Basically a popper is supposed to move a lot of water. Big splash big noise. You should be able to audibly hear the popper break the water with each strip. This said, you will have to find out what the fish are keying in on. I have had times when stripping a popper hard brought no strikes and just giving it little tugs brought monsters crashing to the surface.

 

I throw poppers as close to lilly pads or other cover as I can. I then let rings dissipate completely before stripping in the popper. Quite often the take is on the first strip. I use a short 8 to 10 inch strip and then change if nothing happens. My experience with large mouths is if you don't land the popper right next to the pads or dock you are wasting your time. Good luck, Jim.

 

I'm about the head out to go bass fishing... I don't know much, but this is what I've learned from bass.....

Poppers for me a great locator flies, but not good fish catching flies especially mid-summer. I have a great time fishing poppers because they're fun to watch and really exciting when you do get a bass to smash it. But, for me, clousers, buggers, bunny leeches stripped erractically will usually out fish a popper any day of the week.

It sounds like your technique right one. Are you fishing good popper water? Shallow water, docks, overhanging trees are generally good locations to throw a popper.

The gear guys that go after bass mainly don't fish surface crank baits, etc. Sometimes they're effective, but generally, subsurface is the way to go.

If you want to perfect your popper skills, get some bluegill poppers. Bluegills are almost always eager to hit a popper and they're great fun on a 3 weight.

 

Erratic strip pause, lots of commotion, etc. let the splsh rings go away after the cast and after each time you pause. i have found that you have to try several different retrieves before you find what they are dialed in to.

ona sort of side note...last sunday evening 7/2 smallies were pounding topwater poppers on lower granite lake around chief timothy park near clarkston. lots of 8"ers, a good number of 10-14"ers
not huge but a great time.

 

Fish a popper agonizingly slow.

Most the time, the best technique is no technique. A willing bass will pounce on it right after it hits the water. A hair bug can be slapped down hard. Just a little lighter with a cork bug.

If you get nothing after the landing, wait until the rings dissipate, then give it a little twitch. Bass are hardwired a lot like cats. After the initial landing, they'll come up close look at the bug, look at the leader, even look at you, and, seeing the whole situation, have no intention of eating your stupid, gaudy bug. Then it twitches, and they have a knee jerk reaction. They can't help it.

Also, the twilight hours, early morning, evening can be magical.

 

Make sure you have a snag guard for your hook and cast into the nastiest stuff around - especially if you are fishing mid-day and the sun is out.

The more clouds or if fishing really early or late (sun off the water), the fish will be on the move a little more and can work the edges. But most of the time, if you are targeting the edges of the lilly pads - you are not showing it to enough fish.

Send it flying into the thick of the pads and as said above, just let it sit. When you think it has sat long enough, let it sit anohter 10 seconds or so. Then give is short quick tug and sit for another 10 seconds. Then do a series of 6-10 inch strips getting it to sputter and pop and gurlgle several feet through and over the pads, then let it sit for a good 20-30 seconds. Repeat. Don't waste too much time casting to the same place. Just keep looking for hungry fish.

 

I can already tell that I'm fishing way too impatiently; I need to allow the popper to sit longer and make my retrieve a little more erratic. Unfortunately, there really aren't any lilly pads where I'm fishing. There are a few logs and a couple of spots where the trees hang over the water, but generally not a tremendous amount of structure that is visible. There a plenty of shallows and some nice rocky drop offs, which I understand make pretty good smallie water. I'm finding these fish are a little smarter than I anticipated, or I'm a little dumber. Probably a combination of both:clown: Thanks for the feedback. Any other tips on how or what to fish for these critters is greatly appreciated.

Jon

 

Sounds like you should try working the structure and the drop-offs with a sink tip. Try some big grizzly woolly buggers, leeches, crawdad, and baitfish patterns fished deep. Don't be afraid to let it sit on the bottom for several seconds at a time. The bass will often suck it in while it is sitting still and you really have to watch your line for any movement.

 

patience, patience, patience - you have to target shoot as close to structure as possible, wait until the surface settles, give it some small erratic action - quiet noise - you don't have to hear it, the fish a few inches below has to. nothing yet, well, an erratic retrieve is in order. many ways to think about it, old time bass fishers who 'walk the dog' can do pretty well at that stage. remember the structure that is relevant is below the surface too - you have to envision what is down there and the potential ambush points - then drag your surface lure past those ambush points. bass love to ambush. finally, for consistent day-to-day, i've had better luck going sub-surface, and surface fishing for bass is dependent on a lot of factors, insect activity, weather, wind, brightness, blah, blah, blah - that said, it 's enough fun for the rest of the time.


k

 

As noted in earlier posts get as close to structure as possible. This time of year cloudy or foggy mornings/evenings are best for top water. I perfer mornings myself, once the sun hits the water the top action will pretty much be over. Then go down to the fish with a steamer or the likes as mentioned above.

I have been fishing a pond near my house for several weeks and what I have found as a most consistant producer is a black Chernobyl Ant in a size #6 or #4, bass, crappy and blue gill all find this bug attractive. Presentation is key, as indicated above wait for the rings on the water to go away then strip again and wait this is when they will usually gulp it down.

