Poppers: large vs small

[DitchPanda]

So a few weeks ago I asked for large popper suggestions and ended up picking up 4: 2 rebel P71s, a R2S bubble walker and a size 80 Berkley bullet pop. Now my next question- when do you throw a large one instead of a small one? Which size do.you generally prefer?

[NHBull]

I tend to go bigger when I am over deeper water or off sure further.

I usually go with a pop-max since I can also retrieve it like a larger stick bait.

It it just more versatile for me.  

[roadwarrior]

I fish the PopMax exclusively.

 

[Smells like fish]

You seen that River2Sea popper that’s 128mm. Now that’s a popper… 

[DitchPanda]

25 minutes ago, Smells like fish said:

You seen that River2Sea popper that’s 128mm. Now that’s a popper… 

No...that's a super spook with a smashed face

[ChrisD46]

I'm a fan of larger poppers  : I have the Rebel P71 (Baby Bass) , R2S Bubble Walker (Bone) and with the Berkley Bullet Pop I dropped down to the 70 size (Ghost White) to fill a specific void in my popper line up . *It may be true that the smaller poppers (1/4 oz.) may produce more bass closer to cover or slick water  but on my preferred bait caster set up  it's like trying to cast a potato chip - thus I like the 3/8th oz. to 1/2 oz. poppers better (they also are more accurate to cast) . A dedicated Curado 50 set up with 8 lb. mono and a ML to M fast rod will throw the smaller poppers - but that's just too dedicated to make my starting line up .  I also like the Storm Arashi Cover Pop (Bluegill) as it casts well and you can work it a long time in one spot . It too is a large popper but I have seen Ott DeFoe and Seth Feider destroy bass on that thing .

[Smells like fish]

1 hour ago, DitchPanda said:

No...that's a super spook with a smashed face

Oops. I had 2 in hand the other day but put them off to another day. I just now looked them up and they are the bubble walker as you said and not a true popper. I still have to sample ASAP!! I have some big rapala poppers somewhere that are 5-6” I think. I need to round them up and see what they do. 

[zell_pop1]

I throw the larger one when targeting larger fish. If I just want to get a bite, small ones are great and most I own are smaller 1/8-5/16 oz types. Same thing with frogs use the smaller ones if they are really smashing it up size for the bigguns .

[soflabasser]

I fish with larger topwaters when I am specifically fishing for larger fish and smaller topwaters when I am fishing for smaller fish. With that said I have caught small to medium size bass on large topwaters and big bass on small topwaters so always bring a variety of topwaters to see which one works best on a particular day.

[Biglittle8]

It seems the bigger popper I throw, the smaller the fish. So... I'm going back to a smaller popper to catch bigger fish. ? maybe that'll work!

[bigbassin']

57 minutes ago, Biglittle8 said:

It seems the bigger popper I throw, the smaller the fish. So... I'm going back to a smaller popper to catch bigger fish. ? maybe that'll work!

My biggest topwater bass have all come off bluegill poppers the size of my fingernail while fly fishing. Conversely, I have caught ambitious bluegill on a spook.

[the reel ess]

I either throw the smaller one or a Chug Bug. The larger Pop R doesn't get many bites and the small one is too light. The Chug Bug is what Goldilocks refers to as "just right". When I throw the smaller Pop R it's usually on a medium spinning combo.

[David 7]

Only popper I’ll throw is the good ole Heddon Lucky 13. So large for me! 

[Bluebasser86]

On 8/8/2021 at 12:17 PM, DitchPanda said:

No...that's a super spook with a smashed face

No it's a popper. I had one, it doesn't walk worth a darn much to my dismay. The 80 size walks so well, I really thought the big one would be even easier to walk, boy was I wrong. 

[rangerjockey]

I throw the smaller sizes when it's slick and the bigger sizes with some wind or chop. 

 Same with the Shower Blow.

[DitchPanda]

4 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

No it's a popper. I had one, it doesn't walk worth a darn much to my dismay. The 80 size walks so well, I really thought the big one would be even easier to walk, boy was I wrong. 

Thats strange...usually bigger baits walk much easier in my opinion . I tried my 80 last weekend and it was a breeze to walk. I also threw a rebel P 71 and it was also easy to walk.