Accardo Bluegill Special Poppers

[Rickyshoeshine 0]

Howdy,

I'm new here, and this is my first reply, but I've used the Betts poppers and find the point of the hook is under the body. This seems to keep many of the gills from taking the bug in.Wouldn't a hook with a longer shank get more hook ups?

[mikechell 0]

Usually, with poppers like Betts' ... it's not the location of the hook point that prevents 'gills from getting caught.

Bluegill and other small-mouthed sunfish, tend to pick a bug apart before eating the pieces. Poppers with long rubber legs, lots of hackle, etc. give smaller fish lots to pick at.

Bigger fish, or more aggressive fish, will get "greedy" and take the whole "bug" in. Those are the one's you catch. So, be grateful that you are not hooking everything that hits the fly ... many of them are too small to put up much of a fight.

[Rickyshoeshine 0]

Thank you Mikechell,

I'll keep that in mind. It's just that I never catch any gills on the poppers, I figured a longer shank would get more hook ups. You may be right on that these are smaller fish.

[sandflyx 0]

Gaines poppers oldest makers of poppers. right down the road from me. gainesflyfishing.com

[Bryon Anderson 0]

I bought one of the display packs from Hook1 last spring; I got them for around $2 plus shipping, but I don't see that deal going anywhere online now. You can find the display packs, but they're all priced around $150-200 for the 72 poppers.

 

I still have at least half of mine in their original packages in my basement. I don't use the ones I opened as often as I thought I would, and I almost never lose one. They'll probably be sitting right where they are now for years. If somebody wants some (or all) of them, shoot me a PM and I'll make you a deal on them.

[bwalters 0]

I bought one of the display packs from Hook1 last spring; I got them for around $2 plus shipping, but I don't see that deal going anywhere online now. You can find the display packs, but they're all priced around $150-200 for the 72 poppers.

 

I still have at least half of mine in their original packages in my basement. I don't use the ones I opened as often as I thought I would, and I almost never lose one. They'll probably be sitting right where they are now for years. If somebody wants some (or all) of them, shoot me a PM and I'll make you a deal on them.

Bryon I sent you a PM. Let me know if these are still available.

[Flicted 0]

Aside from some mini deer hair bugs, I don't use hard poppers for bluegill anymore. 80% of the time I use various dry flies and the rest I catch on damsel nymph (or other nymph/wet fly) patterns. Bluegill are never hard to find in the Midwest and in spring, they'll eat any dry fly. Especially pre-spawn females and males on the beds. I do use a deer hair popper to locate the bigger fish in summer/fall but once I find them, they will take a nymph more often than a dry.

 

Public Service Announcement: Be careful stewards of the resource when fishing spawning beds. Males aggressively guard the nest and are easily caught during that time. Once a big, healthy gill is removed from the nest, there are plenty of smaller, less genetically awesome fish that will take over the nest. It is best to practice catch and release during this period or at least selective harvest. Take home a few 8" fish for the pan and release the 10"+ fish to increase the quality of the gene pool. Also, don't be gluttonous and fish a whole spawning bed. Fish it for a while and then move on to another. I'm Flicted and I payed for this message.