I have also found on this particular pond that fishing subsurface with a #12 orange rabbit dubbed bead head fished very slow with a floating line produces very well on all three species .

 

What do y'all use as your go-to popper? I just tried a pencil popper yesterday. I was using a small one w/ a rubber skirt and legs prior to that one. Though the conditions weren't ideal, I still managed to pick up one smallie by following your advice. I must have ADD because I have a hard time being that patient and staying focused. I missed a couple fish because I was looking elsewhere while waiting for the rings to dissipate. I've been doing the subsurface routine, but haven't had much luck. I've primarily used yellow/white clousers, black bunnies, olive bunnies, and I tied up a few of the flies that were in the last issue of NW Fly Fishing (lead eyes/bunny strip/rubber legs). I've been fishing drop offs and using erratic retrieves w/ long pauses. I'm seeing fish, but they don't appear to be interested. I haven't tried orange, so maybe I whip up a few of those. Is it essentially a beadhead hare's ear?

 

So let me ask the same question about how to fish subsurface in the weeds

I was out on lake Washington yesterday and I would have been hammering it I would think but I had to clean my bugger every cast because of the unrea amount of grass and weeds in there

Any suggestions on how to target bass in this type of setup when its too brite for topwater?

I know the pro-bass dudes do it because I see them basically casting straight into the weeds

 

So let me ask the same question about how to fish subsurface in the weeds

I was out on lake Washington yesterday and I would have been hammering it I would think but I had to clean my bugger every cast because of the unrea amount of grass and weeds in there

Any suggestions on how to target bass in this type of setup when its too brite for topwater?

I know the pro-bass dudes do it because I see them basically casting straight into the weeds

 

Bass can be VERY picky and easily spook. They can sit as wait and stare at potential food for several minutes before choosing to eat it (or not...).

The best approach is stealth. If you are kicking around in a float tube, and slashing the water with your line, etc, you may be putting lots of them down. Especially the bigger ones.

Try longer leaders, keeping your distance, and cover as much water as you can, without rushing yourself.

And as noted, fish the prime times - before and after the sun hits the water, fishing in fog or slight rain, some slight wind chop, etc. The fish are much more willing to give chase and slam your fly if they feel safe in leaving their cover.

Also, this is from my experience, and others mileage may vary, but I don't do as well on lakes the day after a full moon night. My theory, and others i've talked to, is that the fish are able to feast all night and in the day, they just arn't as hungry and tempting them to move out of cover is that much harder...

 

I can already tell that I'm fishing way too impatiently; I need to allow the popper to sit longer and make my retrieve a little more erratic. Unfortunately, there really aren't any lilly pads where I'm fishing. There are a few logs and a couple of spots where the trees hang over the water, but generally not a tremendous amount of structure that is visible. There a plenty of shallows and some nice rocky drop offs, which I understand make pretty good smallie water. I'm finding these fish are a little smarter than I anticipated, or I'm a little dumber. Probably a combination of both:clown: Thanks for the feedback. Any other tips on how or what to fish for these critters is greatly appreciated.

Jon

If there is no surface structure then you are fishing the wrong bugs. Poppers = Lilly pads or docks. The bass sit under these structures one, for shade and two waiting for something to eat to fall off of them. Toss poppers along and under docks, trees or in the middle of lilly pads. For subsurface structure and droppoffs use subsurface line/flys. It's pretty dang hard to get a bass to leave his nice cool stump or dropoff for a popper.

 

Avs - good hook guards help. Aslo, think more of a vertical presentation than a horizontal. For example, you may cast back into a slight opening in the weeds - well, that is your area of presentation. let it sink and perhaps lift it and let it drop a few times, but once you leave that little opening, you will probably get caught up in the weeds. Lilly pads are different in that you can often pull through them and around them and have a good retrieve much of the way. But fishing in the heavey milfoil type stuff is harder. It's like trying to fish the salt water then the salad is in thick. It can be done, but you have to focus on the clear pockets.

 

The go-to popper? For smallies, it's a yellow #6 Sneaky Pete.

http://www.washingtonflyfishing.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=13651&cat=500&ppuser=440

 

Do you tie 'em or buy 'em? And where do you get them/buy the stuff? The little bit of experience I've had w/ the top water stuff has been a blast. It's kind of like having a toilet flush and there goes the fly With the dog days of summer upon us, this may be the fly fishing fix for me.

 

Hey don't forget the scum frog stuff too. Especially this time of year. My buddy went out last weekend and got 3 huge ones on top of the pads. Make sure the hook point is completly covered and hop it right on top of the pads not in the open water. Be patient thuogh you will miss more than you hook but they will be PIGS !!!!

 

What's "the scum frog stuff?"

 

All of the above is great advise but, I think Paul hit the nail on the head when he wrote , "rember bass are hardwired a lot like cats". Tie or buy some dragon fly patterens,bass love them and will snag them in mid air sometimes,frogs are also a ton of fun on/in the pads.Good Luck...Alan

 

http://www.wetlandoutfitters.com/catalog/index.php/cPath/9
Take a look. If I had some tied I'd post a picture but the idea is the same. Hook is up and rubber legs on the bottom. You want to fish them on top of the pads and hop from pad to pad.

 

I think the time of the day plays a big part in poper fishing. I do 10 times better fishing popers early morning then any other time of the day.