I have never had much luck fishing poppers. (translation: no luck at all:() But I just read that if you cast a popper out there, wait until all the ripples subside and then move it a little and wait for those ripples to subside, etc. I have never fished one that slow. Do you guys fish them that slow? I’m wondering if that has been my problem with poppers? I don’t know if fishing them that slow will work or not, but I can’t wait for it to warm up and try it. 
thanks,
hNt
HNT,
That’s pretty much it, I don’t wait all that long because unless you really plop a fly down there not that many ripples. I strip it in a little ways in jerk and spits, so to speak. About 95% of the time there is a wet fly of some type tied to the bend of the popper’s hook. I catch considerably more fish on the dropper than the popper. What’s really fun is one on each. This time of the year I don’t expect poppers to be very productive on a regular basis.
Love to use poppers for bream & bass! How long you leave the popper “rest” in one place just depends on how your fishing. While fishing downriver in my canoe does not usually allow for too much time as your on the move. There are places, however, when anchored or tied off to an overhanging tree limb where at little more time can be taken, or when fishing a pond or small lake and I cast the popper out I like to let it rest awhile … maybe half a minute, then give it a couple short, small twitches … making it look like maybe it was a live bug and let it rest again. Count to ten or fifteen and if there’s no interest move over a ways to a new area and repeat. Usually if there’s anything going on you’ll get some kind of a response. One thing I’ve had happen with poppers and LM bass is that I have had the bass break right out of the water and snatch that popper in mid-air before it ever hits the surface of the water! What a sight and it catches me by total surprise every time it happens!
Dale
I fish poppers all the time for LMB and I never fish them that slow.I find bass respond best to a popper thats worked back at a specific speed.Usually I start my retrieve as soon as the popper hits the water,or maybe just a few seconds after and I only rest 1 or 2 seconds between pops.This works good for SMB and pickerel also.Watch someone working a zara spook plug and you will get the idea.
I will usually start off with more aggressive retrieves at first. If the fish respond positively towards this, great! If not, I will slow down the retrieves, and put longer pauses in, until the fish decide they like the presentation.
When fishing at night, I’ve noticed that long pauses sometimes work really well for bass. Just when I think its been so long that certainly NO fish can still be paying attention to my fly, one will just blow up on it and startle me! :rolleyes:
My biggest fly rod bass came when I left the deer hair fly sit along the edge of a patch of lilly pads while talking to a guy I went to high school with. He pulled up in his new boat to say hello and we got to talking for at least five minutes. My float tube got pushed by the wake of a passing boat and I twitched the fly when I kicked to get straightened out. That’s when the water erupted and the conversation was suspended.
I catch a lot of fish on poppers. Next week, I’ll be posting some step by step pictures on my blog (see link in sig line) for tying poppers.
I usually start off fishing them slow, if that doesn’t work I progressively work them faster and faster.
I’ve also found there are times when “popping” them does not work but a slow steady retrieve will trigger strikes. In fact, I catch about as many with a slow to moderate retrieve as I do poppinng and twitching them.
For warm water fish, especially in ponds, poppers are among my “go to” flies.
Jeff
Sounds like I need to slow down. I was afraid I was really doing something technical wrong, you know, like not holding my mouth right or wearing my had twisted or something.
thanks for the help guys, can’t wait to try it this spring.
I let it hit. If no immediate response, I give it one pop, THEN let it sit for a bit.
Poppers are much more effective in the spring.
I was taught to always let it sit for a time before the retrieve, how long is up to you and the fish. The old Rapala method was to wait for the rings to disappear and then pop it 3 times, wait, 3 times, wait, repeat. Spring Smallies will wait long periods and then strike a still fly/lure, but I never have the patience to wait more than 5 minutes.
A hint for LM in still water. Cast to the farthest point from shore that has structure/cover first and work your way in. Say there is a drop-off 20’ from shore, another at 15’ , and then a tree laying down all the way to shore. My first cast will be over the first drop-off, the second cast at the second drop-off and then move in on the laydown 3’ per cast until I hit the shore or even land the fly and hop it back into the water. Remember that the fish will be looking into deeper water and if the first cast is over him, he is likely to spook.
There is no wrong way to fish a popper.
Fast works. So does slow. Motionless at times is very effective. The fish will tell you what they want if you let them. It can change from day to day and hour to hour.
It’s always best to start fast and work to slow. Why should be obvious.
