Fish For Life 0 Report post Posted January 21, 2016 Im looking at tying some hook up poppers for bass, and was wondering what the different ways of doing this are? With a bit of trial and error while experimenting i have figured out a few patterns. Which got me curious what other methods might be used to make your poppers ride hook up. So how can this be done? One thing i am very curious about is hook up spun hair poppers?? After a bit of searching i didn't find anything on Google about this. Can it be done? It seams doable, just flip the hook while tying and make sure to trim so the major bulk of the fly is on the top. Would this not work?? Thanks Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FlaFly 0 Report post Posted January 21, 2016 I can't see why you would even want to.... after all, the fly is floating on top of the water. An up-hook would be clear out of the water and more unlikely for a fish to get hooked on. If you're casting your poppers in water with some floating vegetation, it's possible to rig the hook weedless using monofilament. If you're tying your poppers like most of us, you should be locating the hook shank close to the bottom of the popper head... otherwise the barb is too close in line with the head. Presumably to tie it hook-up, you'd have to locate the shank at the top of the head. I guess you can tell I tie my poppers/hoppers with the hook down. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
josephcsylvia 0 Report post Posted January 21, 2016 You could certainly tie with hooks up, do you guys remember the old plastic frog that had the double hook and they were pointed up, I dragged that thing through Lilly pads, cat tails ect and didnt have a problem hooking up, I would use the same double hook if your going to tie that way though Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mikechell 0 Report post Posted January 21, 2016 I've seen a few attempts. I've tried a few designs. Two main problems I keep seeing ... Problem 1: If you trim so the bulk of the material is on the "hook side", thus making it ride up, it will also be in the way of a hook set. Problem 2: The hook bend and point is a good "keel". It will pull the fly around so it is riding down, if it can. Gravity is a bi#@h. Gravity is the real problem. Fly casting ultimately spins just about any fly. There's no way to guarantee the fly will land "right side up" every time. The heaviest side of the fly will then rotate to the bottom. Especially on big flies, the hook point is almost always going to ride down. Please keep us updated on any progress you make in tying a hook up pattern that works. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fish For Life 0 Report post Posted January 21, 2016 I can't see why you would even want to.... after all, the fly is floating on top of the water. An up-hook would be clear out of the water and more unlikely for a fish to get hooked on. If you're casting your poppers in water with some floating vegetation, it's possible to rig the hook weedless using monofilament. Ive got plenty of poppers with different methods of weedless (single mono, double mono, wire, and so on). Some work better in different situations and so on. I just want to be ready for any type of fishing. For instance, some bass water is so thick in weeds that the fly sometimes doesn't even sit in the water, its mostly on top of the thick weed mat. If the hook sat down like a regular popper it would most defiantly get snagged, even with the best weed guards. But if the hook were to be facing up you would be less likely to get snagged. Or maybe the fish are biting in a certain way that mono prevents to many hook up, try a different weedless method and maybe the fish will get hooked. I dont really know, just going with it. Again, i mostly just want to have a bit of variety with the weedless flys. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fish For Life 0 Report post Posted January 21, 2016 You could certainly tie with hooks up, do you guys remember the old plastic frog that had the double hook and they were pointed up, I dragged that thing through Lilly pads, cat tails ect and didnt have a problem hooking up, I would use the same double hook if your going to tie that way though Ya that's the kind of idea. Im going to give that style a go in the next few days. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bryon Anderson 0 Report post Posted January 21, 2016 You could certainly tie with hooks up, do you guys remember the old plastic frog that had the double hook and they were pointed up, I dragged that thing through Lilly pads, cat tails ect and didnt have a problem hooking up, I would use the same double hook if your going to tie that way though I have been wanting to figure out how to tie an up-hook popper that could be dragged across the top of lily pads like those plastic frog or rat lures. I've seen those lures induce some dramatically savage takes when "skimmed" across a bed of lily pads. I can't think of any kind of weed guard that would allow you to make a presentation like that with a down-hook popper. If anyone has created a fly that can do this, I'd love to see it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fish For Life 0 Report post Posted January 21, 2016 I've seen a few attempts. I've tried a few designs. Two main problems I keep seeing ... Problem 1: If you trim so the bulk of the material is on the "hook side", thus making it ride up, it will also be in the way of a hook set. Problem 2: The hook bend and point is a good "keel". It will pull the fly around so it is riding down, if it can. Gravity is a bi#@h. Problem 1:Im thinking if maybe you tye on a longer shank you could tye the bulk of the body farther up front, leaving he back for a less bulky tail. This could allow for more room for the fish to bite??? Problem 2: Something i might try. Add dumbbell eyes to the top of the hook, right before the hook starts to bend. Flipping the hook over such as it does with a clouser. To compensate you might need to add a bit extra floatation, but not necessarily. Some poppers are already so buoyant that they may nit need any extra flotation. Again i dont really know. Im more use to tying trout and pike flys than bass. Only get to fish for them a week or two during the summer while camping in Ontario. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
josephcsylvia 0 Report post Posted January 21, 2016 you need a wider flat bottom to keep the hook from turning over, I bet if you tie a mouse or frog on a 4 or 6x long hook it would ride point up Just dont crowd the hook point Adding on, I just went in my tying room and tied a little mouse on a 4xl hook in the hook up position, Observations so far Hook gap didnt seem to be an issue trimmed down under it, Tested in bowl, it floats hook up, when dropped and tossed in it lands hook up about 3/4 of the time. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
flytire 0 Report post Posted January 21, 2016 heres a thought and probably a dumb one at that. i dont tie these types of flies so i may be just rambling why not tie your popper with a trailing hook behind it? something like this the back hook is up like you want it to be. you would tie your popper on the front hook as you normally would then trim off the front hook kinda like this example Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mikechell 0 Report post Posted January 21, 2016 Could work. Like I said, I am keen on the idea. I just don't believe it will ride hook up every time. With the hook point as a keel, you can get a fly to ride point down most of the time. With the hook point "in line" with the rest of the fly, you lose the keel effect and there's nothing to keep the fly from landing and fishing "upside down". Like the "Snag-proof" hollow plastic frog, you can add a weight to the "bottom" of the fly. That frog (one of my favorite level wind, bass fishing gear, lures) sit very low in the water. The hooks ride point up, most of the time, but it's the location of the hooks against the plastic body that make it truly weedless. Again ... find a way to tie one that rides hook up 95% of the time, and has hook setting clearance. I'll be the first one to sing your praises. (Of course, you'll need to prove it at the end of a fly line and after fishing it ... not in a glass of water.) (Or a pool) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mikechell 0 Report post Posted January 21, 2016 double post Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
josephcsylvia 0 Report post Posted January 21, 2016 Flytire's idea looks like it has a good chance of working especially if you could weight the bottom of the popper. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
flytire 0 Report post Posted January 21, 2016 For instance, some bass water is so thick in weeds that the fly sometimes doesn't even sit in the water, its mostly on top of the thick weed mat. If the hook sat down like a regular popper it would most defiantly get snagged, even with the best weed guards. i know theres probably some fish under the mat but why would you toss a fly onto it if the fish will never see it? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
josephcsylvia 0 Report post Posted January 21, 2016 Wether they see it or feel it they somehow know its there and they hit it even harder to get through the weeds and pads. Ive had some of my most explosive strike fishing thick stuff and it seems to be where the larger bass hangout Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites