[Jim Wallace]

Anyone here sculpt their own popper heads from foam? I have a couple of types. I don't happen to have any purchased popper heads in my stash of materials, so I thought I'd try to make some.
I have some 3/8" foam caulk backing that came in a 20' roll. Its round, and I just cut off a section and shaped it into a tapered popper head with some scissors. I rammed a hot paper clip through the center to make a hole for some tubing. I inserted the tube, and now I might try to see if it will work as a tube fly pattern.
So far, I've brushed some clear "Hard as Nails" on it, and that didn't melt the foam.
I also have a lot of closed cell urethane "surfboard" foam scraps that can be sculpted with a sharp blade, or sandpaper.
Hmmmm.

 

[GAT]

A photo would be nice....

Over the years I've messed around attempting to make my own popper bodies from balsa wood, wine corks, thongs (the flip-flop type) and assorted other floating hard materials.

Every one of them ended up looking like crap...

 

[jersey]

Used a dremmel to shape the flip flop foam sandals into poppers. They worked well, but a massive mess and a PITA to make.

Learned to spin deer instead...

 

[Jim Wallace]

Used a dremmel to shape the flip flop foam sandals into poppers. They worked well, but a massive mess and a PITA to make.

Learned to spin deer instead...

Yes, good idea. So far, my attempts at Muddlers have been only so-so. Practice makes better! I would need to purchase some more deer hair, though, to have enough to play around with. I recall reading an article once about spinning deer hair that advised using the right kind of hair...that not just "any old" deer hair will do. I think that I was using some of the less expensive "any old" stuff. Apparently, good spun heads require using the highest quality deer hair.
Got any specific recommendations about which "brand" of deer hair I should look for? Maybe I should just ask the folks at the fly shop. I'm sure that they will recommend something that they have in stock. I'm not tying bass poppers, though. I think the 3/8" foam backing might make decent panfish-sized heads, though.
These will be for the salt, and I want to troll one across the surface behind my yak when paddling in the estuary or heading up or down a tidal creek when I'm not stopping to cast toward structure or known holding zones. I'll be paddling at 3-4 mph, and I want to find out if a fast moving surface disturbance garners any attention.
I'm going to attempt a few "prototype" surface gurglers using foam that hopefully resemble a wounded baitfish. Many good ideas and pics in this forum! These will be for searun cutts. I'm going to paint the foam bodies, and tie them up on tubes. Hopefully, at least one of them will resemble wounded bait.

 

[jersey]

Kelly Gallop did a video on deer hair selection, its worth the time.

When I did the dremmel, I used it as a lathe and turned the foam. Once a good cone was formed, then shaped it some more. Made sliders, divers, and poppers. The foam was durable and still have a few left. This sounds like a better option than deer hair for your application.

I got a decent slice of foam when purchasing a watch recently, it's the right size to get working on..

 

[tkww]

Anyone here sculpt their own popper heads from foam? I have a couple of types. I don't happen to have any purchased popper heads in my stash of materials, so I thought I'd try to make some.
I have some 3/8" foam caulk backing that came in a 20' roll. Its round, and I just cut off a section and shaped it into a tapered popper head with some scissors. I rammed a hot paper clip through the center to make a hole for some tubing. I inserted the tube, and now I might try to see if it will work as a tube fly pattern.
So far, I've brushed some clear "Hard as Nails" on it, and that didn't melt the foam.
I also have a lot of closed cell urethane "surfboard" foam scraps that can be sculpted with a sharp blade, or sandpaper.
Hmmmm.

Look up Clouser's tying book, he makes some poppers in there out of foam tube/rolls. He's tying them for mostly salt if I remember right. You might see if your library could get it for you if you don't want to buy it.

My thoughts would be:

1) the lighter and the higher density the better, which may mean more specialized foam rather than leftover from this and that kind of stuff. I'm betting flip-flop foam would work, though maybe it's a little heavy?

2) The key to happiness is perfect angles. If the angles aren't good you'll end up with a bug that twists, etc. The faster your troll, the more this will be a problem. To that end I'd use something like a bench sander rather than a dremmel so that you can control it with two hands, keep everything square, and so on.

