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So Paul contacts me to see if I am intertested in trying out one of his custom poppers. He sent it to me last October and I have been patiently waiting for bass season to come along. Look at this beauty! And not a bad trophy neither.




I can't wait.

That is a beauty. I've never had any luck with poppers. I've fished on lakes where everytime you throw a floating rapala or a torpedo, the bass would smash it. Then I'd get experimental and try a popper...and nothing. I don't understand it. I'd put the torpedo back on and I'd be back in action. I have a few in my tackle box and never use them.

That's a nice looking bait.

Like Markus, I have had little luck with poppers. It must be just us, though?

Of course, ours did not have the official Fish-Hawk logo, or we wouldda slayed 'em!

CCB

FH -

I used to fish poppers many years ago before getting hooked (no pun intended ) on Torpedos and Spooks. In between the popper and Torpedo years was the Jitterbug. I always had better luck with largemouth than with smallmouth using poppers, and the ones I usually used were the wider-mouthed variety with the rubber skirts. My best largemouth ever, caught on Bob's Lake 10+ years ago, was on that kind of popper -- used at sunset in a back, weedy bay. I find that for Wolfe Lake bronzies, Torpedos and Zara Pups/Spooks are the better topwater presentation. And floating Rapalas. However, after cleaning out my fishing box this year, I realize I have a couple of barely used poppers and will probably give them another chance this season!

W.

When I first started bass fishing (just about the time of Moses), a family friend from Ohio used to take me and he used jitterbugs and poppers, and anything else Fred Arbogast made.

So for many years I truly believed it was the ONLY way. Then I tried plastic worms, Texas rig, Carolina rig, Zara Spooks, and found they outfished my good ol Freds about 10 to 1.............only because you can get in more casts.

I was taught to chuck a popper, let it sit till all the ripples go away, then just twitch it;; then do it again.............slow way to fish, but exciting when the bass (or pike) nails it.

Anyhow, yes I still usem, just not as often. Just a thought, but maybe there were more bass then??

Regards: Jigs.

POPPERS.....one of my favorite baits , just as the sun is going down ,making a long cast into shore on White Lake wait till the ripples smooth out give the popper a little twich and pop....pause, twich, pop BANG ...One bucket mouth I like to work them off points, again at sunset using the same technics, One nite on white Lake Topwater and I boated about twenty bass in a couple of hours using hula poppers(fire tiger with red belly) What a trill to catch fish using these baits



BIG-O(Phil)<*!!!!><

If you want to catch HUGE bass on poppers go to Charleston lake. White Pop-R's are killer. Hit any rock shoal and pop away. Long pause between pops usually is best. A bone colored pop-r is by far my # 1 smallmouth lure.

I'm with BIG-O.... Have the usual arsenal of spooks, torpedo's etc. but can't beat a popper at sunset. Maybe White Lake bass still prefer a more traditional presentation?

Speaking of spooks...was I the only one dumb enough to buy one of the see through clear ones?

Hey T.H

White lake bass are in a class of their own.....I understand you know my Dad....did you have a corvette????

BIG-O(Phil)<*!!!><

I think most everyone agrees that if you are fishing a surface lure, you should not immediately start the twitch/retrieve. Believe the initial "PLOP!"-down brings them over, but cautiously, and starting your twitch/retrieve too soon might spook them.

Two questions relating to my personal observances:

1. Bass rarely seem to bang a surface lure once you are more than 1/2 way in to the boat. Do you guys agree? This is my experience.

2. But every once in a while as I'm reeling in quickly, about to recast, something will smack it -- mostly just rockies, but occasionally a bass. How about you?

W.

Ahh the popper, #2 cause of heart attacks among bass fishermen (behind Buzz-Baits).

Ransome and I got into using poppers in recent years due to the power of the Fenwick Chug-N-Bait, which I am very fond of. And last year Ransome found his "magic" bait in the Rapala Skitter Pop "clown" coloured.

The technique of pop, wait, wait,...pop definitely catches fish, but we are not very patient fishermen but we usually only pause a second or two and we caught fish all day long consistently on all different bodies of water. I suggest you guys give it a try, once it's warm enough almost like "walking the dog" with a popper.

And to TheHoser my girlfriend bought me one of those a while ago and thought it looked stupid and therefore never tried it until I needed something to compete with Ransome's Skitter Pop(I had lost my Fenwick). So I tied it on and got a bunch of hits from smallies. Later I found an article in an old magazine that compared Spooks to Poppers.

Here's the trick: Poppers for generally shallow water and spooks for deeper water. The clear ones work really well in about 10' of clear water P.S. I lost mine and am looking if anyone sees one around ottawa let me know.

I've had lots of success with the Popper (Bass & Pike)...Very fun to fish with.

The only luck i have had with poppers are the JALEPENO ones, you know with the cheese centre... umm umm good lol

GF...I bought the spook at the Carp show. The guy had a box full of clear ones. I'll see if the g/f remembers which booth it was. All I can remember is it was down the aisle where the guns were on display.

BIG-O...had a vette, but not at the time I knew your Dad. Kids and sportscars don't work well together somehow.

All I can say is that my go to bait, anytime, anywhere, any condition is the rapala skitterpop in clown color as gone fishin mentioned!!
Man I love that lure!