Choppo vs. Popper: Which Topwater Catches Bigger Smallmouth? (Pt 2 of 3)
Two topwater baits, one dam face, and a straight answer on which one catches the bigger smallmouth.
FTTV host Chad LaChance and Colorado fishing guide Austin Parr keep working the dam at Chatfield Reservoir near Denver, running a prop bait against a popper to see which pattern holds up.
Austin called it early – small popper, bone color – and Chad admits on camera that tying on the bigger non-bone bait made him the bonehead in the boat. But the Choppo starts pulling a better class of fish, including a netted 15- to 16-incher that’s a genuinely good one for this lake. There’s a lot of real setup teaching in here: why the small poppers go on a medium spinning rod, why Chad runs the Choppo on 10-pound Trilene XT so the stretch cushions a continuously moving bait, and why a short mono leader keeps treble hooks from grabbing supple line on any side-to-side bait. Austin also covers what he does when the topwater bite dies.
Timestamps:
0:00 – Rod, reel and line for the Choppo
0:59 – Why these fish see fewer prop baits than poppers
1:53 – Austin called it: small bone popper beats Chad’s big one
2:23 – Why smallmouth move, and what low water does to the dam
3:17 – Colorado’s busiest boating lake and the pressure it takes
4:16 – When the Chatfield topwater bite starts and how long it runs
4:59 – Working the Choppo: rod tip down versus rod tip up
5:34 – Why small poppers belong on spinning tackle
6:42 – Running the Choppo on mono, and why the stretch helps
7:45 – Netting a Chatfield toad and what quality looks like here
9:12 – Switching to a wacky rig when the topwater bite dies
11:20 – Tying a mono leader so trebles don’t grab your braid
12:52 – The throwback bait, and adding a Gulp trailer
Gear shown:
Berkley Choppo, bone color
Berkley Bullet Pop, small size, bone color
Berkley General, wacky rigged weightless
Berkley Fusion19 wacky rig hook
7′ medium power spinning rod, fast tip, 10 lb NanoFil with an 8 lb mono leader
6’10” medium power extra-fast casting rod, Trilene XT 10 lb monofilament
Guest: Austin Parr guides Chatfield and Cherry Creek — walleye93@gmail.com if you want to fish it with him.
Location: Chatfield Reservoir, Chatfield State Park, Littleton, Colorado
Species: Smallmouth bass
Techniques: Topwater poppers, prop baits, wacky rig, mono leaders on braid, throwback baits
From the Fishful Thinker archive — Show 2209, filmed September 2019.
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