If you're going deer hair, yes, kelly galloup's video are loaded with good stuff. This is the one I'm familiar with, though a quick google search shows there are others that may contain the same info. Yes this video is long, but there's a ton of good info in here.

 

[Flyguy65]

Back in my Todd/Lockheed shipyard days we used crappy foam ear plugs. They were yellow and kind of hard. (Uncomfortable!) I had a bunch of packages leftover, made some poppers for bass that worked.

 

[Bobbin]

If you want info on spinning deer hair, anything by Chris Helm will teach you more than enough.

 

[Jim Wallace]

Thanks for the replies. Maybe flash and feathers on the tail end will help it run fairly true. Wouldn't be a problem if I were just going to strip the thing, with pauses, but I'll be trolling it at a steadier speed. I think that the "easier-to-precision-shape" scraps of surfboard foam I have will work, although I may be able to precision sculpt the 3/8" soft foam backing with sharp scissors. I'll be experimenting with both, and maybe also with some other stuff. There's going to be feathers and/or synthetics, and of course flash tied in on the rear end, which should help it to run true.

 

[Stonefish]

Jim,
Next time you drive through PA, stop by Waters West and pick up a few packs of these.
They come in various sizes. They used to have different colors but it appears they only carry white now. No big, just have a magic marker or sharpie moment.
You can order them online as well and WW is always reasonable on shipping costs. They don't rip you off on shipping like Cabelas or some other places do.
SF

http://waterswest.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=76_142&products_id=804

 

[tkww]

Thanks for the replies. Maybe flash and feathers on the tail end will help it run fairly true. Wouldn't be a problem if I were just going to strip the thing, with pauses, but I'll be trolling it at a steadier speed. I think that the "easier-to-precision-shape" scraps of surfboard foam I have will work, although I may be able to precision sculpt the 3/8" soft foam backing with sharp scissors. I'll be experimenting with both, and maybe also with some other stuff. There's going to be feathers and/or synthetics, and of course flash tied in on the rear end, which should help it to run true.

I wouldn't count on that (that is, the rest of the fly helping it run true), but maybe. I would say that a longer blade might give you the best cut through foam--a really sharp knife or razor blade. Scissors have a tendency to pinch and therefore distort the cut in the process.

It just occurred to me--billfish/marlin/sailfish style flies. Some of those have a separate head/popper that slides on the line at the front of the fly. Well, not really slides, but the line runs through it, and it rests down on the front of the fly. The fly can be fished w/ or without the head, and if the head has more than one shape (front vs back) it can be reversed for a different action. Most of the way down this page there's some smaller-sized individual heads you can buy. Not saying that's the only way to go, but just as an option.

But I like this idea because all you have to do is get a well-centered hole in a foam cylinder (drill press) like what Waters West is selling. Alternately, slice a 45 degree angle through it and you have a diver. Or if you got two fairly even 45 degree cuts and created a nice point you'd having something that pushed water but didn't pop.

Point being, this style would keep the popper head more or less always perpendicular (true) to the leader, since the leader is running right through the middle of it. If I'm not mistaken this is basically what they use for trolling (for Marlins and the like). Anyway, Wapsi makes a bunch of sizes and colors.

 

[P-FITZ98]

I just bought a Wapsi deal I've been playing with, 10 bodies and hooks. My first poppers, so I hope they look ok when done, but I'm interested in trying to make some myself, but have done ok with deer hair stuff I've tied. I'm pretty green at bass with flies

 

[jersey]

Jim,

Light grit, fine grit sand paper s your friend when shaping those cylinders if you go that route.

 

[Adam Saarinen]

I've made these & a few more ugly ones for pike!

Material!

And the tools, razor holder is from Italian company Stonefly!

 

[sconnie]

Been using foam shoe inserts and cork to shape fly heads . Covering these shapes with formcard formable plastics.
I have to play with it a bit more, but I think the formcard stuff has real potential as far as improving durability and giving a finished appearance.
You Have to factor in the thickness of the plastic you use. I ended up with a couple double size poppers when I first started playing around with the stuff. Nice thing Is you can always melt it off and reuse it if you don't like the result . Hot knife to shape and cut edges, can take out seams with a hair drier or a candle a Freezer solidifies it well. Anybody using this stuff and have any additional tip for molding it or its use ?