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monkey93

popper problems

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Hey, I was wondering what the best time you would suggest for using poppers for panfish in ponds and lakes are.

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I end up using them most in the summer with a dropper searching any likely areas and once I find a fish or two I might switch to a pretty deep sinking fly looking for the larger fish if all that I am bring up to the popper and dropper are average sized fish :P I don't use them in spring as much even though a lot of people do, that is the time to find the larger females in deep water :devil: Another time I enjoy using a popper is if there is surface action then I throw my Soft Foam Popper and just let it sit. But I don't think I ever fish um in the fall b/c that is time for small dries and nymphs, but I spend more time in the fall fishing for trout and up in Michigan. Good luck popper are fun at the right time.

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really any time is good. just watch the water. when you start seeing panfish feeding on small bugs thats a key to start using poppers. if you see panfish cruising in the shallows toss a popper to them. i guarentee they wont pass it up.

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Watch the fish - they will cycle in and out of the shallows by season and by time of day. Obviously, when they are deeper, they are a lot less likely to hit something on the surface. Also, watch not only if they are in the shallows, but WHAT is in the shallows. The little guys will stay shallow all summer long, but the bigger ones will move deeper. If you are get a lot of swarming and swirls, but nothing hitting hard enough to actually take the fly in, it may be because they are too small. Also, seeing you are from Montana, I would suggest avoiding the poppers once you can start walking on the water in late fall. ;)

 

Deeky

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Warm weather primarily. Spring, summer & fall. When the water is warm enough for insects & baitfish on the surface.

 

However, I have used topwater flies in the winter occasionally. On warm, sunny days, if the surface temperature gets high enough, and you see surface activity, sometimes topwaters will work. This type of surface action, in winter, can be due to hatching insects, and smaller fish feeding on the insects, or schooling fish driving baitfish to the surface. But, it won't happen often, so you have to be in the right place & right time.

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Since it is legal for me to have two lines in the water, I let the fish tell me. I toss out a popper/midge dropper combo and the fish tell me when tdhey want it.

 

Crappie

 

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My area. Early to mid May, depending on the weather till the first cold snap in the fall. I'll fish them with a dropper a lot of the time.

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traditionally spring and early summer is popper time. Bluegills will get selective if there is a major hatch underway. In a lake in the Fl panhandle that I fish, the big bluegills will avidly hit poppers until the Hexagenia mayfly hatch is underway. Once the hatch is on, they tend to ignore poppers for a few weeks- but they will hit hex emergers like crazy.

 

There are no hard-and-fast rules about when something will be effective. Usually during the coldest water periods, they won't be too interested in surface feeding, but there are always exceptions.

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thanks for the tips........ I havent tried any poppers before but heard they work well.........So I will keep those tips in mind this summer

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ummm just 6 craft foam circles (i had to raid my sisters room for them lol) glued together and then spun on a motor on a 9v and shaped to size and shape

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How deep should you run your dropper? I was talking to a local fly guy and he said it was a good way to see where the fish are biting.

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