I just sent these in an email to guru flybinder and thought I’d share them here too.
The local ponds are starting to warm up with the nice spring weather. In anticipation of summer bluegills, I prepared a special treat for my little buddies.
I hope they find these to their liking.
Jeff
click on the thumbnails to see full size.
nice looking poppers and sliders Jeff. what size hook are you using??
WOW Jeff! Those are really nicely done. I’ve not tried tying poppers yet but your’s certainly look good and will help motivate me. Now for you next trick will you post some picture of those slab bluegills you catch on these bad boys? Can’t wait to see what you do next!
Great looking poppers.
I am tring to get a handle on the size - what is the length?
thanks
Dan
The larger ones are #6 Popper hooks (Mustad CK 52S), and the smaller ones are the same hook in size #8.
Thanks for the compliment. These are the first poppers I’ve tried to tie. I tried some different tail materials to see what is going to work the best.
Jeff
Dan,
I’m heading out to my son’s soccer game and then to dinner. I’ll measure them tonight and post the results for you.
Jeff
What material did you use for the body? I would like to try making poppers and have been considering wood. Maybe a golf tee…
Joe; Actually, once, a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG time ago, I tried a golf tee, for a popper, because like I think YOU’RE thinking… “the cupped top is a great looking popper shape”!?
Well, the SINK LIKE A ROCK, tied to a WEIGHT! haha!! (IF, that is, you’re talking WOODEN golf tees!?
Good, high density foam, makes great popper bodies. Go to a garage sale, (or the closet of a small child, relative) and get a pair of foam “flip flops”, the thicker ones, (two to thee laminated layers of foam work best), all the better and make your popper bodies out of them. At a garage sale, (usually) a used pair of kid’s foam sandals are about 25 to 50 cents tops and have enough material in ONE to make 24 or more, good poppers!
Take a length of galvanized pipe, or, copper tubing, the size of the popper you wish to make and file or grind down the outer edge to make yourself a “popper punch”. Merely, pound it through the foam sandal.
Make to shape, with sandpaper, a Dremel tool, or a razor blade.
Those are foam like Flybinder mentioned. I was really lazy and didn’t punch my own out. The shapped ones came from a good friend. The cylendars I bought at a fly shop they are about 3-4" long and you just cut to length and put on the hook.
I cut a slit in the foam, opened it up a little, slid the hook in and a couple drops of super glue to hold the foam together.
Next time I’m at Home Depot or some other hardware store, I’m getting some pipe to punch out foam flip flops.
Remember I’m lazy, I think rather than pounding the pipe through the flip flops, I’m going to try to chuck a piece in my drill press and see if I can “drill” them out. It’s worth a try…
Jeff
If you are going to do alot of bodies look at getting a “Hollow Punch Set”.
The ends can be milled down to fit in a drill at a machine shop.
Use a spray adhesive and glue sheets of foam together.
You can then cut bodies from 1/8 inch to 3/4 inch in size and the color or colors you want.
Cut about four bodies and the changed the punch. The punches get hot and and the sides of the bodiy are not as smooth. In multi colored boies the colors will bleeed across the edges some. Changing punches often seems to keep this from happening.
Lewt me know if you would llike to see a icture of a few of my punches.
Rick
Jeff,
It must be my monitor, but when I click on the thumbnail it’s hard to see the detail. Can you send me a dozen of each so I can see them up close? 
Nice looking flies. 
FLIP FLOPS!!! Why didn’t I think of that? I knew there was a reason I was hanging around on this site!!! You’re geniuses!! I just so happen to have some el-cheapo flops that were made in China and probably not lead free. Now to find them… I’ll be making these by the end of the day!!!
You should send me a dozen or so also, so I’ll have a good idea of how to make them… J/K;)
flip flops whoda thunk! the wife just cleaned out the closet, boy do I have a good supply of foam. THANK YOU FOR THE ADVICE!
Since it “appears” that I’ve started a movement to resurrect the past lives of old Flip Flops, one itty-bitty, piece of advice on that topic I left out earlier…
“When at your workbench and punching popper bodies out of an old pair of 3 layer, multicolored, “Flops” and the left “flop”, is laying there looking like a screen door,there’s so many “bodies” already removed from it and you’re bride walks in, sees what you’re doing then makes several 3/8” holes in your forehead with your punch…
MAKE SURE you’ve checked with HER FIRST after claiming the flops off the back porch!
It’s VERY POSSIBLE that she WASN’T done wearing that pair just yet… they were NEW…and they “just looked “old”, because she’d been gardening in them and hadn’t washed them off yet.
Very, quickly, your “cheap, nearly free, popper bodies” can suddenly cost you around $25.00 each, depending on the price you had to cough up for your “apology gift”.
Not, to mention, the bill from the ER to make those little “plugs” for the 3/8” holes in your forehead.
Not ALL of us, “rule the roost, with an iron glove”, the way Jeff does, remember! Be careful. Ask first!?!
Dan,
I sent a PM but just in case others were wanting to know,
The ones tied on on the #8 hooks average about 1.5" from hook eye to tip of tail.
The ones tied on the #6 hook range from 1.75 to 1.857".
Hope this helps.
Flybinder, thanks for the tip on the apology gift.
Jeff
Jeffnles1
Drilling them out works just fine. A good tip is to prepare a dishwashing soap mixture with water, don’t need a lot of soap, to dip the cutting tube into before drilling. This makes the foam come out of the tube much easier.
RickZ,
I would appreciate seeing a picture of your punch set.
RickN
here are two pictures.
first the punch set
second the 1/4 and the 3/54 inch punches. s you can see how the 3/4 was turned down to fit the drill.
Rick
Don’t forget our very own Jim Hatch’s info and examples!!
http://www.flyanglersonline.com/flytying/fotw2/082205fotw.php
and
http://www.flyanglersonline.com/flytying/fotw2/062606fotw.php
I have my setup like this close to the grill, and this time of year when I am grilling I bang out numerous bodies while the meat is cooking. (The number depends on the type and thickness of the steaks!)
As opposed to many people, I DO NOT punch out circular peices. I cut them into squares or rectangles and center them on the needle. Then just like on a lathe for wood, I ‘true’ them up before I start actually shaping. I wear safety goggles in case the needle ever breaks, as it does wobble pretty good when I first start sometimes.
Be safe and have fun tying!!
