Hook up poppers

[flyonline 0]

Flyonline

Is the diver/popper in your pictures tied using foam cylinders?

 

Yep (not my tie though), I've tied them in sizes from #2 up to 10/0 and use different sized foam accordingly. I use bendy roller foam as is it's very cheap and can be found in various sizes and colours.

 

Has a really nice organic 'plop' on splashdown and when popped.

[Bryon Anderson 0]

Bryon.... what would you say to heating the hook shank with a torch for a minute before trying to bend it? Would that ruin the hook's temper? (i.e., make it brittle)?

 

FlaFly, I would say it's worth a try. I don't know much at all about thermodynamics, or metallurgy--little enough that I'm not even sure they're the correct terms for what we're talking about. I would imagine that results would vary depending on the type of wire the hook is made from, how much heat is used, etc.

 

In my limited experience with (intentional) hook-bending, I've found that it's usually safe to just bend the wire with a pair of pliers, provided 1) you don't bend it too far (less than 45 degrees for sure), and 2) once you've got it bent, you don't try and bend it back in the opposite direction. That's when the hook usually breaks, if it's going to.

 

(Edited for grammatical & punctuation errors)

[Bryon Anderson 0]

Here's a link to a blog post that talks about the creation of the Weedless Bomber Frog, one of the flies I previously posted a photo of on this thread. In the post, the author--who appears to be the creator of the pattern as well--mentions that it uses "two hooks tied together". This technique had not previously occurred to me for this application (weedless topwater bugs), but it would offer the advantage of allowing you to kind of customize your own double frog-type hook. Very interesting. I see some time at the vise in my immediate future.

 

https://fishandfeathers.wordpress.com/2011/02/28/weedless-bomber-frogs/

[Ol'DirtyCaster 0]

Not a popper, but it tracks well, and it's completely weedless. No issues hooking up on northerns, but I've had no reason to fish it down here. It's on a 3/0 vmc xlwg.

[Ol'DirtyCaster 0]

Not a popper, but it tracks well, and it's completely weedless. No issues hooking up on northerns, but I've had no reason to fish it down here. It's on a 3/0 vmc xlwg.

[fishinguy 0]

ODC, love that pattern great thinking with that design. Cream, I'll be trying to copy that frog as well. Have you made an sbs on that? I think I can figure it out, if you haven't.