By Steven Johnson
How vividly I remember my first topwater bass.
Morning’s first light was just breaking at a small Florida pond, which my family was camped beside. The previous night I had tied on my newest lure – a black 1 3/4-inch Arbogast Hula Popper – and I had been awake half the night waiting to put my Hula Popper into action. I launched a cast toward the middle of the pond, which was glassy and had a thin fog lingering over it.
It took everything in me to wait for all the ripples to disappear. However, that was what the package suggested, and I wanted to fish my new lure right. A fish must have moved to within inches of the bait as I waited to begin my retrieve because I never saw or heard the initial “pop.” The moment I moved the rod tip the surface erupted around the bait and my rod tip surged down. Several thrilling minutes and four jumps later, I lip-landed a fat 3-pound largemouth.
That was 30 years ago, and Hula Poppers are still serving up huge thrills for anglers all over the country. The Hula Popper, which was created by Fred Arbogast nearly 60 years ago, combines a distinctive “pop,” critter-like profile and dancing Hula Skirt to bring bass out of hiding.
A Hula Popper can be worked in any number of ways, but the classic technique is a dead-slow presentation, with long pauses between gentle pops. Bass linger beneath the bait during pauses, moving ever closer to investigate, and then attack it when it pops again.
If a Hula Popper has a rival among classic topwater plugs, it’s a Jitterbug – another Fred Arbogast creation that is even older than the Hula Popper. Introduced in 1937, the Jitterbug is one of the oldest patented lures that remain on the market.
Jitterbugs, which come in five sizes (excluding jointed and weedless models) wobble across the surface, creating a distinctive gurgle and sending out a wake. They are highly favored for fishing at night, in stained water and on gray days because the steady gurgle helps bass hone in on the bait. Most anglers fish Jitterbugs slow and steady, neither pausing the bait nor adding any action with twitches or jerks.
Virtually everyone who has ever fished for bass owns at least one Jitterbug or Hula Popper and has caught several bass on both baits over the years. However, with all the new lures that invade the market every year, anglers sometimes forget about the classics.
Hula Poppers and Jitterbugs still produce vicious largemouth strikes like they did when you were 15 years old. If you haven’t thrown yours for while, pull them out and put them to the test. Remember to wait till the ripples go away before you pop your Hula Popper, and remember to hold on tight!