Like Norm said popper are very basic a body, figure out what you want to use for the body, I prefer flip flop foam, I have used cork and balsa also. The fly in the photo was made from a synthetic wine stopper. I shape my body using a cordless Black and Decker rotary tool, like a small Dremel, with an adjustable chuck. I cut out the cylinder using a cutter made from an umbrella shaft chucked in an electric drill, cut to length, thread it on to a small wood screw and sand it to shape using an emery board. I us mostly No. 6 or 8 Aberdeen hooks. I take a large needle and run it through the body where I want the hook to be, run some fishing line through the hook and needle's eyes and then pull the line through the body and then the hook shaft. I push the body to the back of the shaft, lay down a base of thread, tie and cut it off, coat with super glue and slide the body into place. If you want to paint the body, nows the time to do that. Then add hackle, marabou, legs, whatever you want on the fly. Use the same trick with the needle to add body legs.
That's the basic on how to make a foam bodied popper. Cork is too much trouble for me to mess with it normally, balsa is not as durable but easier to work. Synthetic rigid foams are tough, readily available and cheap. I made my first poppers out of old Nike running shoes that had over 500 miles on them. You can not destroy the body with a fly rod.
There are a lot of guys with a lot more talent than I will ever have but the bream and bass haven't been too critical of my bugs. Hope this helps.
Reply With Quote