will lower their prices to more reasonable levels and we'll all benefit from it ????.
Further North reply :
On 8/11/2018 at 9:05 PM, KDW96 said:Typical of Berkley. Another copy, just like they did with Kietech.
Copy of a copy, it sounds like.
FryDog62 reply :
Bottom line lure prices have gotten ridiculous. If someone can make something as good for 2/3 the cost that’s good competition IMO.
AO2point4 reply :
No wrong doing on Berkley's part, it's business!
But I'll still pay the little bit of extra money for a Plopper.
cgolf reply :
I find it interesting that Berkley went the route of essentially making a copy. I would have expected them to be innovators and not followers. Especially since they have some interesting and unique baits coming out in the powerbait line.
Also find it interesting that because it’s Berkley everyone is cool with it, but some were all over BPS for there double plopper which is a version not even offered by River2Sea.
Also recently a thread got pulled for a soft plastic brand that could loosely be compared to a site sponsors bait, if you ignore the fact it had extra flappers etc.
This is what drives me nuts about this site, sometimes a copy is a great thing, and other times it is unacceptable. I guess it depends on the brand doing the copying or the brand that is being copied to decide if it is ok or not.
To me I will try to buy the original, unless the price difference is huge.
tcbass reply :
On 8/13/2018 at 2:02 AM, cgolf said:I find it interesting that Berkley went the route of essentially making a copy. I would have expected them to be innovators and not followers. Especially since they have some interesting and unique baits coming out in the powerbait line.
Also find it interesting that because it’s Berkley everyone is cool with it, but some were all over BPS for there double plopper which is a version not even offered by River2Sea.
Also recently a thread got pulled for a soft plastic brand that could loosely be compared to a site sponsors bait, if you ignore the fact it had extra flappers etc.
This is what drives me nuts about this site, sometimes a copy is a great thing, and other times it is unacceptable. I guess it depends on the brand doing the copying or the brand that is being copied to decide if it is ok or not.
To me I will try to buy the original, unless the price difference is huge.
Whopper Plopper is basically perfect, what could you do to fix it?
Only thing I can think of is make it so the joint doesn't catch weeds but that's probably impossible.
FryDog62 reply :
Which came first - Whopper Plopper, A-Waker or Top Raider...? Copy cats for years, Berkley is just the latest...
cgolf reply :
On 8/13/2018 at 2:08 AM, tcbass said:
Whopper Plopper is basically perfect, what could you do to fix it?
Only thing I can think of is make it so the joint doesn't catch weeds but that's probably impossible.
Wonder if there was a way to get weedless hooks so it could be fished in more places, but I guess that is what the spin frogs are for.
On 8/13/2018 at 2:17 AM, FryDog62 said:Which came first - Whopper Plopper, A-Waker or Top Raider...? Copy cats for years, Berkley is just the latest...
I agree the plopper is a copycat bait too. My beef is inconsistency of the outrage on this site about either straight up copies, or baits that utilize features of other baits is all.
But yeh I was surprised that Berkley made a version that was so close, I had expected they might have come up with something similar, but added some kind of innovation to differentiate it. Savage Gears is similar, but they added the fin, which will hopefully keep the bait from spinning as much as the ploppers sometimes do.
NYWayfarer reply :
Sounds great! After losing a Plopper while bank fishing this weekend I am all for The Berkley clone.
My plan...purchase a Berkley for bank fishing and my plopper will be strictly for kayak fishing.
Bluebasser86 reply :
On 8/13/2018 at 2:08 AM, tcbass said:
Whopper Plopper is basically perfect, what could you do to fix it?
Only thing I can think of is make it so the joint doesn't catch weeds but that's probably impossible.
Someone needs to make one with a little sleeve that covers the joint without hitting the blade or stopping the rotation, or like a grass goat for joint, that might not be that unrealistic really.
Companies copy each other, I don't understand why people get upset about it. If I can buy the same thing for cheaper, I'm probably going to. Now pretending like something is new or innovative when it's clearly a copy, I'll get a chuckle out of that, but nobody is making anyone buy the KO of what they consider the original, so keep spending the extra money and supporting the copy of your choice. R2S is still going to do just fine on Plopper sales when the Choppo hits the shelves I promise.
I'm really excited about the new topwater lineup from Berkley, love their hardbaits and the fact that they come with good hardware makes it even better. Glad they'll be out before my end of the year fish off, I'll need some for that for sure.
Pickle_Power reply :
Some real insight on one reason why lures are so spendy...
Lure manufacturers have to pay an excise tax on lures they sell. It's 6% if you only sell at retail price to the end user. It's 10% for everything you sell if you do any wholesale business at all(which everyone must do to survive in the biz).
So, I, as a commercial fly manufacturer, have to pay 10% excise tax, and 7% Iowa sales tax.
The end user is supposed to pay the excise tax. Now, no one in their right mind would add the excise tax as a separate line item when people make a purchase, so the excise tax is buried into the cost of the lure.
It's very hard to make it when you have to give up 17% right off the top for what you sell.
No wonder people buy cheap Chinese products and re-sell for a profit. No excise tax to pay then. It makes no sense.
J Francho reply :
That tax has been in place since the 70s.
Pickle_Power reply :
On 8/13/2018 at 11:24 PM, J Francho said:That tax has been in place since the 70s.
I'm aware. I just bet the vast majority of people who complain about prices aren't.
