Megabass XPlose Topwater Bait Product Review

Lure Review

A Prop Bait Not for Spying but Topwater! The X-Plose Topwater by Megabass (continued)

Ease of Actuation : The reason for that distance? This bait is too fun to work. You can either go with a straight retrieve and churn the top of the water sort of like a finesse buzzbait, but the way I really like to work this bait is with short, deliberate strokes of the rod tip. This makes the X-Plose Topwater spit up like wood chopper. I was experimenting with this retrieve just to see if the bait would do it, and when it did, one of those crazy, Clear Lake bass came up and hit the bait!

Hooks are typical Katsuage thin wire hooks but these have inbarbs not outbarbs.

Hook up ratio is very good with this bait too. But those very thin, and very sharp stock hooks won't hold up through a busy morning of fish catching action.

Fortunately, the X-Plose Topwater is buoyant enough that you can switch out those hooks for some lightwire Gamakatsu trebles or something similar and the bait will still perform.

The rear prop is smaller and features a different shape on either end.

Design/Ergonomics: The Megabass X-Plose Topwater is an easy bait to throw all day. Word of caution, however, on that retrieve I recommended.

There will be occasions where your line will foul either the front prop or the front hook and yes, your line will begin to twist if you fish this bait for any extended period of time. The best way to mitigate this occurrence is to let your bait dangle between every few casts so your line can have a chance to straighten out a little.

Megabass's X-Plose Topwater retails for right around $19.99.

Price & Application: This bait carries with it a price tag of $19.99 and is available only through a handful of select retailers. According to the Megabass Japan website, there are approximately thirty five (35) standard colors, but as most of you know with Megabass, a standard color palette is difficult to nail down given how many times the manufacturer will either come out with a new, limited edition color or suddenly decide to no longer produce what was supposed to be a standard color.

Ratings:

Megabass X-Plose Topwater Ratings (?/10)
Construction/Quality	Super clean baits but they could use beefier hooks	8
Performance	Really a lot of fun right out of the box with no tuning required. This bait does take a little finesse to fish to ensure proper line management	8.5
Price	Used to be a time where you couldn't find a Megabass bait for under $20. What's going on?	7.5
Features	Float balancer system, specialized props for topwater action, thinwire hooks that are effective but not very durable, these are one of the elements you may want to change out either right away or down the line	7.5
Design (Ergonomics)	Just when you thought all prop baits were going subsurface	8
Application	A really fun, different, topwater presentation	8
Total Score		7.91
Ratings Key: 1 = terrible : 2 = poor : 3 = lacking : 4 = sub par : 5 = mediocre : 6 = fair : 7 = good : 8 = great : 9 = excellent : 10 = unbelievable! For More Details of the updated rating system visit our explanation here

Pluses and Minuses:

Plus	Minus
+ Mini woodchopper like action	- Hooks are not very durable
+ Casts well for distance	- bait is easily fouled
+ Works well right out of the package	- line twist
	- difficult to source

Megabass's X-Plose Topwater is an exciting topwater bait to work and one that will continue to be in my arsenal for years to come.

Conclusion: If it seems unusual that the cons outlist the pluses in our matrix above, it's because they do. There are a lot of things you have to keep in mind if you decide to fish this bait, but that doesn't mean it's not a whole lot of fun to fish regardless of the challenges. I for one, prefer my prop baits on top where I can see the disturbance the bait creates and the reaction of the fish below when they slurp it in, or even better, explode upon it. Megabass's X-Plose Topwater is an exciting topwater bait to work and one that will continue to be in my arsenal for years to come.