Here is a photo of my first attempts at panfish poppers. Feel free to criticize and Fighting Five.jpg
correct.
First Panfish Poppers
Here is a photo of my first attempts at panfish poppers. Feel free to criticize and Fighting Five.jpg
correct.
Hi Lastchance,
They look pretty good, and they look fishy and should catch fish. I might suggest you use a bit shorter hook, in the same hook size, because the longer hook weights more, and will tend to make the popper less floatable. A lot of the poppers you see are more heavily hackled than yours, but I don't know whether more hackle makes them fish better or not.
That said, fundamentally you have done a nice job on the poppers, and they look like they should fish as well as they look. I like foam for poppers because they are easy and quick to tie, and they stand up well. Because the color is based on the foam color rather than paint, you don't have paint chipping off and the poppers getting shop worn nearly as quickly as balsa poppers sometimes seem to get.
Regards,
Gandolf
Last edited by Gandolf; 08-05-2012 at 04:33 PM.
Those hooks were the shortest 200Rs I had until yesterday. I was worried there wasn't enough clearance between the foam and hook point for a good hookup with the fishies. I ordered Mustad 33903 kinked shenk hooks, which should be a better length. After seeing one of RickZ's flies I can see that my tails are way too long. He said he tries to keep his the length of the shenk. Also, after seeing a big picture of my poppers, I need to pay more attention to cutting my foam straighter.
Thanks,
Bruce
Rather than change hook size, make your bodies a tad longer. The back end of the body should be just ahead of the hook point. The tails are within the normal size range, 1-1 1/2 X hook shank length. With heavier hackiling, you can produce a fly that is more or less 'snag-free'. The heavier hackle will not deter,or hinder a fish, but can make it easier to slide the bug over 'obstacles'.
I use Mustad 3366 hooks for my bream and bass bugs: balsa; foam; and, deerhair. They work great!
You are off to a very good start!
Regards!
Frank
Longer heavier tails will make the fly sit tail down. For pan fish a Mustad 3261 is a perfectly acceptable hook. $5/100.
Angled faces,are not required and IMHO not desireable. I like adding a hackle collar right behind the foam. I like the look and think it helps expand the water disturbance. "fine" size rubber legs at jannsnetcraft.com are not expensive and work very well with panfish poppers.
When you write "longer, heavier tails will make the fly sit down" is that good or do you mean it will make the popper sit at a bad angle?
What size hook do you tie your gill, perch or rock bass flies? I'm think sizes 8 & 10.
I like for the tail to be in the water, it moves and attracts the fish, personally I think the fish may think the hackle and tail are a bug on the surface and is more important than the basic body. If you don't have an easy supply for legs look at the interior of stretch cord a 1/4" or larger, some of the rubber is just right, some may be too large for my taste anyway.
As for size I use 8 and 6 hooks mostly. I have caught bluegill on bass crankbaits, don't under rate them and the size of the prey they will attack.
Want to hear God laugh? Tell him Your plans!!!
Hi Lastchance,
I like the 33903 also, and have used it for many of my poppers. I like #8, #10, and #12 poppers for bluegills.
Let us know how they do, and I think that they ought to catch fish just as they are. I've caught fish on ones that don't look as good as yours.
Regards,
Gandolf
After some consideration, I did a series of measurements on very old popping bugs that were great producers for me before I tied my own flies. The average popping heads were 1/2" long and the rubber dangles were 7/8" long from the end of the head. The legs were "fine" diameter and were supplemented by a hackle collar and hackle tail the same length as the dangles. I recall these flies working with great success and am now reconsidering my own designs.
As for hooks, Mustad 3261s in 8 and 10 are hard to beat and no one beats the price. I've probably gone through 500-700 hooks with only one or two having a crushed eye or such.
A very imporant tip is to make sure your popper head does not fill the gap of your hook.
Hi Coach. So you're saying about an inch is long enough to make the legs?
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