J Francho reply :
My point that the tax isn't the reason that prices on lures are so high. That tax has been a constant for decades, and in fact was capped on rods at max of $10 in 2005. Inflation, tariffs, labor, etc. are the most likely cause. A lure that cast $5 in 1990 now cow costs nearly $10.
https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/
cgolf reply :
On 8/13/2018 at 11:10 PM, Bluebasser86 said:Companies copy each other, I don't understand why people get upset about it. If I can buy the same thing for cheaper, I'm probably going to. Now pretending like something is new or innovative when it's clearly a copy, I'll get a chuckle out of that, but nobody is making anyone buy the KO of what they consider the original, so keep spending the extra money and supporting the copy of your choice. R2S is still going to do just fine on Plopper sales when the Choppo hits the shelves I promise.
What got to me was the responses that BPS was unethical to Berkley is awesome for lowering the price. I have a decent stash of ploppers that will keep me for a while, only picking up a Plopper 75 and one of the Savage gear baits in the 100 size to see if the fins keep them from spinning less. I could really care less, just the differing reactions surprised me.
The only copy that ever bothered me was Cabela's copying Reef Runner baits, because I see them as a small company (could be wrong). Them copying a big company like Rapala no worries.
Also can't remember if it is you or @J Francho that don't like the Game changer word, but Bassmaster did have this bait listed in their game changer article;)
https://www.bassmaster.com/bryan-brasher/icast-2018-features-some-true-game-changers
Brett's_daddy reply :
On 8/13/2018 at 11:21 PM, Pickle_Power said:It's very hard to make it when you have to give up 17% right off the top for what you sell.
Berkley appears to be doing just that! If Berkley can do it so can some of the other lure mfg's. I'm 100% positive that Berkley will still make money on these lures so I'm thinking there is probably some serious price gouging going on with other lure mfg's...especially the larger company's. Hopefully Berkley's new baits will be just as good performance-wise as the "originals" and the other lure mfg's will lose enough sales to them that they will have to come down in price to compete with Berkley!!!
cgolf reply :
On 8/14/2018 at 1:11 AM, Brett's_daddy said:Berkley appears to be doing just that! If Berkley can do it so can some of the other lure mfg's. I'm 100% positive that Berkley will still make money on these lures so I'm thinking there is probably some serious price gouging going on with other lure mfg's...especially the larger company's. Hopefully Berkley's new baits will be just as good performance-wise as the "originals" and the other lure mfg's will lose enough sales to them that they will have to come down in price to compete with Berkley!!!
I got some great deals a while back on ploppers, where I think I paid less than 8 a bait for my 110s other R2S topwaters. If people are patient sales can be found. Kind of like the whole generic drug thing though in that they need to cover R&D costs on top of keeping the lights on too. If you can limit R&D costs, you can sell the lures cheaper.
tcbass reply :
On 8/14/2018 at 1:11 AM, Brett's_daddy said:Berkley appears to be doing just that! If Berkley can do it so can some of the other lure mfg's. I'm 100% positive that Berkley will still make money on these lures so I'm thinking there is probably some serious price gouging going on with other lure mfg's...especially the larger company's. Hopefully Berkley's new baits will be just as good performance-wise as the "originals" and the other lure mfg's will lose enough sales to them that they will have to come down in price to compete with Berkley!!!
Isn't R2Sea a far smaller company than Berkley?
I'm sure Berkley can produce lures at a far lower cost to them at volume than River2Sea can.
cgolf reply :
On 8/14/2018 at 1:15 AM, tcbass said:
Isn't R2Sea a far smaller company than Berkley?
I'm sure Berkley can produce lures at a far lower cost to them at volume than River2Sea can.
Volume depends on sales and if you have high sales or like baits that use the same parts you can buy parts in bulk which will drive down the cost of making the bait. Also Berkley likely had less R&D time, which means their break even number is smaller and they can charge less per lure if they so choose, and still make a good profit.
boostr reply :
On 8/13/2018 at 2:08 AM, tcbass said:
Whopper Plopper is basically perfect, what could you do to fix it?
Only thing I can think of is make it so the joint doesn't catch weeds but that's probably impossible.
The new WP already comes with a redesigned joint.
Brett's_daddy reply :
On 8/14/2018 at 1:14 AM, cgolf said:If people are patient sales can be found.
But with Berkley's baits you don't have to wait for the sale, they are already reasonably priced to start of with. Despite what it looks like I'm not trying to argue, just saying that i believe some companies these days are severely price gouging the angler so I'm not begrudging Berkley for making almost the same bait but at half the cost...as long as they are of the same quality/performance of the "copied" bait!
On 8/14/2018 at 1:15 AM, tcbass said:
Isn't R2Sea a far smaller company than Berkley?
I'm sure Berkley can produce lures at a far lower cost to them at volume than River2Sea can.
Yes, I'm sure they are but I'm not zeroing in on the Whopper Plopper and R2S necessarily, this just happens to be the bait that started this post but Berkley has new baits coming out that are "copies" of several popular baits from many different MFG's. I say kudos to Berkley for bringing otherwise too expensive of lures to the budget minded angler!!!
tcbass reply :
On 8/14/2018 at 1:43 AM, boostr said:The new WP already comes with a redesigned joint.
When did these start coming out?
Last ones I bought were last year when the 110’s came out.
boostr reply :
On 8/14/2018 at 3:02 AM, tcbass said:
When did these start coming out?
Last ones I bought were last year when the 110’s came out.
See where the tail meets the main body, that rounded edged piece. That's supposed to make the veg flow around the joint instead of into it.
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