Fly Tying Wacky Poppers for Bass Fishing

I have been catching a lot of bass lately with this inexpensive, easy-to-make popper pattern. A lot of the foam I used before from fly shops would get water logged and was expensive, so I experimented, and this is what works for me. I use Wacky Noodles from the Dollar Store for $1 each for the bodies. One noodle can last a lifetime, so I bought three. Perhaps others have used this material before, but no one told me about it.

Trim the foam to shape the body. I often touch up the carving with a razor after it's completed and the cement is cured. All the knives I have tried made easy work of the initial shaping. I use a razor sometimes for the final little adjustments. I push something through the body after it's shaped like a nail or jewelers file to make the path for the hook shank to follow.

A good time to flatten the barb of the hook is before you put the hook in the vise. Smash the barb flat with the vise. Catch and release has given us many more fish to catch at a bigger size. I don't have to mess with coolers and ice or cleaning fish at midnight, etc..

Use a 1/0 or 2/0 hook like a Matzuo Sickle Aberdeen Hook with the thread wound along the entire shank to have more than just a bare hook shank for the cement to adhere to and then secure some kind of tail or legs. I have used flashabou, rubber bands, saddle hackles and Dacron ribbon for arms and legs and they all work fine. I use Nylon or Kevlar thread which can hold up to a bass bite fairly well. Household polyester thread is probably excellent. For cement I like something flexible like Softex or Dave's Flexament. Shoe Goo is good too and I have been trying that on my wader repairs lately. It costs about a tenth of what the fly shops sell for repairs.

Apply the cement to the hook shank and slide the body over the hook eye towards the tail and tie on the front legs if you want. If I attach eyes, I stick them on the bottom where the bass can see them. I cover the eyes with the cement and they stay on pretty well. I have the same success without eyes, but I put them on for insurance. To make a cripple popper, I just put one eye on the bottom. I sometimes put on arms to help it look like a frog. They work well without arms, I just have a compulsion to keep tweaking my patterns.

For an hour or more, you will think the cement isn't going to hold if you try testing it. Relax. After 8 hours you will have a good tough popper. Now you can do some final trimming with a razor. Make sure there is a lot of room between the hook point and the body to help catch fish.

I like to hit rocks all the time when casting. I suspect some bass are waiting for frogs to jump in or lizards to fall into the water. These poppers bounce off without harm and float well after they land. You can mark them up with permanent ink pens a little. I have found a few pieces of useful foam in other colors in some packaging materials for computer hardware.

When fishing these Wacky Poppers, I hope you have as much fun as I.