# Top water poppers



## TurtleJugger (Jun 2, 2013)

Just bought some top water rebel poppers. Completely new to using top water lures but am wanting to add to my bag of tricks. Nobody I ever fished with ever used them. I have been watching videos and learning as much as I can but still have a few questions. 

What is the best approach to using these lures? What should I practice at first with the popper? Thinking of trying them in my brothers farm pond. Which produces many 12-13 inch bass with soft plastics. Trying to catch some bigger fish and was wondering if top water lures were the way to go. Should I use them along the bank or throw them towards the middle?

Thanks again for any information


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## Bassnpro1 (Apr 6, 2004)

Ponds are a great place to learn new techniques. And I would always concentrate a topwater near shorelines or a defined grassline, if there is one. Topwaters on an average catch larger fish. 


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## TurtleJugger (Jun 2, 2013)

Is there a certain time of day or year to use poppers that's best?


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## BigFishHunter (Dec 14, 2011)

Low light conditions are always good topwater times and when you see or hear bluegill feeding up, usually it's a popping/sucking type of noise the largemouth won't be far behind. In my experience late May until October produce fish. Once fish are off beds and stop guarding fry they hit topwater more often. That being said there are always exceptions. Just try every time you go out until you finally get one then you can build a "pattern" for that technique. Hope this helps and good luckl


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## stak45dx1 (Jun 21, 2011)

I'm stunned that no one you fish with has ever fished a popper! they are awesome! they don't always work, just like any other lure, it has to be right place, right time... but when they're hitting on a popper, I can't think of too many ways to catch a fish that are more fun.


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## Snakecharmer (Apr 9, 2008)

I would try parallel to the bank first as forgs are normally close to shore. But don't be afraid to through it out in the middle.


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## TurtleJugger (Jun 2, 2013)

Went to the pond and tried the popper for the first time. Caught 6 war mouth on them and two bass. Huge bass hit it hard and missed the. Didn't see him again all day. I think I'm sold on them so far.


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## RJohnson442 (May 14, 2013)

Those and buzz baits are awesome. Congrats. So far my best to date was a 43 pound 4 year old daughter on a popper. Yeah last week bought the same one you have and left it in the canoe got her so bad i had to cut the barb off her coat first thento free her then push the barb in her finger through to cut it off. She was a trooper about it and still loves fishing. Lesson learned for both of us 

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## SMBHooker (Jan 3, 2008)

TurtleJugger said:


> Went to the pond and tried the popper for the first time. Caught 6 war mouth on them and two bass. Huge bass hit it hard and missed the. Didn't see him again all day. I think I'm sold on them so far.


Well done that's a great start!!


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## TurtleJugger (Jun 2, 2013)

Thanks. I can't believe the warmouth were going crazy for it but they are too small to eat something that big. That pond is packed with warmouth. I think there is more of them then bluegills


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## randallbob (Mar 13, 2011)

I can't take credit for this technique. Another OGF member wrote this on a different post quite a while ago. Anyway I've tried it and it seems to work best at low light, like dusk or dawn (although I admit I don't hit the dawn bite too often). 

He said to cast the top water out, let it sit until all the ripples it caused when it hit fade completely away (this will take a fair amount of patience), then give it a very slight twitch, and let it sit again. Then start a slow twitching retrieve for maybe 5 feet and pause again. Then give it a twitch again and let it sit again. It takes a fair amount of time to get it back but that twitch after a pause seems to drive them nuts. The anticipation of the top water hit is great. Good luck.

-Randallbob


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## BigFishHunter (Dec 14, 2011)

I second what randallbob quoted. Great fish. That sunfish looks like a green sunfish though. Topwaters are by far my favorite lures to catch fish of all species on. Glad it worked out for you.


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## TurtleJugger (Jun 2, 2013)

Thanks. I wanted to try it again today so bad but yard work and family duties kept me off the pond. Do these work well In rivers? Ive been checking out a local river and was wondering if my new trick can catch SMB and LMB on a small river/stream. Didn't think so cuz of the moving water. I noticed that they stopped working when the wind picked up.


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## BigFishHunter (Dec 14, 2011)

They work really well in rivers. Just find typical fish holding areas like eddies or runs or pools. Boulder piles have produced best for me. I've caught some nice smallies and lost some nice ones on poppers and spooks.


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## SMBHooker (Jan 3, 2008)

TurtleJugger said:


> Thanks. I wanted to try it again today so bad but yard work and family duties kept me off the pond. Do these work well In rivers? Ive been checking out a local river and was wondering if my new trick can catch SMB and LMB on a small river/stream. Didn't think so cuz of the moving water. I noticed that they stopped working when the wind picked up.


Right now in the rivers may be slower due to spawning g activities. Post spawn the river smallmouth will knock your socks off when they hit. Do give it a try in the river. I had a 19"er last yr do a full breach smack down on topwater plug. I can still see the image in my head today. One of the best topwater memories.


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## stak45dx1 (Jun 21, 2011)

another little tip- let the fish take your lure. its very hard to do, but don't set the hook right away, give it a second or 2. sometimes you yank the lure away from the fish when you set the hook the instant the fish hits.


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## Matt Hougan (Aug 19, 2008)

Other than frog gigging some of my fondest memories of my childhood are fishing topwater baits on full moon summer nights. I worked at a golf course in high school and during the summer I would seak on the ponds with a spinning rod and a jitterbug. Jitterbug, Rebel Popp R makes no difference. The bass would light that bait up on the still water. 

As stated before you must be very disciplined in not setting the hook on the strike. Wait until you feel the weight of the fish on the end before you lift your rod tip.

