Techniques: Fishing a Popper

[surfstix1963]

Poppers:First thing that comes to mind when poppers are mentioned is Gibbs & Superstrike you just can't go wrong with these.Gibbs is a wooden plug while the SS is plastic.

These are probably the easiest poppers to work & stay in contact with.The Gibbs cast a little better into the wind but the SS casts well also.

The Gibbs is a floating popper,they come in sizes from (1 1/2 oz.-4 1/2" w/ 1/0 hooks) (2 1/4 oz. 5 3/8" w/ 2/0 hooks) and (3 1/2 oz. are 6 3/8" long w/3/0 hooks) I take the rear trebel off all my plugs and replace w/ a single dressed tail hook.

The Super Strike comes in floating and sinking models:

Green Eyes:Are the floating version they come in sizes from (4 1/4"- 1 oz. w/ 1/0 hooks)(5 1/4"- 1 1/2 oz. w/2/0 hooks)(6"- 2 1/4oz. w/ 3/0 hooks)

Black eyes:are the sinking version they all come in the same length & hook sizes but the weights are heavier.(4 1/4"-1 1/2 oz.)(5 1/4-2 3/8 oz.)(6"-3 oz.)The one feature with the sinking model is if it is retrieved slowly after it sinks it will swim much like a metal lip swimmer you can swim them bring them up pop them let them sink and swim them.I like to pop them w/hard short bursts(kind of like slapping a pencil popper around but easier) and when I see the fish coming at it tease them a bit and let it drop and they will usually take it then.

Plain old white and yellow are on top of my list leaning towards white except in Montauk then yellow goes on first.

I put the hook sizes down for reference when changing hooks.You can print this out on SS website.If I decide I'm going to change hook sizes I write it down on the chart so I know what I did.Also everytime I buy a different plug I write down the hook sizes on pc. of paper keep this all stapled together so I know what I need when I start replacing them.Upping the size of hooks on poppers usually won't hurt the action like other types of plugs.Put them in a bucket of water if they sit a certain way note that when you up the hook size check the plug in the bucket again if it made any major difference go back to the origionals.

A couple of my other favorites are the Creek Chub and Yozuri Mag poppers.

Theres really no rule of thumb fishing poppers you need to try different things sometimes they like a constant pop or pop pop pause just make some noise keep in contact w/the plug and enjoy the topwater explosions.If the blues are blitzing I like my sinkers to try to get passed the blues and grab a bass off the bottom just don't cast into the fray either over the school or inside of it.

As w/any other plugs there are so many poppers out there your head will spin.I have become somewhat partial to plastic(SS,Creek Chub&Yozuri) I still have & use my wooden poppers,thing is you are going to have to strip these down and reseal and paint them once water starts to intrude or just buy new ones.But it does give you something to do over the winter.

All of my posts are just my opinion and you know what they say about opinions.

[cowherder]

I put the hook sizes down for reference when changing hooks.You can print this out on SS website.If I decide your going to change hook sizes I write it down on the chart so I know what I did.Also everytime I buy a different plug I write down the hook sizes on pc. of paper keep this all stapled together so I know what I need when I start replacing them.Upping the size of hooks on poppers usually won't hurt the action like other types of plugs.Put them in a bucket of water if they sit a certain way note that when you up the hook size check the plug in the bucket again if it made any major difference go back to the origionals.

I was going to ask you about hook sizes for the metals in the other posts you put up. You answered my question here, thanks. It seems you put a lot of thought into how you approach fishing, even before you go out there. Who taught you to do that originally?

[stripercrazy]

Theres really no rule of thumb fishing poppers you need to try different things sometimes they like a constant pop or pop pop pause just make some noise keep in contact w/the plug and enjoy the topwater explosions.If the blues are blitzing I like my sinkers to try to get passed the blues and grab a bass off the bottom just don't cast into the fray either over the school or inside of it.

What he said. The fish will tell you what they want depending if you get bit or not. If I go fishing with a bud who hasn't spent much time in the salt, I'll direct him what to do, how to retrieve, etc. There are times when my suggestions don't produce and the newby doing the herky herk with the popper will produce. When that happens, I say just keep doing whatever it was you just did when you caught that fish.

This reminds me of a story a few years back when we were all on a ss spot during a blues and bass blitz. The blues outnumbered the bass 25:1. The craziest thing was that even though the fish were pushing bait to the surface, they would not hit the poppers, metals, or anything else.
There was one guy, he looked like Paul Bunyan. He was throwing out a popper and retrieving like he was having a heart attack. I laughed when I first looked at what he was doing, he looked like he was JOing with the rod. He was such a huge dude I would not laugh to his face or he could have thrown us in with one hand.

Well he was the only one hooking up, with his crazy masturbation imitiating retrieve. So it would have been stupid to laugh at him when he was schooling us all. I started following exactly what he was doing and 2 hours later had landed and released 30 bluefish, and one short schoolie.

[surfstix1963]

I was going to ask you about hook sizes for the metals in the other posts you put up. You answered my question here, thanks. It seems you put a lot of thought into how you approach fishing, even before you go out there. Who taught you to do that originally?

You learn from your mistakes is the best answer I can give you. You really need to know what the conditions are going to be & I also approach it now by knowing where I am going and what I need for that situation.I have a night surf bag setup w/ my bucktails,swimmers,rubber shads and darters and a day time one w/my tins and poppers.But than you may end up fishing into first light so I will keep a popper and tin in the night bag for that reason and vice versa if I get an early start into the nightshift.I walk the beach so I don't want a 100 lbs. on my back its shot as it is.Bottom line is you always need a plan what you think may pan out won't so then whats plan B or even plan C your out there make the most of it.

[Monty]

I used to fish Poppers more than 1/2 the time.
Now its down to around 5%-10%.
I like working the Super Strikes slow, especially in rough water.
Top one is a beaten up Tony Spina Pencil
Next is a bass on a Super Strike
Then a PlugCaster Pencil.
My favorite Pencil colors are:
Red head white body
Red head yellow body
Pink

As far as Super Strike goes, I really like the green.

[BassBuddah]

This reminds me of a story a few years back when we were all on a ss spot during a blues and bass blitz. The blues outnumbered the bass 25:1. The craziest thing was that even though the fish were pushing bait to the surface, they would not hit the poppers, metals, or anything else.
There was one guy, he looked like Paul Bunyan. He was throwing out a popper and retrieving like he was having a heart attack. I laughed when I first looked at what he was doing, he looked like he was JOing with the rod. He was such a huge dude I would not laugh to his face or he could have thrown us in with one hand.

Well he was the only one hooking up, with his crazy masturbation imitiating retrieve.

I got a chuckle when I read that. Too many guys are willing to bust on someone when they fish differently than the observer is used to. What works is what works for that day. Conditions and the fish dictate the technique.

Surfstix and Stripercrazy said it well, you have to be adaptable if you want to catch numbers of fish.

[Monty]

Here are some pics of poppers I just changed the hooks on.
My favorite Polaris style is the Green Superstrike.
The Big yellow one is a custom plug.
Then there is the Mikes Popper, PlugCaster Pencil and a Eel Punt Popper that I also really like.

[rip316]

nice looking stuff guys.