Popper question

[snagged in outlet 3]

8 hours ago, Gavin said:

Finally got these done, and cleaned up a few. Hope the fish are still looking up. I haven’t heard a cicada in a week.

I had one small one on a buzz bait this weekend other than that I couldn’t get a sniff on topwater.   Buzzer, WTD or pop r. Maybe they need some time after the cicadas to adjust.  

[Flysmallie]

On 6/2/2024 at 11:11 PM, fishinwrench said:

I'm obviously not smart enough to build a Gurgler that doesn't spin the tippet up into a knotted ball of $#!t. 🤷

I was thinking about this again over the weekend. One difference might be in the knots. I'm not using a loop knot ever, and you use them all the time. Could the loop knot give it more freedow to get things moving? 

Yes I don't use a tapered leader, but I have in the past and it's never been a problem. 

[Gavin]

I use a loop for most flies over a size 10. Add diameter on the business end if the spins are a problem. 

[JimDog]

13 hours ago, Gavin said:

Hope the fish are still looking up. I haven’t heard a cicada in a week.

I fished upper Current the weekend before last (6/8 - 6/9) and the cicada bite was off the charts.  A dragless drift through any spot that looked like it may hold fish resulted in a strike - and usually a very aggressive strikes.  Probably 80% browns - bellies bulging.

I went back on Saturday.  It was weird - the fish would still respond to the fly, but would not bite.  Same exact rig.  Same exact spots.  A good drift drew a lot of interested, but they would just swirl at it.  It was frustrating.  Several times you would see them torpedo off the bank when the fly hit the water, then within an inch or two of the fly, veer off and disappear. I must have checked my fly a dozen times to see if the hook bent or broke.  

Cicadas or not, I'm sure those poppers will produce.  Even though you appear to have the heads on backwards 😛

[fishinwrench]

3 hours ago, Flysmallie said:

On 6/2/2024 at 11:11 PM, fishinwrench said:

 

I was thinking about this again over the weekend. One difference might be in the knots. I'm not using a loop knot ever, and you use them all the time. Could the loop knot give it more freedow to get things moving? 

Probably 🤔 

Next time I tie one on I'll cinch it down and see if that's the culprit.   

Good thought.  

[ColdWaterFshr]

Topwater bite was definitely not happening on the upper 11 point last week.  I tried.  Not even a single bump.

[Flysmallie]

Finally finished one of the yellow ones. First time using that much UV resin to coat a body and I don't think I will do that again. 

Of course now I have effed up my arm and will not attempt to cast this. 

 

[Gavin]

Popper is a misnomer for a Sneaky Pete or similar. They will produce a good BLOOP,  but I think they work BEST when sitting still. Let all that rubber and hackle do the work for you. A more slender topwater bug (like Ronnie just posted) probably needs to be worked, and probably fast. 

[Flysmallie]

22 minutes ago, Gavin said:

A more slender topwater bug (like Ronnie just posted) probably needs to be worked, and probably fast. 

That's excatly why it was created. Specific group of fish, on a specific lake, on a specific bank. They like them fast. 

 

 

[fishinwrench]

1 hour ago, Flysmallie said:

That's excatly why it was created. Specific group of fish, on a specific lake, on a specific bank. They like them fast. 

 

 

I toyed with the idea of an articulated Crease fly, but never actually created one.