Do fish thumpers and splashers really help with white bass and striped bass? If so, which is better? Are there situations where they make fishing worse? I am trying to improve my success when I take my young grandsons fishing. Thanks for any suggestions.

Splasher definitely works for me.

thumpers have served me well for sand bass....not so much for stripers best I can tell

looks as though you are no longer just a lurker

Joined in 2011, Maybe he thought you had to be a grandpa to post

I run a thumper year round, and add a splasher in mix during the spring and summer time. During the winter time the thumper really makes a difference. I have run the Bobo's thumper for 3 years and have not had a single problem out of it. I hope that helps.

I fish full-time as my sole means of making a living. I feel that I would be handicapped without my thumper and my splasher -- so much so that I have a running spare of each so I won't go more than a portion of a trip without the benefit of them. As for timing, I rely on my splasher when the water temperature is ~58F and warmer, and I rely on my thumper when the water temperature is under 58F. I made my own versions of both. Hope that helps you.

Thanks to everyone for the responses. I guess I will try both of them. Are these devices able to attract fish that are somewhat remote (i.e. not visible on sonar), or are they just used to hold fish below the boat once you locate a school on sonar?

These devices will 1) "hold" fish which are already present, 2) they will draw fish upwards off the bottom, and 3) they will consolidate fish from the surrounding area. The warmer it is, the further the "effective radius" of these devices.

When would it be advisable to run both the splasher and thumper at the same time?

I personally do not run both simultaneously.

Good question. For me, for DS, calm days I prefer splasher, and choppy days thumper. For none DS, I prefer splasher in the shallow 25ft or less. Thumper in deeper. When fish stay on structures I don't use either. I was introduced to the thumper about 15 yrs ago and the splasher about 8 yrs ago and my experience with them are on North Texas lakes which may not be as deep as other lakes and water clarity may differ. Best way to learn is to take good notes from elders, get out and play. Let the fish teach you. And keep more notes lol!

When I am deadsticking, I run both. If the wind is really up and it makes the water choppy, I personally don’t think the Splasher work then because of the waves making so much noise. Other than deadsticking, I run the Splasher only. I am not looking to get fish directly under me, I had rather cast to them and the Splasher keeps them on the sidescan.

Thank you all for the useful information and help!

Very useful info! So would you say water temp outweighs depth of water where the fish are when deciding which to use?

Water temperature and fish depth are very much related. Rarely are white bass shallow in the winter (hence I use the thumper at that time), and rarely are white bass extra deep (due to thermocline limitations) when the water is warm; also, white bass are much more prone to schooling on the surface during the warmer half of the year, hence, I use the splasher at that time which, in some ways, imitates the sound of fish on the surface.