School Me On Top Water Poppers ?

[ChrisD46]

For the sake of argument - I'm interested in learning about poppers in say the under $10 range ... Two of the better ones I have read about are the : Booyah Boss Pop (former Zell Pop) and the SK KVD Splash . More often than not - it seems most who throw top water poppers like the smaller sizes (1/4oz. and 2.5" versus the larger 3/8th oz. to 1/2oz. and 3+" sizes) . I'm thinking you would would definitely want a bream colored popper and probably one other (such as bone or shad colored) ... *Any comments regarding the two brand poppers I named (KVD Splash & Booyah Boss Pop ? ... Also what else you look for in a popper (i.e. weight , size , colors , action , how it sits in the water , etc. ? Thanks in advance ... I need to add a popper to my top water game when the water is rougher and spooks are not the best choice .

[Deleted account]

3 minutes ago, ChrisD46 said:

For the sake of argument - I'm interested in learning about poppers in say the under $10 range ... Two of the better ones I have read about are the : Booyah Boss Pop (former Zell Pop) and the SK KVD Splash . More often than not - it seems most who throw top water poppers like the smaller sizes (1/4oz. and 2.5" versus the larger 3/8th oz. to 1/2oz. sizes) . I'm thinking you would would definitely want a bream colored popper and probably one other (such as bone or shad colored) ... *Any comments regarding the two brand poppers I named (KVD Splash & Booyah Boss Pop ? ... Also what else you look for in a popper (i.e. weight , size , colors , action , how it sits in the water , etc. ? Thanks in advance ... I need to add a popper to my top water game when the water is rougher and spooks are not the best choice .

Of those 2, Boss Pop for sure. 

 

I have a problem with poppers (the way an addict has a problem with meth). I own pretty much everyone ever made. A while back I came across an article that went in depth into all things poppers, and got a hold of one of Zell Rowland's modified Pop-Rs. The 2 1/2" poppers are best for spitting or splishing. The larger ones work better at blooping, bopping, and walking the dog. I personally hardly ever "pop" a popper. Like most other lures experiment to find what they want on a given day, often less is more, but sometimes A hard rhythmic action is the ticket. Gotta go check to see if I have to tie some feathers on trebles...

[Angry John]

Never fished either of those two but my cheap bass pro 2$ popper catches a ton of fish.  The most inportant part in my opinion is hooks.  The st-41s cost more than the popper but it is used more than my pop max because it gets the job done.  Poppers that you can also walk is the most important part of the bait.  Not all will.

Edited May 22, 2018 by Angry John

[fishwizzard]

I can pop a popper OK, I can walk an easy walking lure OK, but I can't get say a PopMax do either.   And for both I have to work it sidearm to get a slow, even cadance.  Like every fifth cast I can do it perfectly but I am not seeing what I am doing differently from the other four times.  I keep a rod in the car all the time so I want to get better at them as they seem like the perfect after work "technically it's still dusk and the park is open" lures for when I have very limited time and need to cover water.  

 

 

[soflabasser]

A good topwater popper is a Rebel Pop-R and they can be found for less than $10 each.

 

 

[Bluebasser86]

The smaller Boss pop walks great and just seems to be a fish magnet, the KVD not so much, it's more of a straight popper or chugger. My popper selection is pretty simple after trying many of them. I have the smaller sized Boss Pop for my smaller bait, a River2Sea Bubble Walker 80 for my bigger profile walking popper, a Storm Chug Bug for a more of a finesse walking popper because of the thin profile and small cup, and the rarely talked about and increasingly hard to find Norman's Top Dollar that is just a monster when they're keyed on bluegills or shad. 

[ChrisD46]

Thanks for replies - I better understand what the small vs. larger poppers accomplish ... I'm willing to go up in price if the popper gets the job done - otherwise a few different ones (as Bluebasser86 noted) could be a benefit .

