Poppers

[Further North]

For smallie popper tiers/builders, new book:

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0989018091/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I ordered it Sunday, got here yesterday...

 

My advice: Buy it.

 

Detail on not just what to do, but why to do it, the author has clearly spent years on this, and it shows.

[Turkey sandwich]

I'll likely be giving that a read.  This came on a big deerhair popper the weekend before last. Apologies for the picture quality.  I was alone and had no good way of getting a fast picture and getting her revived.  

[FryDog62]

Looks like it might be a good book, thx.  Not sure I can read 300 pages with my adhd, but it has 800 pictures!  Why didn’t those long text books in college have that many photos

 

On a related topic, I just bought an Arashi Cover Pop - something more subtle to offset me constantly using Whopper Ploppers!  

[Further North]

7 hours ago, Turkey sandwich said:

I'll likely be giving that a read.  This came on a big deerhair popper the weekend before last. Apologies for the picture quality.  I was alone and had no good way of getting a fast picture and getting her revived.  

Nice fish!

 

I've been looking for something like this book for a while because as much as I admire spun deer hair poppers...I don't like fishing them.  They get waterlogged and heavy, getting continuously harder to throw, and eventually sinking, or close to it.

 

A foam/cork/whatever will last all day, and longer...unless something toothy tears it up.

 

35 minutes ago, FryDog62 said:

Looks like it might be a good book, thx.  Not sure I can read 300 pages with my adhd, but it has 800 pictures!

The book is broken up into pretty easily digestible "lessons" that you can really take out of order if you wish.

 

First thing I did was skip to the part about weed guards, because I really sucked at them...problem solved...

[Turkey sandwich]

I pretty much hate casting all poppers despite them being a blast to fish.  For whatever reason, I tend to have much better patience with deer hair than I do with the foam/cork/whatever variety. I also generally like the big profile of deer hair.

[Further North]

9 minutes ago, Turkey sandwich said:

I pretty much hate casting all poppers despite them being a blast to fish.

That's where I was...I found that if I used a line that'd move that big, wind resistant profile with some authority, I hated throwing them a lot less.

 

I'm with you on the profile - the foam heads I'm using now (Surface Seducer Double Barrel) have a pretty big profile.

 

https://flymenfishingcompany.com/products/surface-seducer-double-barrel-popper-slider-body

 

...but I still like the way deer hair poppers look.  I'm really blown away by the folks that manage to work a pattern into them.

 

This one is a slider, but you'll get the idea.

 

[Turkey sandwich]

2 minutes ago, Further North said:

That's where I was...I found that if I used a line that'd move that big, wind resistant profile with some authority, I hated throwing them a lot less.

 

I'm with you on the profile - the foam heads I'm using now (Surface Seducer Double Barrel) have a pretty big profile.

 

https://flymenfishingcompany.com/products/surface-seducer-double-barrel-popper-slider-body

 

...but I still like the way deer hair poppers look.  I'm really blown away by the folks that manage to work a pattern into them.

 

This one is a slider, but you'll get the idea.

 

 

What in the hell is the tail on that thing?

[Further North]

2 minutes ago, Turkey sandwich said:

What in the hell is the tail on that thing?

Would I sound like a smart-ass if I said, "About 9" long."? ?

 

...it's and Orvis Mangum Dragon Tail.  Yes, "Mangum" is spelled right.

 

Other places have them in shorter lengths, but Orvis was the first place I found them in th 9" length.

[FishDewd]

I've had exactly one bite on a popper so far (and I missed cause fish didn't take it deep enough), and shame, cause it's probably my favorite top water lure overall. Also the only one I can walk properly so far. Problem with poppers (unless I'm mistaken) is that it's more of a shallow water/ bank lure it seems. Where I fish is 30'+ deep just 20' out from he dock, which is where I got an investigative, non-committed bite at. Or maybe it's cause of the pond pressuring. Idk.

[Further North]

Some of my best bites on topwater lures (not just poppers) have come over deep water...

 

...but yeah, fishing them shallow would help some.

