Techniques: Fishing a Pencil Popper

This is another type of popper they are shaped wide in the rear and narrow up front.

They are weighted in the rear for 2 reasons so the back end sits down in the water at rest & the top sticks out this allows the plug when retrieved to let the top slap on the water. 2nd reason is for casting distance.

This is one of the hardest plugs to master it requires extreme patience to learn it properly.

1-Cast it out.
2-Remove all the slack out of the line.
3-Put the rod butt between your legs & hold the rod about a foot above the reel.
4-This is where it gets tricky while retrieving very slowly shake the rod as fast as you can.Kind of like the old proverbial walking and chewing gum at the same time.
5-All of this whipping action will make the plug slap side to side while hardly moving the plug forward much this is supposed to act like baitfish fleeing.
6-When used properly these will draw strikes when other methods are not.
7-theres always a con to something and the con is the fish miss this plug alot because of its action it has when being retrieved.(very erratic)If they do miss keep it going that really pisses them off and they will try harder the second time to get it.
8-I am not a big fan of these personally too much damn work for me and I can usually get by w/ a regular popper or work on it till I find what they will take.
9-I do like the Yozuri surface cruisers if I decide to use one.

What surfstix said. I will also altenate between a big pencil and a large spook if for some reason the fish are picky.

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Originally Posted by surfstix1963

7-theres always a con to something and the con is the fish miss this plug alot because of its action it has when being retrieved.(very erratic)If they do miss keep it going that really pisses them off and they will try harder the second time to get it.

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I agree with what you said. When the above happens I will stop the plug, give them a chance to hit, and maybe change the action just a bit slower once I start again. I love catching bluefish on pencil poppers. The action when they are aggressive is unreal.

Pretty decent video by Tom Melton

Great tips surfstix thanks. What is the latest in the year you guys have caught fish on pencil poppers or poppers?

I don't use them much after October.

I have used pencils less each year, 2016 don't even think I caught a fish on one, likely less than 50 casts all year with them. Last year used the 3oz Super Strike popper a lot and a few different spooks, like the Blitzseeker. Fishing water with more current, rips, I feel more confident working the Super Strike Popper.

Bill Wetzel wrote a funny article about Jersey fishermen and pencils here:

https://www.surfcastersjournal.com/n...eath-machines/

I think the giant pencils are slowly going out of favor. If you go back five or 10 years when the spring and fall blitzes used to crash bunker into the jetties, they were very effective. Now that that's not happening anymore you can get better fish on jigs bucktails and darters.