Fvorite 'classic' bluegill popper?

There was one made in Huntsville Alabama by the Hickman Lure Company (it could have been 'Hickham' it's been quite a while). I think they called it the 'whirly bug'. This was their only product.

It was a painted cork cylinder with two angled clear plastic wings and had feather/hackle tails. The plastic 'wings' were angled like fan blades.

You fished this on a 3 foot length of 8 pound mono leader. As you backcast the fly, the wings would cause it to 'twist' the leader. Once the fly hit the water, the leader would untwist, causing the fly to roll over and over on the water.

Often, this was all you needed to call in the fish. The face was flat, so you could give it an occasional 'pop' if needed.

You went through a few pieces of 8 pound leader material in a days fishing, but it was a unique and very effective idea.

I bought all I could find in 1977, my last trip back there. They were long out of production, and I ended up hunting down the owner of the company (he had a very successful printing business at that time) and he sold me the remaining stock.

Unfortunitely, they had undergone a resurgence in popularity AFTER he stopped making them, and I was only able to get about 4 dozen of them. The last one fell apart in the early 90s.

Caught LOTS of fish on them, though.

I should have bought his manufacturing equipment, he was trying to sell it. I just asumed that soon someone ele would begin making and selling them again. Anothe opportunity missed...

Good Luck!

Buddy