[Turkey sandwich]

2 hours ago, FishDewd said:

I've had exactly one bite on a popper so far (and I missed cause fish didn't take it deep enough), and shame, cause it's probably my favorite top water lure overall. Also the only one I can walk properly so far. Problem with poppers (unless I'm mistaken) is that it's more of a shallow water/ bank lure it seems. Where I fish is 30'+ deep just 20' out from he dock, which is where I got an investigative, non-committed bite at. Or maybe it's cause of the pond pressuring. Idk.

 

I think a popper is generally more "finesse" or better for picking apart specific pieces of water than something like large walking baits, Whopper Ploppers, buzzbaits, etc. The other lures are awesome search lures for moving fast and covering large chunks of water.  The popper is generally what I reach for when I slow down to target individual pockets, or to really pick a stretch apart.  I've caught bass on poppers along cut banks and bluffs that drop straight to 15-20', and along weed edges or shallow flats in 6" of water. 

 

 

[Further North]

 

Big girl there, about 7".

[TnRiver46]

On 7/28/2018 at 11:21 AM, Further North said:

 

Big girl there, about 7".

Yellow has always been a favorite of mine for bluegill poppers, I’m guessing it applies to other fish too. 

[Further North]

3 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

Yellow has always been a favorite of mine for bluegill poppers, I’m guessing it applies to other fish too. 

Depends on the water, but yeah, it sure can be.

[Further North]

Tonight's fiddling around...

 

 

....and one for size...

[FishDewd]

I've never seen poppers like those... very nice!

[Further North]

3 hours ago, FishDewd said:

I've never seen poppers like those... very nice!

Most people haven't, so you're far from alone.

 

...but that's because most people have a concept in their heads about fly fishing as being centered on noodley, lightweight rods and tiny, delicate surface flies.

 

Here's some of my subsurface flies...and I intentionally tie light...some of the flies people are tying for muskies are both bigger and heavier.

 

[Scott F]

2 hours ago, Further North said:

Most people haven't, so you're far from alone.

 

...but that's because most people have a concept in their heads about fly fishing as being centered on noodley, lightweight rods and tiny, delicate surface flies.

 

Here's some of my subsurface flies...and I intentionally tie light...some of the flies people are tying for muskies are both bigger and heavier.

 

I tried tying and throwing big flies like this for big pike up in Canada. Even using heavy duty 10-11 weight rods, those are very difficult to throw. Once they land, they pick up a lot of water and they are very wind resistant. It can be like trying to throw a kite. 

[FishDewd]

Ah for fly fishing... that makes sense now. Yeah I don't fly fish, maybe some day I'll try it though.

[Further North]

1 hour ago, Scott F said:

I tried tying and throwing big flies like this for big pike up in Canada. Even using heavy duty 10-11 weight rods, those are very difficult to throw. Once they land, they pick up a lot of water and they are very wind resistant. It can be like trying to throw a kite. 

Scott, I designed those for, and throw them with an 8 wt.

 

They are all synthetic fibers, they are hollow tied, and there is very little material in them.  The synthetic material sheds water like a duck's back and they collapse well when you throw them, so little wind resistance.

 

I have a 10 wt. and use it now and then, but I decided (like you) that they are a PITA and I wasn't going to use them much...every since then I target 8 wt. or below with my ties and have been pretty successful.

41 minutes ago, FishDewd said:

Ah for fly fishing... that makes sense now. Yeah I don't fly fish, maybe some day I'll try it though.

A lot of people tell me, "I should learn to fly fish."

 

I always ask why.

 

I learned to give myself more presentations, more tools in the tool box.  I still throw gear about half the time on the water...maybe more.

[Further North]

@Scott FScott,

 

I'd tried the Big Green Popper last night on a St. Croix 10 wt. with a Rio Outbound Short line on it...it was fine, easy to cast as long as I kept line speed up with a double haul.  Workable, but I'd not want to have it as my only choice for a day of fishing.

 

Tried it on an 8 wt. tonight, Orvis H3F, Rio Single Handed Spey...no dice.  Can't get enough line speed to push that big head through the air.  The big hollow ties work just fine, so it's got to be the head...