Poppers

[Nick A.]

Hey I'm wondering if anybody has a good idea about making a bunch (100) of cheap poppers for smallies, I already have the feathers, just wondering if anyone has ideas about cork,foam,or something else. O and painting them or coloring pencil.

new to making poppers

any advice would be nice, thanks.

[ibn]

I like foam popper heads, then you can color them w/perm marker.

You might also consider doing spun deer hair if you already have a bunch of that.

[Philster]

Search for "Crease fly" on the net. Easiest and cheapest thing in the world, and for smallies, you don't even need to color them. I've caught everything from trout to roosterfish on them.

[Nick A.]

Thanks philster never seen it done that way, will have to try that out. It looks easy, fast, and cheep.:thumb:

[cabezon]

I've also been attracted by the crease fly and hope to put some together this spring. They should be a nice pattern for SRC that are targetting outmigrating smolts in the salt this spring. One possible advantage with th crease fly is that one may be less likely to have problems with short strikes than with Miyawaki's beach popper (another pattern that may adapt quite well to freshwater species, like smallmouth).

I have played around a bit with carving/sanding balsa wood for bluegill poppers. It certainly isn't as fast as foam, but the results are quite pleasing aesthetically. I have some old issues of a now-defunct magazine, Warmwater Flyfishing (same publisher as American Angler), which has several articles on putting together poppers from balsa and similar materials. I seem to remember an article or two that were fairly similar in American Angler and/or Fly Tyer. Let me know if you want more info and I can try to dig out specific issues.

I've also made some poppers from spun deerhair. At my level of skill / patience, the product is fine when tying larger flies for largemouth, but it is more of a challenge to end up with a densely-packed, evenly trimmed head when the fly is smaller.

Steve

[Teeg Stouffer]

I have had a lot of success with patterns tied generally in this style. You can do a chenille belly, you can basically make a wolly bugger with a foam top, you can do a marabou, bunny, or deer hair skirt - lots of ways to vary this general pattern. (This one isn't mine, came from the SRC swap in the gallery, from Fishingjunky15.)

http://www.washingtonflyfishing.com/gallery/data/18091/2687Gurgler_Fishingjunky15.jpg

[mr trout]

I talked with an old guy who said he found a killer deal buying them in bulk on the carboard display sheets in some online store... thats all the detail I have.

[hikepat]

Take a metal tube the width you want the popper bodies. Buy a batch of cheap flip flops. Sharpen the metal tube and chuck it into a drill press. Cut all the popper bodies you need. Razor blade for the length. While I not done any myself I seen it done and it looks pretty simple.
I have also heard of people using a dremel tool and flip flops to make popper bodies, but have never yet seen it done.

[Ron Eagle Elk]

I've got foam popper bodies all over the place. My wife entered a Dremel Bug swap on another site and has been producing the little fellows at an alarming rate.

I built her a lathe using a Dremel tool and flex shaft. The foam comes from those gardening kneeling pads or flip flops. I chuck a gasket punch up in my drill press and pop the blanks out quickly.

I'll post a pic of her set up later today, hopefully.

REE

[Ron Eagle Elk]

Nick,

If I did this right, here's a pic of the Dremel Lathe in operation. The lathe tool she's using is an emery board. VEE says the foam from flip flops is much better for turning than the foam from garden kneeling pads. It turns nicer bugs.

REE

[Nick A.]

I talked with an old guy who said he found a killer deal buying them in bulk on the carboard display sheets in some online store... thats all the detail I have.

I just orderd the same thing or similar, (dolphin brand) 100 assorted bass poppers from ebay buy now. $22 including shipping

[Nick A.]

Nick,

If I did this right, here's a pic of the Dremel Lathe in operation. The lathe tool she's using is an emery board. VEE says the foam from flip flops is much better for turning than the foam from garden kneeling pads. It turns nicer bugs.

REE

Cool idea, I have some flip flops and a dremel:hmmm: .

[Rory McMahon]

Another way you can get cheap poppers is to find a foam earplug style you like and buy a bunch of them. Shouldn;t cost to much and it should be pretty simple to tie.

T990

[cabezon]

I just orderd the same thing or similar, (dolphin brand) 100 assorted bass poppers from ebay buy now. $22 including shipping

I looked at those popper on ebay. They look more like bluegill poppers, probably size 8 or 10. That is not to say that largemouths or smallmouths won't find them extremely attractive too if presented in just the right spots. I've caught largemouth bass up to five pounds on poppers in that size range. In fact, I love the look of embarassment when some self-respecting trout, which normally closely examines flies for the correct number of tails, etc., swipes at a bluegill popper. That price for 100 bluegill poppers is great, a small fraction of retail; this spring, I was going to carve some for myself out of balsa, etc., but I can't beat that price and I'll probably order 100 for myself (a decades supply) and use the time to fill other gaps in my fly boxes.

Thanks for the lead on the poppers!!

Steve