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When I fist tied this fly and asked my wife what it looks like her immediate response was "it looks like a guppy". Well it wasn't tied to represent a guppy and I don't think bass have guppies on their dinner menu but the name stuck. When bass are feeding on big insects like Cicadas and Hoppers that crash onto the water they also become susceptible to flies like poppers, and yes guppies, 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.

Materials

Process

A	Cut a  tube of closed cell foam about half as long as the hook shank and about half the diameter of the gape of the hook. Use a needle or bodkin to pierce a hole down the center of the body and then slide it over the point of the hook and all the way forward to the front of the hook shank. Wind thread along the exposed rear half of the hook shank in touching turns and tie in an under-tail of just a few strands of sparkle flash or similar material.

B	Tie in a marabou tail about as long as the hook shank. Woolly bugger type tails Wind the thread forward to the foam body and tie it off with a couple of multi hitches and trim the excess thread.

C	Put a drop of glue just behind the closed cell body and slide it back over the rear half of the fly so that it will lock into place. Shape the rear part of the body with a sharp pair of scissors. Tie the thread back in just in front of the body and wind it along the exposed front half of the hook shank in touching turns. Take the thread back to just in front of the body

D	Tie in a marabou wing sticking out each side of the fly. The wings should be between 1/2 and 2/3 the length of the tail. Tie the thread off and trim it.

E	Shape a popper head out of closed cell foam and split it along the bottom. Put a drop of glue where the popper head will be placed and then slid the popper head into position. I generally use 5 minute epoxy here and just hold it in place until it goes off. With a little practice you can put a drop of epoxy behind each doll eye and hold them in position at the same time. Working with epoxy If your uncomfortable with that glue dolls eyes on each side of the popper head as a final step. Eyes on flies

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