Bigger Poppers = Bigger Bass?

[Brett's_daddy]

So I know I want a couple of poppers, lookin' hard at the River2sea Bubble Pop because of the good price point on eBay but the Duo Realis Pop 64 and the Megabass Pop Max are both in play too. The question is, when comparing a 2.5" popper vs. 3.5" popper does the size difference really matter...as in will you get bigger bass with the bigger popper?

[kickerfish1]

Not for me. My biggest fish of the year came on a 1/4 oz Rebel Excalibur Zell Rowland pop-r.

[MIbassyaker]

Bigger poppers walk better, which can make them more versatile -- you can hit targets and cover water easily in the same cast.

But:

1) I catch both "big" and "small" fish (for my area and waters) with big poppers and small poppers. It's amazing what a dink will attack. 

2) I'm much more accurate with a spinning rod than a casting rod, so when I want to put a popper in a tight place, I'll use a smaller one with a spinning combo.

3) smaller poppers all the time for river and stream smallmouth.  They'll hit big poppers, but I have a lot of trouble hooking up.

While you're at it, have a look at the yo-zuri 3db popper. Affordable, high-quality, nice colors and finishes, not too big, not too small, good hooks,

[Brett's_daddy]

Yeah, not into fishing rivers and streams...just ponds and small lakes. I wouldn't mind catching smallmouth but since we generally eat our catch (unless they are dinks) m y wife has heard that the mercury content in smallmouth is high so she won't eat them. It's mostly largemouth that we're after and I also would be using a spinning rod setup for the poppers right now.

[WRB]

What's big about a 3 1/2" lure?

In this popper category you need to Iovino Splast-It, they work!

Tom

[Catt]

Storm Rattlin Chug Bug; Bone Orange Belly 3 1/4"

[jr231]

Rapala skitter pop. Caught my PB on it 2 or 3 years ago. Affordable 6-8 bucks. And effective. Can't beat it. 

[aprestonSEK]

In my experience, small poppers will get more bites and will catch the big ones as well. I like the 1/4oz yellow magics and pop x

[Bluebasser86]

The smaller sized Zell Pop produces the largest popper bass for me every year since I started fishing it seems like. I think it's more how a bait moves and how it's fished when it comes to poppers being productive. 

If you want a big popper though, the R2S Bubble Walker 128 is a monster that fishes very nicely. 

[timsford]

20 hours ago, Brett's_daddy said:

Yeah, not into fishing rivers and streams...just ponds and small lakes. I wouldn't mind catching smallmouth but since we generally eat our catch (unless they are dinks) m y wife has heard that the mercury content in smallmouth is high so she won't eat them. It's mostly largemouth that we're after and I also would be using a spinning rod setup for the poppers right now.

I'm curious as to how the smallmouth have mercury worse than the largemouth. They forage on the same types of stuff, mainly baitfish and crawfish. We have a lake around here that has a warning for catfish, but I've never heard of a warning on bass. And I catch way more on the 2 1/2 inch size, but not many big ones on either size. Most of my big bass on topwaters come on walking baits or buzzbaits

[scaleface]

I like the old Pico Pops , Chug Bugs and I have an old Rebel that looks like a Pop R only  twice the size .

I use the large ones on windy days . Smaller ones on calmer days . So you should have both .

[Raul]

On ‎19‎/‎08‎/‎2016 at 11:22 AM, Brett's_daddy said:

So I know I want a couple of poppers, lookin' hard at the River2sea Bubble Pop because of the good price point on eBay but the Duo Realis Pop 64 and the Megabass Pop Max are both in play too. The question is, when comparing a 2.5" popper vs. 3.5" popper does the size difference really matter...as in will you get bigger bass with the bigger popper?

Nope.

Dinks have bigger mouths than brains, they still hit big saltwater poppers with gusto and get hooked on those big trebles.

[WRB]

When Zell Roland was winning tournaments using a Rebel Pop-R he modified it got a lot attention. Zell learned to skitter a Pop-R fast from a back seater, then started to sand down the lure to make it smaller, smoother, more streamline and spit inside of bloop to simulate threadfin Shad being chased by bass. 

A Japanese lure company came with a modified Pop-R called a Micheal that was smaller than a Pop-R and had all of Zell mods plus premium sharp hook with chicken feathers rear treble in the early 90's. The Micheal was phenomenal at catching big bass out west and others like Lobina came out the Rico named after Rick Clunn. Lots of knock offs offered today, Iovino uses the same lure company who made the Micheal, uses Owner feathered rear treble and front treble hook.

The Splash-It isn't your off the shelf Pop-R and a higher quality lure than Yellow Magic or the other knock offs.

Tom

 

[The Young Gun]

I do believe generally bigger fish tend to target bigger lures, but with many exceptions... my bluegill poppers I use on my fly rod get nailed by huge bass all the time and I set the hook and fight them for awhile, but a 3wt rod doesn't always move pigs well...