Saturday morning was a success and I caught enough bass to chew three foam poppers apart. I fish foam poppers a lot for bass and gills. I think the soft body might trick them into holding on for a second longer or (particularly with bass) get them to come back up and hit it again when I don’t get a hook set the first time. But foam poppers are not perfect. They don’t float all that long. After a few fish they really do not float very well anymore. While the fish will hit them floating just below the surface, I think they work better when they are floating high. I usually make my popper bodies by punching them out of flip flop sandals. I have tried dry fly floatant and Scotchguard, but neither was very successful.
Anyone every figured this one out? Anyone with any good ideas?
I make and fish a lot of poppers and sliders here in my warmwater
fishery. Normally I can fish a single popper all day without it sinking.
All foam is not created equal.G Some flip flops are made of a foam
rubber type material, a bit heavier and more absorbant than the
closed cell foam that seems to work far better. I also typically coat my
poppers and sliders with epoxy. I am not experiencing the problem
with the foam flies sinking, even after dozens of fish on a single fly.
Warm regards, Jim
In my experience the “craft foams” are not actually totally waterproof. They will actually soak up water after a while and sink. When the fish tear them up a bit you’ve got a “part open-cell” foam.
I don’t use the craft foams anymore but buy the “fly foam” from flyshops. Takes care of ALL the problems. Also, instead of a popper try a gurgle-pop slider. It’s in the pattern archives, I believe. A size 8 or 6 is a good bass slider and I tie it in size 10 for panfish. Yellow rules!
Normally I can fish a single popper all day without it sinking.
All foam is not created equal.G Some flip flops are made of a foam
rubber type material, a bit heavier and more absorbant than the
closed cell foam that seems to work far better.
Words of wisdom :D. I can run my finger over the edge of foam for a little rough feel and rough look to the foam for closed cell. I don’t even give it another look if its foam rubber smooth. Some are in between, a little rough and a little smooth (with more or less of both kinds of foam). I just try to find the stuff that has at least some roughness to it. As cheap and easy as foam flies or foam poppers are to make, I just tie another one on the leader :). I don’t care so much if I lose one or it gets so battered that I can’t use it anymore. Like Jim, I usually can catch a lot of fish before one foam popper will no longer work. They are soft bodied and not as durable but I tie them knowing that anyway. If I want durable, I tie a hard bodied balsa popper on the leader.
So where do you get closed cell foam? What I have seen in flyshops is in one-eighth inch thicknesses. I have done glue ups of layers of foam for tying projects and could certainly do that again. But do you have some source for thicker foam? Or do you just keep chopping up different brands of flip flops until you hit a winner? Also how do you keep your kids from laughing at you for having all these sandals around with holes punched in them?
I don’t mind that the fish chew the poppers up - it is the price you pay for soft bodies. I would, however like to beat the sinking problem. It looks like I will be scratching foam for a while to see if it is rough or not. By the way I have tied up a bunch of gurgle-pops and used them for a couple of years, but they do not produce for me like conventional poppers. That of course may simply be that I have more faith in poppers and fish them more. It may also be the rubber legs I tie on my poppers.
So where do you get closed cell foam? What I have seen in flyshops is in one-eighth inch thicknesses. I have done glue ups of layers of foam for tying projects and could certainly do that again. But do you have some source for thicker foam? Or do you just keep chopping up different brands of flip flops until you hit a winner? Also how do you keep your kids from laughing at you for having all these sandals around with holes punched in them?
Some flip-flops, some garden kneeling pads, some marine type buoys, some PFDs (personal floatation devices), 2mm closed cell foam craft sheets (Darice Foamies by brand name usually), and so on. The stuff is out there and I just give it the feel and look test. If it doesn’t pass the test, I don’t buy it. I put my foam in a plastic storage box with a sealing lid out of the way until I need it.
It looks like I will be scratching foam for a while to see if it is rough or not.
Yep :D. I don’t scratch it, I just run my finger over it. A lot of times I can tell just by looking at it for roughness or smoothness without ever touching it depending on how much roughness or smoothness there is. Sometimes I squeeze it to see how fast (elastic) it recovers without permanent deformation (foam rubber tends to show permanent or near permanent deformation). The slower the foam recovers, the more foam rubber. The faster the foam recovers, the more closed cell foam.
All foams are not created equal, the first foam bugs I made were from the soles of old Nike running shoes that were too ragged for even cutting grass. This is a custom formed EVA foam, flip flops and cheap running shoes have die cut EVA from sheets. The custom formed foam is much smaller cells and much more water resistant. It is also must more difficult to obtain and limited in color and application.
I have noticed some of the gurgle pops [thanks for introducing me to that little pattern - metro Atlanta fish like purple] and grasshoppers not floating as high. It has never seem to interfere with catching fish however. I still catch as many or more than my bud with store bought poppers. I believe a good coat of clear spray paint at the time of manufacture before adding legs will solve that problem or a coat of resin.
:?: Has anyone tried ear plugs for poppers? some are very tight closed cell foam. The ones im thinking of are wider at one end and rounded at the other. Ive always wanted to try them but havent yet.
It seems that I have seen an article on rolling up that 1/8th inch thick closed cell sheet foam into cylinders to use for popper bodies but I cannot recall where I saw it.
I know it makes very durable Gurgle Pops, it might do well as a popper body also?
I just ordered 10 foam blocks form Steve. He seems like a great guy to work with. The price for 10 blocks each 2" X 4" X 1.25" was $15.00 plus $4.05 for shipping for a grand total of $19.05. If they are as good as they seem, that should make about enough poppers to catch all of the gills in the midwest.
I will get back to you with an evaluation when I have made and fished a few. Thank you all for your help on this. I feel like I am finally getting to understand why some of my foam flies and poppers have not worked as well and I had expected.
I guess I am like Jim H, I use flip flops and coat all my poppers with Sally Hansens.
They stay high and dry as long as I use them.
You don’t need a heavy coat either, just enough to seal the pores.
Sleezy Steve also sells cutters to drill the cylinders that has a bit in the center to center your cylinder on your dremel. they work pretty good. He coats his poppers also.
I have found a source for foam that is an inch thick and mostly made to go in water. It hit me, as you might expect, at wal-mart. I use the kids bath foam letters and numbers. They’re made for water and float great. A punch set and you’re cooking!
All foams are not created equal, the first foam bugs I made were from the soles of old Nike running shoes that were too ragged for even cutting grass. This is a custom formed EVA foam, flip flops and cheap running shoes have die cut EVA from sheets. The custom formed foam is much smaller cells and much more water resistant. It is also must more difficult to obtain and limited in color and application.
