When bass are feeding on big insects like Cicadas and Hoppers that crash onto the water they also become susceptible to poppers cast around their structure. At other times they just have a whack at them because there intruding into their domain. In either case the strikes and hook ups can be spectacular. They may be big in overall size but they do account for many a big bass. I like poppers tied with cast poly heads as they land with a definite “boof” and If let sit after landing with the circles just fanning out after casting in structure that is often enough to induce a hit. If it doesn’t the just a gentle wiggle of the fly with the rod tip is a good second step.

For slightly lighter popper have a look at bass foam head popper
.

Materials

Notes on poppers:

1. Whilst you can make your own popper heads out of cork or foam I prefer to buy pre-formed popper heads. Because they are injection moulded they are always symmetrical, have a hard and smooth easily paintable surface and have the cut for the hook moulded into their shape.
2. It is also worth noting that whilst I use jig hooks for poppers reserved for fresh water, I use stainless hooks for my bigger poppers just in case I use them in salt or brackish water. Regardless of the hook chosen I always wash and dry my poppers after use to ensure they last a long time. In the salt they are a great option for many estuary, pelagic and tropical species.
3. I think eyes on flies are important and prefer dolls eyes for my poppers. As an alternative you can of course use holographic eyes or simply paint eyes on.
• Eyes on flies

Process

 

A	Tie the thread in at about the half way mark wind it a further 1/4 of the distance toward the bend of the hook and then wind it all the way forward to the eye of the hook in touching turns. Understanding hooks Tie the cotton off and trim the excess. This will provide a foundation for the fly that will stand the test of time and the rigours of solid hook ups.

 

B	Mix up a small amount of 5 minute epoxy and apply a thin coat to the front half of the hook shank. Working with epoxy Push the pre-formed popper head onto the hook shank directly behind the eye of the hook. Fill the gap in where the hook was fixed with epoxy.Make sure the popper is aligned with the hook properly and rotate the popper until the epoxy goes off.

 

C	Paint the popper head and attach or paint on the eyes.You can make this step as simple or as complicated as you like. I believe that some flies catch more fishermen than fish and I only put decoration into my popper heads that I think will help me catch fish. Generally all I do is paint them a solid colour, dip the top and bottom of the head in sparkles and then when they dry attach eyes and give them a coat of varnish. Solid colours make them visible, the sparkles catch the light from all directions, and the eyes stand out. At the other extreme I have seen air brushed heads with all the bells and whistles. A very good compromise finish can be achieved by painting the popper head first and then spraying a second light colour of silver over the base coat through fly screen mesh so as to create a somewhat scale like pattern. Black is by far my favourite colour for bass followed by chartreuse and red.

 

D	The tail is an important element of the fly as it is responsible for helping the popper swim properly and with the legs adds movement to the fly. My favourite tail for a popper is a wolly bugger tail as long as the hook shank. Woolly bugger type tails It’s not always possible to get marabou long enough to achieve a tail as long as a hook shank but there are plenty of alternative tails that work well. I like the tails on my poppers to be the same colour as the body of the fly or black. In this photo I have tied in a Dahlberg diver type tail. Tying a dahlberg diver tail.

 

E	Deceiver type tails work well. Tying a deceiver type tail.

 

F	Zonker strip tails also work well. Tying a zonker strip tail

 

G	Tie in a length of estaz chenille at the bend of the hook. Tie in two sets of legs “Chernobyl” style on each side of the fly.The easiest way to tie legs in is to hold the leg material along the side of the fly with the same amount either side of the thread.Take a couple of wraps of thread to lock the legs into position. Legs on flies Repeat this process on the opposite side of the fly. Rubber legs

 

H	Wind the estaz chenille behind the legs , between the legs and in front of the legs. Tie the chenille off directly behind the popper head, trim the excess and whip finish behind the popper head.Trim the excess thread and varnish the whip finishing.