Quick poppers

[denduke 0]

Few lil poppers.  Got the humpback hooks at BP and lil corks at HL.  Used the new resin DeLynn got me for hard coating w/ glitter dust and dressed them out with scrap bag leftover stuff.   They are small enough for breamses but got a wide enough hook gap for the inevitable bass.
 

[DarrellP 0]

Nice

[Bryon Anderson 0]

Those look great! I love making cork poppers. I even bought the little mandrel/cork holder thingy for my Dremel tool so I can sand them to different curved shapes. One of my favorite pastimes during the winter.

[Squeezy 0]

I really need to do this.  Been thinking about it and actually have tried a few times, only with wooden dowel rods.  Maybe cork will be a little easier working... I like the idea of 100% created and not having to be "pretty/perfect" for the panfish.  Also, anything I can involve the kids with is a plus.  I can only imagine some color schemes by 6 year old could come up with - she's a whizz in a coloring book!  Hope to join the cork club soon!  Appreciate you sharing and the inspiration to give it a go

[jcozzz 0]

I can make these at an incredible rate as i punch a hole thru the foam popper head,I tie these on sz12  wide gap barbless dry fly hooks.Just dress and super glue the head on.

[denduke 0]

Can’t really tell so FWIW try not to compromise the hook gap.

Not trying to be critical just trying to help 👍

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

With the small poppers I make for the backcountry (the SpeedBug) I'm using soft foam Perfect Popper heads meant for a size #4 hook - but mounting a size #1 Mustad 34007 hook instead.... Here's a  pic or two... I figure that the gap needed as Denduke mentioned is all important to hook striking fish...

Each hook is wrapped with a double layer of tying thread (Danville's flat waxed nylon - any color) on the portion of the hook shank that will be fastened up inside the slot of the popper head,  to make an anchor point for thin super glue (Krazy Glue) - then each pre-slotted and pre- shaped head is pushed onto the threaded area partially, a run of super glue on the thread - then the head is pressed into place and the slot secured with a clothes pin to clamp it together a few minutes to close the slot around the thread wrapped hook shank..... The head is compressed by the clamping but in just minutes afterwards the head returns to its original shape... I tend to glue up ten, twenty, or more at a time when I'm doing a run of these.  The various tails I use are done as the last step in the tying process... 

I've filled orders for these -by the hundred at times... No need for any color or markings on the head, small tarpon, snook, and many other species will attack these over and over at dawn or any time the wind lays down.  I tell my anglers to fish the bug like a crippled minnow with very short sharp strips (4-6" each time) - and with the tip of their rod in the water pointing at the bug at all times... For my own uses this bug always has the barb mashed flat with a pair of pliers before tying onto a leader... and we do without a bite tippet if at all possible... Although meant for salt and brackish waters, we've gotten good responses in freshwater canals from various different exotics - cichlids, oscars, peacock bass, and largemouths as well... 

One example of the many different color combinations I use for the tails (neck hackle for the tail - saddle hackle for the collar) with a bit of pearl Flashabou or Flashabou Accent to provide some flash for the tail on  the finished item.. 

 

[jcozzz 0]

The hooks ,TMC 100dl dry fly sx 12 give a decent gap.I over size the hackle to somewhat cover the hook point.They have a wider gap than a kink shank popper hook and are much finer and lighter.The first pic below is the last of the premade hard black foam molded onto the hook.I had a few dozen of thes and they accounted for many many bass over the years.Our northern bass do not seem to like giant baits like the florida strain bass do.I now make my own bugs out of balsa with a slightly angled flat face on #6 stinger hooks.

[denduke 0]

Playing with some foam   Gonna experiment with some mono weedguards glued in the foam.   Prolly “wet noodle in a wind storm” or missed strikes.😏

 

 

 

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

There was a local bass fly guide who made up lots of small poppers for bass - each one with a light mono loop in the forward 1/3 of the popper body (each end embedded in the head with the loop just large enough to stick down in front of the hook point like you're showing but mounted a bit to the rear with a bit lighter mono set in at right angles to the belly of the head.  I've never tried that myself - but it worked well enough that he had quite a following in the canals and other water west of Fort Lauderdale out into the Everglades...  When he was going strong I was still only fishing in salt or brackish waters.  Me, I'm a relatively new guide as far as the freshwater scene is concerned - just beginning to target peacocks when I'm not a hundred miles to the south along the coast of the Everglades... 

I might still have one of his bugs - if I can find it, I'll post a photo....

[denduke 0]

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

I have that book myself - that's the setup but a bit lighter mono and a bit smaller loop...  The positioning is as I remembered it.  

[jcozzz 0]

Interesting thanks guys.

[denduke 0]

Few more utility foam poppers with paint drop eyes, puffy paint spots and legs from a spinner bait replacement skirt.