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This is definitely my preferred popper for targeting Australian native bass in their natural river and lake habitat. Bass strike for 3 reasons.

The fist and most obvious is when they are actively feeding. At those times bass can have an appetite for everything from nymphs, yabbies, small fish, shrimp, worms, lizards, frogs, grasshoppers, cicadas, beetles and for that matter almost anything that will fit in their mouth it's not surprising that a popper dropped in their line of sight and looking like something alive often gets their attention. Bass are binge feeders and are by no way picky when it comes to feeding time. They will aggressively strike at food even when food is already hanging out their mouth. Once satisfied however they do lay relatively dormant whilst digesting their meal. When bass are actively feeding my favourite presentation is to cast into structure and let the fly settle and send out those tell tail rings indicating that something has landed on the water. That is often enough to induce a strike. If it doesn't then just a gentle wiggle of the fly with the rod tip is a good second step.

The second reason why bass strike a fly is that its a feeding opportunity that requires the exertion of very little energy. They may not be actively hunting for food but if it's presented right in front of them they will sometimes eat it any way. They can be quite picky in this situation but if you can present a fly that is easily accessed and represents a favourite food sources that will often have a go at it even if some of the strikes are a bit half hearted. Try the same tactics as above but and also strip the fly through and past structure. A second strategy that also is worth trying is to suspend a say a #10 weighted fuzzy nymph or shrimp patter such as a straggle shrimp below the popper. This often gets the sunken fly closer to where the bass are holding and reduces the amount of energy required for the bass to strike the sunken fly.

The third strike reaction is a territorial or protective response. Bass are quiet fish that generally live in the shadows and amongst structure and often mistake an larger intruding fly as some sort of threat so they whack it to move it on. When bass are not all that interested in food a good tactic is to strip the fly at various speeds and retries as close in and around structure as you dare. The denser the structure the better.

Bass have excellent vision and hearing and this fly lands with an audible plop and as it settles it sends out very suggestive rings so cast it amongst structure and let it sit. If bass are actively feeding 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 heavier popper have a look at poly 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 closed cell popper heads. They are always symmetrical, are available in a range of colours and whilst you don't have to paint them they have a hard and smooth easily paintable surface.
2. 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 just behind the eye post and wind it down the first 2/3 of the hook shank in touching turns. Understanding hooks Tie the cotton off with a couple of half hitches and trim the excess. Using cotton rather than fly tying thread, together with the super glue to attach the popper head will provide a foundation for the fly that will stand the test of time and the rigours of solid hook ups.

 

B	Put a couple of drops of super glue on the thread on the front half of the hook shank. Make sure the popper is aligned with the hook properly and push the pre-formed popper head onto the hook shank with the eye post just inside the popper head and the eye of the hook protruding out just below the front rim of the popper head. Turn the fly over and fill the gap in where the hook was fixed with just 1 or 2 drops of super glue. Put a strip of sticky tape on each of the two fingers that you will use to squeeze the fly with and then gently squeeze the 2 sides of the popper together. Hold them together until the super glue goes off which is generally just 20 seconds or so. If you don't put sticky tape on the 2 fingers you squeeze the popper head together with your fingers may stick to the popper and I find that when you finally get released from the popper the skin that you loose doesn't look as good on the popper as it did on you fingers.

 

C	Put pen marks on the side of the head where you want to attach the eyes. It's no good trying to work out where you want the eyes once you apply super glue to the eyes because they will attach to the first pace you touch them even if it's not quite right. If the eyes do finish off a little off centre, when you do this for the first time, don't worry to much as I don't think bass are as fussy as we are.

 

D	Put a little tape with the sticky side out on the point of a tooth pick and use that to pick up a doll eye from the front side. Put a drop of glue an the back of the eye and with it still attached to the tooth pick use the tooth pick to position the eye on the first pen spot on the side of the popper head. Hold it there for around 20 seconds until the super glue goes off. Repeat that process for the second eye.

 

E	Still with the sticky tape on your fingers gently squeeze the eyes so that they firmly attached to the popper head. This also only takes about 20 seconds. Carefully disguard the sticky tape taking care not to get any of the glue on your fingers.

 

F	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. Many types of tails including Dahlberg Diver, Deceiver and zonker tails suit poppers but I am very happy with a woolly bugger type tail and I like them to be about one to one and a half times the length of the hook. Tying in woolly bugger type tails

 

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 for the two legs on the front side of the popper along the side of the fly with the same amount either side of the thread and then take a couple of wraps of thread to lock the legs into position. Turn the fly over in the vice and tie the two legs for the other side of the fly in at the same position.

 

H	Hold the rear facing legs forward and wind the estaz chenille forward in touching turns until you reach where the legs are tied in. Now pull the rear facing legs back and take one turn of the estaz chenille over the thread that tied in the legs. Finally pull the forward facing legs back out of the way and take one or two turns of the estaz chenille in front of the legs and directly behind the popper head. Tie the chenille off directly behind the popper head, trim the excess chenille and whip finish behind the popper head. Trim the excess thread and add a drop of super glue to the whip finish.

 

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