[smalljaw67]

I use a popper a good bit and I can agree the Zell pop which is now the Boss Pop is really good. I can tell you that I have a lot of popper and I separate them in 2 different categories, the slow moving chuggers and the fast moving spitters or walkers. The Yo-Zuri 3DB popper and the Storm Rattling Chug Bug do both, the chug bug walks like a spook and chugs like a pop-r, a straight hard downward rip and it will give you that "bloop" sound, a less aggressive rip or a sideways rip and it will spit and move to the side. The Yo-Zuri has a small indent inside the cupped mouth, almost a second mouth if you will. That bait sits level and it is an anomaly among poppers as it walks and spits easier than it chugs but it can do both and the prism colors make it killer for clear water. I like the Rebel Super Pop R as well, it is longer but it only weighs a little over 1/4oz, but that is a chugger, it is very hard to walk the dog and spit but it makes a nice sound and you can keep it in the same spot with small twitches as it doesn't take much to get the sound. For me, getting some good poppers to try out under $10 it would be the Boss Pop, Yo-Zuri 3DB, and the Storm Rattling Chug Bug, all of those work really well and to be honest, those are the main ones I use, my yellow magic has been given to a friend and I traded my Splash-its for some Lucky Craft Pointers and I did it because the other poppers work so well that I don't miss the high end ones.

[Jaderose]

To me, a popper is about ruckus.  I genuinely do not think color matters and I certainly don't think PRICE matters.  A Rebel Pop-R or Hula Popper works as good as anything else.  You wanna walk the dog, get a Spook.

[J Francho]

I've caught more fish the past couple years with a Popmax than all other baits combined.  It's pricey, but versatile.  You can quietly pop it, create a ruckus, or walk it.

[ChrisD46]

Appreciate the expert viewpoints - most here have forgotten more about poppers then I will ever know ! ... Still , it's a fun technique / category that I look forward to exploring more . For starters , I plan to get two Boss Pops (Bone Shiner & Bream) , next will be Chug Bugs (not sure which colors ) as I can get both at a local Cabela's to start out with ... There is always TW , etc. to check out some of the other offerings mentioned in time .

[Looking for the big one]

I love the Rebel Teeny Pop-R for pond fishing, and have gotten some nice 2-4 lb fish on it. It's so small it looks like a grasshopper on the surface, but they hammer it. Like Reason said, finding the right cadence is a matter of figuring out what the fish want. I haven't changed the hooks out on mine because I'm typically dealing with a lot of dinks and am not too worried about losing fish, but I probably should before a big fish decides to bite. ?

 

Also @reason did you move, I thought you were in Georgia or am I just crazy?

[ChrisD46]

A newer popper  talked about is the Storm Arashi Cover Pop (Jacob Wheeler) ... For it's size it's tail heavy and can be worked in the strike zone for quite a while - not sure what to make of it yet as it's almost it's own category (compared to other more traditional poppers).

[WRB]

The Zell Roland modification of the Pop-R was to streamline the body and make it spit at faster retrieve speed in lieu of a popper stop and bloop action retrieve. If you want the loader bloop with slower retrieve the Storm Chug Bug is what you need.

Faster retrieve like panic shad then the streamline versions of Pop- R with feathered rear hook hook is the lure of choice.

Iovino Splash-It comes with Owner chicken feather rear treble, $14 is over your budget but excellent fast retrieve popper.

Tom

[ChrisD46]

7 minutes ago, WRB said:

The Zell Roland modification of the Pop-R was to streamline the body and make it spit at faster retrieve speed in lieu of a popper stop and bloop action retrieve. If you want the loader bloop with slower retrieve the Storm Chug Bug is what you need.

Faster retrieve like panic shad then the streamline versions of Pop- R with feathered rear hook hook is the lure of choice.

Iovino Splash-It comes with Owner chicken feather rear treble, $14 is over your budget but excellent fast retrieve popper.

Tom

Thanks Tom - West Coast guys throw poppers too !

[Angry John]

43 minutes ago, ChrisD46 said:

Thanks Tom - West Coast guys throw poppers too !

