Surf poppers.

[Volitan]

I’ve been getting quite good results beach fishing on the Central Coast lately. A little more then half the fish have been taken on surf poppers. 

This has made me rethink surf poppers, and especially to wonder if there is any way they can be improved. I’ve been using those pre-assembled rigs bought from Kmart for $3. Paternoster rigs with a surf popper and a very brittle set of 3 hooks ganged. The poppers are quite small and a bit fragile - no doubt the main determinant in their design is to produce something that can retail for $3.

has anyone made their own. If so, what did you learn?

is there a better way to fish them?

does anyone sometimes fish with surf poppers only (no bait) ? Result? 

For those who’ve used the Kmart-level rigs, do you think the heavy, doubled traces put fish off?

just trying to learn more about these things, I’ve long ignored them after initial mediocre results, but now I think I’m going to be using these always in the surf.

Cheers

V.

 

ps. I did actually try making my own using some fly-tying foam popper bodies. Quite a bit larger then the commercial ones, with reflective sides and fluoro and big eyespots. Result was total failure. I think maybe they were too heavy and just laid on the bottom. They had negative buoyancy..

 

Edited July 3, 2018 by Volitan

[savit]

I tried DIY from foam, they looked a bit ugly, then checked online pricing.

They are online/on ebay, not-prerigged( just surf poppers), different colours and hook sizes. Come to around or below $1 cost each delivered - if purchased in small bulk.

Probably not worth DIY unless you enjoy fly tying or similar activities.

 

[Volitan]

It’s not about the cost. It’s about a better design.

same is actually true with all fly tying and lure making. Costs, when all are considered, exceed what you could buy them for.

I just wondered whether someone had come up with something that worked better then those dinky little store bought ones.

[connico]

I've followed a couple of videos on you-tube to make poppers our of old cork from wines and champagne bottles. They all worked well but for the time and effort put in, i ended up googling and buying juro surf poppers which are much more durable and are well designed. I eventually refreshed the popper with new feathers when they wore out.

I've fished poppers without bait with similar success but I find that a half pilchard works incredibly well, it just causes the feathers to die quicker. Lately I've been using strips of squid with some success.

Also I don't use these poppers from the surf I use them from the rocks on my second rod in a holder whilst I spin for fish...

[savit]

On 7/3/2018 at 2:11 PM, Volitan said:

It’s not about the cost. It’s about a better design.

same is actually true with all fly tying and lure making. Costs, when all are considered, exceed what you could buy them for.

I just wondered whether someone had come up with something that worked better then those dinky little store bought ones.

I recently came across FB group "Popper Fly Builders". Plenty of photos of nice DIY poppers of various design, materials and colors there - if you are into DIY. Some of those have quite similar design to traditional australian surf poppers, so I presume they can catch local fish.