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Bill,
I catch Bass all the time (in the warmer weather) with poppers. Only other fly I never head out with will be a Black Deciever.
Like others have said I have my best luck early and late in the day. Sometimes I have to let it sit several minutes followed by a couple of small pops, let it sit again and then WHAM.
Other times I'll strip it in rapidly as soon as it hits the water. I will vary my retrieves till I find what they like.
Very seldom do they ever hit it while it's moveing though. Strikes are always explosive and don't forget to sharpen that hook.
Poppers are always my first choice in early morning or late evening in the summertime. Mid day or in cold weather I have had little sucess with poppers.
Leo C.
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In 15 years of fly fishing, I have caught bass on poppers on only four outings.
Our local reservoirs open at sunrise and close at sunset. By the time you wait in line to buy permits, get a tube or boat launched, and get to a likely spot, the sun is up and the fish are in thick tules or have retreated to deeper water. Though I have a few poppers and other surface patterns, subsurface flies, usually used in conjunction with sink tip or sinking lines, are vastly more productive. Even when fish are busting shad, a streamer fished below the surface usually works better.
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Hello Bill,
Perhaps you just need to change poppers?
May I suggest the Texas BullFrog?
You can find complete and easy tying instructions at:
http://www.flyanglersonline.com/flytyin ... 3fotw.html
Cheers,
Richard in Plano TX
Up the Road from You
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Wow, that just looks like something fish would eat. :lol:
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Tailing loop,
As a bass fisherman that grew up fishing the fantastic lakes in the San Diego area, I have to chime in here.
I've caught litterally thousands of bass from the San Diego lakes on topwater baits.
I know the whole 'buy the permit, wait in line to launch, then get to the fish' is a drag and precludes the really early/late bites.
However, if you aren't throwing a popper or some kind of topwater bait all summer there, even during the middle of the day, you are seriously missing out on some fantastic fishing.
AND, if you can get out on Otay or Hodges on a day when its a bit cloudy, you can get some BIG fish to come up.
If you work a deer hair diver or medium sized popper along the tules at either of these lakes when the water temp is above 65, you can catch bass all day long. Takes accurate casts and quick reflexes, as the fish often hit right when the bait lands.
The real problem with topwater flies for bass is that most anglers think that it has to be low light and calm for them to work. That may be a good time, but bass will respond to them whenever the water is warm, and sometimes from prety deep down.
I've seen bass come up from 30 feet down at Miramar to smack a topwater bait in the middle of a bright summer day. If the water is clear, they will know it's there from a LONG way off.
I only get over there once every couple of years now, but I always try to get in at least one day of fishing. Topwater is all I throw there, and I always catch a few.
Keep it wet, keep it moving, and you should cath some fish.
And for Bill,
How you work a popper depends on the fishing conditions you face. That 'twitch and wait' thing works in the proper conditions, but it's not an 'all the time' answer. Generally, if the water is shallow and stained, then that's often the best way to go.
If the water is clear, you can 'start' with a more agressive retrieve, working the bait quickly with rod tip twitches, coordinated stipping, and brief but frequent pauses. Changing how you 'work' the bait is what you need to do until you find out what the fish want that day.
The 'type' of popper you choose should reflect how you intend to 'work' it. A bait with an aggressively cupped face will give you a loud 'pop' or 'bloop', and is more suitable to working slow, with loud pops interspersed with long pauses. These baits often have rubber 'legs' or other wiggly appendages that put out vibrations so that the fish can 'find' them easier in times of low visibility.
A flat or angled faced bait will allow you work it faster, it has more of a spitting action on the water, mimicing a fleeing baitfish or shad. These baits are more streamlined in appearance.
Of course, there are lots of baits that fall in between and can be worked either way.
Good Luck!
Buddy
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Here's a question for you, how are you fishing the poppers?
I use them almost exclusively when I'm fly fishing for bass. The most effective way of fishing them from a boat that I've found (assuming you're fishing from a boat), is to cast them right up against the bank, or, if there are weeds or lilly pads, into them, and strip the popper out into deeper water. I also look for any submerged structure and make sure I make a few casts to it.
If I'm in my float tube then I troll it behind me (I can't even begin to tell you how many fish I've caught doing that) until I get to where I want to fish. I then make casts all the way around the clock and cover 360 degrees, troll to another area and repeat.
If I'm wading I just look for structure and make several casts to each that I find.
I'm of the opinion that finding structure where the fish may be lurking is a big piece of the puzzle. Keep trying, and don't forget to use a big popper. Largemouth bass are called that for a reason.
Good luck and tight lines.
Thunderthumbs.
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One of my favorite times to fish a popper is in the dark of night
Find a good sized hole in the lily pads, cast the popper into the middle, pop it hard once, and then just let it sit there and wait untill the water explodes :shock:
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In my experience the best time of the year for catching smallies with surface poppers is during the nesting time. In the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, where I live, I plan one of my vacation weeks to match this time of the year. Working on clear lakes with sandy/pebble bottomes, you can sight fish for smallies. You can see the bed and place a popper just past the bed, slowly move the popper over the bed. You will get a strike nearly 100% of the time. Other times of the year, you can still have significant success but the conditions need to be perfect. Early morning, evening, and days with no wind. In those conditions, I work an shoreline structure, focusing on any area with downed trees in the water, or areas near surface weeds. The strike rate is not as good as the nesting period but it is high enought to keep my interest.
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My best guess would be that you are throwing your poppers where there aren't any bass. If you are failing to catch bass on any other lure or fly, try a different area or different lake. Another possibility would be that you are fishing when it's too bright and clear out. Poppers work best for me in the early morning and after sundown until its very dark out. My next guess would be that you are fishing a popular lake or pond with very experienced fish. A lot of people believe that bass which have been caught on a surface lure and released will avoid anything on the surface after that. My fourth guess would be ugly poppers----just kidding 8T :D
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This issue comes up quite a bit. I believe myself that a big part of it is presentation. I have found that watching insects in the water as well as frogs and other morsels, can yield valuable insight into presentation.
Perhaps if you could arrange to go a-fishing with a popper angler some hints and help might be picked up. Just a thought.
And head on up to Athens TX this Sat. 3 March for Fly Fish Texas 2007. Bound to be some help there. I'll be there furling leaders in the big building.