There are wrong times to fish poppers effectively. Cold water is not the best time. I know the stories about catching fish on poppers in the middle of winter, but it’s not likely odds. High winds with the resultant waves is not a good time either. Also not a fun time to fly cast so probably not an issue.
Cold water for LMB= anything under 65. For smallies, anything under 60. For both species ideal topwater temperature is in the 70 degree range or higher.
Best times are low light conditions in warm water. Early morning. Late afternoon. At night. All through cloudy days.
You can catch bass on topwater baits all day long in stained or muddy warm water. Target visible cover.
You can catch bass on poppers even in the middle of a bright sunny day even in clear water. Deep cover helps with this. Clear water=you can see something white 5 feet down. Deep cover= grass, rock, or wood that is on bottom deeper than 8 feet. It will work shallower than that if you can make longer casts, but bass in shallow clear water that aren’t on beds can be real spooky.
You can catch bluegills on poppers if the water is above 65 degrees and there are live bluegills in the lake or pond. You can catch lots of them. If you aren’t catching as many of them as you’d like, go to a smaller popper.
Got to love bluegills. They are the perfect fly rod fish.
Buddy
I agree. There is no wrong way.
This “let it sit until all ripples are gone” stuff as the only way is for the birds. Not saying it doesn’t work. I’m saying try something else if that doesn’t work.
Insanity: Trying the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
Got to love bluegills. They are the perfect fly rod fish.
Buddy - that is probably the most true statement I’ve read on FAOL in a long time.
Over the years I have observed that on some days they want it moving like Sea Bisquit, on others at a nice steady gait, a la Silky Sullivan, and on others, moving more like a Galapagos tortoise. Some days they prefer things on the quiet side, and others you can’t seem to make enough noise. Therefore, you should be prepared to try every trick in the book when you get on the water. Keep changing your approach until you figure out what it is they are in the mood for, and then give them fits!
An example of going extreme happened to me last year. I was fishing from my Waterwagon (swimfin propelled) on my favorite (private) bass/brim pond with only a modicum of success. For whatever reason, I decided to start to kick as hard as I could and trolled my balsa bug about 50 feet behind me (Iwas facing it–like a crayfish, I had no interest in seeing where I was going; just where I had been). In addition to the commotion the bug was making due to the trolling, every couple of feet I would give it a hard jerk to make it “pop”. I found the right combination for turning the bass on, and had a great day. You never know!
My experiences with fishing poppers have been bass like motion but, bluegills like it slow.
Some of my best bass caught on poppers have been just as it hits the water or as some have experienced, they seem to follow it in the air and sometimes grab it before it even hits the water. When it’s dark, I’m seem to catch more bass after I’ve retrieved the fly some distance at a steady pop, the hits are always explosive and quite often unexpected. The most fun ones are when you see the wake of a bass following the fly and finally attacking it, I never seem to be ready even though I’m watching. think I tend to get caught in the moment
With bluegills they quite often hit just as the fly lands or watch it for quite a while and a twitch will get them to bite. My biggest gills on a popper always seem to hit the fly after it’s been sitting a while, especially when I’m doing something else like untangling the fly line in my lap or answering my cell phone, etc. always a pleasant suprise to catch something when I’m doing something else.
Wayneb
Okay - here’s a tip I learned accidentally and then got some help from someone on this site in modifying poppers to make it happen. (I wish I could give him credit - but I just don’t remember who it was - Sorry).
Bluegill poppers with rubber legs aren’t the most aerodynamic creation and tend to land often on their “backs”. Trim one side of the legs a bit shorter than the other. If the popper lands on it’s back, let it sit completely motionless. If your balance is right, in a bit, it will roll over in slow motion. It may sit there, upside down, 30 seconds, or more, then just slowly roll over. Drives finicky 'gills absolutely mad.
Poppers are not my favorite surface lure for 'gills but if I have submerged brush in quiet waters I use this alot.
goodluckngoodfishin’.
I feel its important to not get stuck in one mode with poppers. Like most other flies there can be a different presentation required for each of a variety of situations. So plan on trying out various speeds and cadences.
And dropper? YES! Almost cheating - almost…
If slow was the most effective way to go, then that’s how the bass pros would do it.
They’re called “buzzbaits” for a reason.
That tip Hidehunter gave is a good one. Let me follow up with something that will save you a little grief. When you land a fish, hold up you rod tip and let you leader unwind. Maybe it’s just my homemade bugs but I can get a good tip of twist if I am not careful.
And that’s only one of the many reasons I prefer to not use rubber legs…
Buddy