When there old and can't handle punkers any more

[Munkin]

The 3 I use most are; old Rebel Zell Rowland, LC Gsplash, and aTeam Daiwa . The latter two are about $15 but in my 30 years of topwater fishing I have lost only 5 baits. Muskie took 3 and the others were from a missing tip ring.

 

Allen

[ChrisD46]

14 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

The smaller Boss pop walks great and just seems to be a fish magnet, the KVD not so much, it's more of a straight popper or chugger. My popper selection is pretty simple after trying many of them. I have the smaller sized Boss Pop for my smaller bait, a River2Sea Bubble Walker 80 for my bigger profile walking popper, a Storm Chug Bug for a more of a finesse walking popper because of the thin profile and small cup, and the rarely talked about and increasingly hard to find Norman's Top Dollar that is just a monster when they're keyed on bluegills or shad. 

You mention the smaller Boss Pop (I believe 2" and 1/4 oz.) was a bass magnet - curious why this one is a preference versus the 3" and 3/8oz larger version Boss Pop ? Is it more a match the hatch deal or is there an inherent better action or performance with the smaller Boss Pop  ? My local store has both size Boss Pops ...

[WRB]

The 1st modified Pop-R type lure I recall was a Michael from Japan that cost $16 in ‘91, same time the Daiwa TD minnow hit the market. Shocked at the price when domestic lures were $4.00. The Michael changed my mind fast and was a bass catching lure far superior to the Pop-R. 

Lots of lures start in the west coast.

Tom

[Bluebasser86]

8 hours ago, ChrisD46 said:

You mention the smaller Boss Pop (I believe 2" and 1/4 oz.) was a bass magnet - curious why this one is a preference versus the 3" and 3/8oz larger version Boss Pop ? Is it more a match the hatch deal or is there an inherent better action or performance with the smaller Boss Pop  ? My local store has both size Boss Pops ...

The smaller version seems to walk almost in place. It makes very little disturbance, I think it almost looks more like a bug on the surface than a fish. The bigger one does work, but I like the Bubble Walker once I get to a bigger bait. 

[ChrisD46]

Not to beat this to death - but pick a couple of popper brands and colors you use to imitate shad and a couple of popper brands and colors you use to imitate bluegill ?  * Both shad and bluegill are in play where I live - thanks !

[RPreeb]

On 5/22/2018 at 4:40 PM, Angry John said:

Never fished either of those two but my cheap bass pro 2$ popper catches a ton of fish.  The most inportant part in my opinion is hooks.  The st-41s cost more than the popper but it is used more than my pop max because it gets the job done.  Poppers that you can also walk is the most important part of the bait.  Not all will.

These that I bought from BPS 7 years ago have caught a lot of fish, both bass in fresh water and snapper, jacks and barracuda in salt.  They can be fished several ways, and they chug and spit fairly well with the slot right behind the lip.  The exact type is no longer on the BPS website (brand was Bass Pro's XPS) so I don't know if anything exactly like them is still around anywhere.  The one on the top right is the pattern which has been most successful.

 

[Bluebasser86]

20 hours ago, ChrisD46 said:

Not to beat this to death - but pick a couple of popper brands and colors you use to imitate shad and a couple of popper brands and colors you use to imitate bluegill ?  * Both shad and bluegill are in play where I live - thanks !

I pretty much just carry a bluegill and shad color in the baits I listed. 

[rangerjockey]

The  original Pop R P70 is probably as good as it gets but the prices are getting crazy.  Next to that, I really like the Yellow Magic in the magnum size. It casts well and has a great action. I've probably caught better quality topwater fish on it over the years than a spook, plopper ect.

[tcal4404]

if they are hitting topwater, color does not matter much IMO. I'd have a smaller profile popper (rebel pop-r as mentioned is a great bait), a larger one (spook or popper), and a weedless frog to cover heavy vegetation and  you should be covered for most situations.