Enjoy


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## Mr. A (Apr 23, 2012)

Matt Hougan said:


> As stated before you must be very disciplined in not setting the hook on the strike. Wait until you feel the weight of the fish on the end before you lift your rod tip.


+100. The only thing I would add is don't start reeling the lure in if the fish misses it.

2 situations come to mind. I had a bass smack a cigar bait but didn't get hooked. I just stopped reeling and let the bait sit. In no time that bass came back and inhaled the bait. Also, I was working a padcrusher across some vegitation mats and had a bass strike it, only it missed and my frog was laying right beside the hole the bass made. I waited about 10 seconds then bounced the line enough to vibrate the frog without moving it much. The 2nd hit was just as angry as the first but it hooked up that time!










Sometimes, on purpose or not I think bass will hit a top water bait in order to stun it, then come back a second time and try to eat it.

Mr. A


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## TurtleJugger (Jun 2, 2013)

Thanks for the tips. Been eager to try them again but the weather this week really sucks lol. How do you work those over vegetation? I tried to keep it away from the pads but casted as close as I could. I figured the treble hooks would grab a lot of weeds


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## SMBHooker (Jan 3, 2008)

TurtleJugger said:


> Thanks for the tips. Been eager to try them again but the weather this week really sucks lol. How do you work those over vegetation? I tried to keep it away from the pads but casted as close as I could. I figured the treble hooks would grab a lot of weeds


You need a weedless frog!! It'll get hammered by a bass in the pads.


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## Mr. A (Apr 23, 2012)

The frogs I use in those areas are weedless. They have a typical 2 prong hook that rest on the "hip" area of the frog. If you go to any store you'll know exactly what it is as soon as you see it.

When bank fishing I use long casts out into the pond and shorter casts along the bank. The bass will likely be along the bank this time of year.

Cast it out and think of the old game "Frogger." Twitch, jerk, pause, hop it back to you.

I love to use them over vegetation mats, Lilly pads, areas where the plants/grasses are just barely under the surface. (not an all inclusive list BTW) Once you get a massive explosion on one, that will likely scare the crap out of you, you'll be hooked just like the rest of us!

Mr. A


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## SMBHooker (Jan 3, 2008)

Mr. A said:


> The frogs I use in those areas are weedless. They have a typical 2 prong hook that rest on the "hip" area of the frog. If you go to any store you'll know exactly what it is as soon as you see it.
> 
> When bank fishing I use long casts out into the pond and shorter casts along the bank. The bass will likely be along the bank this time of year.
> 
> ...


Yep, that's how you do it. Be careful of the live frogs though . . I had a huge bullfrog nail a frog lure in the pads before!  So weird.


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## TurtleJugger (Jun 2, 2013)

Posted these pictures in the SWO forums but thought I would share here for everyone to see. Here are some more bass and sunfish I've caught on the Rebal Top water popper,silver fox.

I've been using some of the Tips I've learned on here. This is a good thread. I would jerk it 3 or 4 times then stop and jerk once then pause. I tired many combos and had success with alittle of everything. Thanks again for the tips.


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## BigMark (Sep 27, 2014)

I have 4 I use all the time in the ponds and they work great. Early morning (Daylight just before the sun wakes up) and just as the sun goes down unless there is a heavy overcast which will work as well.


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## Bassthumb (Aug 22, 2008)

Another interesting popper trick is to remove the rear treble and tie on a foot of line with a senko trailing it. Pop pop pause. You will either get an explosion on the popper or it will dive down like a bobber when they grab the senko.


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## nooffseason (Nov 15, 2008)

Bassthumb said:


> Another interesting popper trick is to remove the rear treble and tie on a foot of line with a senko trailing it. Pop pop pause. You will either get an explosion on the popper or it will dive down like a bobber when they grab the senko.



bassthumb, thanks for posting this idea, I can picture it and am loving it. Gotta try that sometime soon on my river smallmouth. Maybe a weightless tube is what I'm thinking, got plenty of senko worms as well to try.


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## crappielooker (Apr 5, 2004)

New from Japan... Great action too...


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## Smallmouth Crazy (Apr 4, 2006)

Jitterbugs and Pop-R usually work best for me, usually at night, I cast both along the bank and towards the middle.


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## NCbassattack (May 5, 2014)

Like some have said here, low light conditions are when top water baits shine (usually).
Dawn, dusk, or overcast are best. And, it's hard to beat the Rebel Pop R. Grassbeds, points or schooling fish, it's the best topwater I've ever used. That or the Heddon Torpedo.


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## Bassbme (Mar 11, 2012)

NCbassattack said:


> it's hard to beat the Rebel Pop R. Grassbeds, points or schooling fish, it's the best topwater I've ever used. That or the Heddon Torpedo.


Amen ..... a person would be hard pressed to find two better topwater baits. The only thing I'd add is that the Torpedo needs what amounts to a very important modification. And that would be to cut off the stock treble hooks at their eye, then install split rings on the hook hangers and install new treble hooks. 

You'll hook and land a lot more fish if you follow that very simple modification.


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## NCbassattack (May 5, 2014)

Bassbme said:


> Amen ..... a person would be hard pressed to find two better topwater baits. The only thing I'd add is that the Torpedo needs what amounts to a very important modification. And that would be to cut off the stock treble hooks at their eye, then install split rings on the hook hangers and install new treble hooks.
> 
> You'll hook and land a lot more fish if you follow that very simple modification.


Back last September, we were fishing RRR (Randleman Regional Reservoir) left the marina at six. It was an overcast day, and a slight breeze from the southeast. We usually start off with Pop Rs, and that day was unreal. By three that afternoon my son and I caught 48 bass, all on the Pop RS.Could have left most of my rods at home! Most of the fish were less than two pounds, but we had about ten that went four or better, and one five and a half big fish.


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