Trying The Choppo 75 On Some River Smallies!

Howdy everyone, I'm back at it again. It's a beautiful September day here in Minnesota. Today we're going to try to chase down some river smallies. One of my favorite lures to throw at them this time of year is the Whopper Plopper 75. It's both a fun and effective lure and honestly sometimes it's tough to put down that plopper and try anything else. Well that's exactly what we're going to do today. I'm going to cut that plopper off and we're going to throw around something totally different out here. The Choppo 75. I know, I'm a madman. It's actually pretty similar to that Whopper Plopper 75, but there are a couple of small differences and I've had several people comment on my videos asking me to try out the Choppo on some river smallies. So that's the game plan for today. I'm going to get them tied on. We'll toss them around out here on the river and see if we can hook into a few big smallies with El Choppo. All right, I've got that Choppo tied on. So I'd say the main difference between him and the Whopper Plopper is that the Whopper Plopper has a more rubberized tail. It's got a little bit of give to it there. Whereas the Choppo is solid plastic. So we'll have to be a little bit careful about not casting him into any tree branches or any concrete or rocks or anything like that, or that tail might snap right off of there. But let's take a quick look at his action. He's a noisy little guy. Pretty similar to the Whopper Plopper 75. The Choppo, he might be just a tad bit louder and just a little bit different sound. But all in all, pretty similar, which isn't a bad thing. I know the Whopper Plopper works. So I'm pretty sure we should be able to catch a few with that Choppo. So let's fish our way upstream. We'll see if we can find a few willing to bite. Get off of my paddle. And we're off. Oh, I thought for sure something was going to jump out from there and smash that Choppo. Looks like a nice fishy little grassy bank here. Nothing in there today. At least nothing interesting in topwater. Oh, there we go. I don't think that was a bass, but it'll get me on the board. Oh, self-release. As soon as I got my anchor dropped. That's all right. I don't have to pike slime up my hands at all. Yeah, I'm gonna retie that. Well, I fished my way upstream around the next bend. There's a couple spots up there where I'll usually find some smallies, but nothing up there today. I don't know. The water is a little bit low out here right now. And being it's mid-September right now, those fish might be starting to migrate their way downstream toward the lake this river flows into. But it gets deeper as we head down this way, so we'll fish our way down there and see if we can figure out where those bass are today. Yeah, usually if they're up here, I'll at least see a few of them swimming around, but I saw one little pike, a bunch of minnows cruising along the weeds. No sign of the bass though. So they got to be down this way somewhere. Let's see if we can find them. There's one. Oh, that's a good fish. Come on up here, you. Look at that. First one of the day on the choppo. Man, that's a beauty of a fish. Yeah, I was hanging out right up along the bank, probably about six inches of water up there. This guy was tucked underneath that grass, came out and hammered that choppo. Nice fish for the first one of the day. Oh man, I thought I missed him at first there. There's a ferocious one. Give that anchor an extra click, just to make sure it holds me still here. Hooked his mouth shut. There we go. Wow, look at that. Nice thick smallie. He is clamping down on my thumb there. I want to get a length on that one. And he's about 18 inches. Man, just a super thick fish. Beauty of a smallie. Came up and absolutely crushed that choppo. That is so much fun catching them on top water. Oh, that was a nice one. Swimming and a miss. Man, that was a nice fish too. What is that? Oh, that's not a bass. It's a little pike. Come here, you. Just a little guy. Not really what I'm looking for, but hey, they're keeping me busy out here tonight. I've been having to cover a little bit of water to find those bass, but I mean, they might just, for the most part, be downstream farther still. There we go. Get my anchor dropped. It's not a real big one. Trying to reach for my net back there. I couldn't find it. Come here, little buddy. Well, there's the third one of the day. Well, bass at least on that choppo. Just a little guy. Oh, I wasn't even paying attention there. Just running that choppo along the edge of these weeds. He's a decent little guy. Nice little bronze bass. Not quite the size I'm looking for, but pretty close. So I've been having to work for those fish out here today. I caught the two right up there by the bridge where I launched, but other than that, I've got a couple little pike, one other little smallie working my way downstream here. So they aren't exactly jumping into the kayak today, but I'm making my way to a couple of spots. There's this point right up in front of me here and then another one up there on the left. Those spots will just about always hold some smallmouth. So we'll head over there, toss that choppo in front of them and see if something goes smash. That one always misses right there. Why does he always miss? Oh, I missed him. There's definitely one up over there. Well, I had one real nice one take a swipe at it over here, but I missed him. Darn it. Well, that's all right. We got one more usually productive spot to hit up here. That's the spot. Here comes one. Oh yeah, that's a big fish. You stay on there. I think he's swimming right back at me. There he is. Actually dropped my anchor here. I don't want him pulling me into his boat. He's got some up there. He's fighting a little bit hard for his size. That kind of explains it. I had him fall hook there, but he definitely swiped at that choppo. Look at that one. Pretty fish. Yeah, we're having to work for him a bit out here today, but we're finding a few. All right, I missed a really nice one up here about 20 minutes ago. Figured we'd stop back and give it another try. Oh, I can never hook into that one. Dang it. Got him. Big fish too. Big smallie. Pretty sure that's the one that I missed that first time I tried this point today. Come here, you. Wow, look at that. Just a thick, chunky smallmouth bass. Might be the biggest one of the day right there. 18 and a half inches. I don't think I measured those first couple of the day, but yeah, I think that one might be just a little bit bigger. Beautiful fish. All right, you guys, that's going to do it for today's trip. I've got about a half hour until sunset and probably a half hour paddle back upstream to make it back to my truck. So I'm going to get to paddling, I think. It's been a fun day of fishing out here, though. I did have to cover a little bit of water to find a few quality fish, but we got the job done with that choppo 75. So my final thoughts on that lure? It's got good action, definitely catches fish. I mean, it fishes pretty much just like the Whopper Plopper 75. I will say my one gripe with the choppos, and not this one in particular, but I've had three or four of these in the past where I broke that tail off of them by casting them into a stick or up along the bank or something. And well, I've never had that happen with the Whopper Plopper with that more rubberized tail. So I mean, the two lures are pretty similar in price. I believe the choppo is $12.99. You can get the Whopper Plopper for that, maybe a dollar or two more at some places. But in my opinion, it's well worth that extra dollar or two. Maybe I'm just too tough on my gear, but I come out here and I'm beating the bank with those topwater lures, tossing them into trees and stuff. It's nice to know I've got something tied on that can handle that kind of abuse. So I don't think the choppo is going to take the place of the Whopper Plopper 75 as my go-to topwater lure for River Smallmouth, but there are certain scenarios I could see myself tying that choppo on. Maybe if I was fishing some open water or if I had three or four of my buddies with and they're all throwing the Whopper Plopper and I want to have something a little bit different. Yeah, I'll tie that choppo on. Well, I think that's going to do it for today's trip. I hope you guys enjoyed the day out here in the kayak with me. Thanks for coming along with me again. I'll see you next time.