- Oct 15, 2024
Popper Versatility for Fall Bass
Surface-popping lures provide unique advantages for bass fishing this time of year. Learn how to get the most out of these versatile topwater lures.
Few things in fishing are more exciting than largemouth or smallmouth bass smashing a surface lure, and autumn brings on some of the finest topwater bass fishing opportunities of the year. The bass and much of their forage tend to move shallow, and the fish, which are feeding heavily in preparation for winter, spend a lot of time looking upward for would-be meals.
Poppers are among the most productive topwater lures for autumn bass fishing. We’ll look at why popping lures are so productive at this time and how to maximize their effectiveness for catching autumn bass.
Why a Popper?
Topwater lures come in many forms. In addition to poppers, there are walkers, buzzbaits, prop baits, tail-spin lures, hollow-bodied frogs, and more. So why a popper? Versatility might be the best answer. Poppers can be fished quickly or slowly to imitate different bass forage items and can appeal to fish in a broad range of moods.
During fall, when shad congregate and move shallow, driving the bass’ feeding behavior, a popper is hard to beat to imitate a shad that’s being chased, creating a spitting type of splash of the surface, but that is just one of many presentations. A popper can also suggest a struggling panfish or various terrestrial insects or critters that find themselves atop the water.
Finally, a popper ranks among the easiest topwater lures to fish effectively. You don’t need a super specific rod action or a high level of expertise to make a popper enticing, especially during fall, when bass are often looking toward the surface to feed.
Fast or Slow?
Part of a popper’s versatility lies is the fact that it can be worked quite quickly, very s-l-o-w-l-y or anywhere in between, with different paces having unique appeals and applications.
When the bass are chasing shad atop a broad flat or long point, fishing a sleek, spitting popper like a BOOYAYH Boss Pop quicky tends to produce the best results for a few reasons. First, the fish are in a chasing mode and respond to baits that appear to be fleeing. Real baitfish don’t stay still in these conditions, so a stationary lure is an instinctive red flag. At the same time, the bass, which become extra discerning when real baitfish are ultra-plentiful, get too good a look when the bait sits still. Finally, faster presentations allow you to cover more water.
At the other end of the speed spectrum, when bass are tight to shallow pieces of cover, such as stumps, stickups and dock supports, or holding in narrow shade bands or cuts in the bank, slow tends to be the way to go. More so than many types of topwater lure, a popper can create a splash to entice fish without moving far from the target. If the fish are tentative and holding near cover, gentle pops with long pauses between them can be critical for coaxing strikes.
Typically, the truth falls in between, in terms of pace and cadence, with pops and chugs sometimes broken by pauses working best. Finding the right speed begins with considering the situation and the fish’s likely mood and forage base, but typically it also requires experimentation and observation of the fish’s responses.
Popper Sounds & Actions
A popper pops. Right? You snap the rod tip, and it makes a popping sound. At face value, that’s true, and the simplicity of creating a sound that can prompt strikes is part of a popper’s appeal. That said, the range of sounds and actions that can be created by altering the way you position and move your rod and how tight you keep your line is an even larger popper benefit. Learning to create a range of sounds and actions and how to incorporate each can help you catch far more fish. Often, the best total presentations combine sounds and actions.
- Pop – The classic pop, which is achieved with a short snap of the rod and the line slightly slack so the snap pulls it tight, suggests a baitfish moving. Pops are typically isolated or done in small series of two or three pops, broken by pauses.
- Chug – A chugging sound, which is achieved by starting with the line tight and sweeping the rod a bit farther, imitates a feeding fish. On their own, chugs don’t prompt as many bass strikes as pops, most days. Sometimes, however, they are critical for drawing fish out of cover or from down the bank to investigate. Often, a chug suggests feeding activity and calls the fish close, and a pop prompts the strike.
- Spit – The spitting sound made by a baitfish fleeing predators on top is achieved with quick, nearly constant rod snaps, with the line tight and the rod fairy high. The popping face doesn’t dig and might even skim the top on some snaps. This is ideal for casting to schooling fish or any bass that are relating heavily to shad, even if they aren’t regularly breaking the surface.
- Walk – Finally, by keeping the line slightly slack and employing rhythmic rod snaps, you can make a popper “walk the dog.” Because poppers are made to grab water, instead of gliding, walking takes a bit of practice, and some poppers walk more readily than others. Using a loop knot can be beneficial for walking a popper.
It’s worth noting that while you can significantly change the sound and action any given popper makes by how you move the rod, every popper model has its own characteristics, so if the bass are not responding the way you think they should, you might want to change poppers before trying a total change of gears.
4 Poppers for Fall Bass
- The BOOYAH Boss Pop, which comes in 2- and 3-inch sizes, is a premium popper designed for bass fishing. The cupped face is shaped to maximize a spitting action, making it many anglers’ popper of choice for imitating fleeing shad. Several available colors suggest shad or herring. It comes equipped with ultra-sharp trebles. The back treble is feather-dressed.
- The Heddon Pop’n Image, which is part of the Spit’n Image family, is a baitfish-profiled popping lure that walks the dog more easily than most poppers. It’s 3 inches long and weighs 5/8 ounce and is easy to cast long distances.
- The Arbogast Hula Popper, introduced more than 70 years ago, often gets overlooked. Countless anglers learned topwater fishing with a Hula Popper, though, and it remains as effective as ever for eliciting vicious strikes. The Hula Popper’s face creates a distinctive deep pop, and the flat rubber strands of the Hula Skirt waver enticingly between pops. The Hula Popper comes in four sizes.
- The original Rebel P60 Pop-R, which is 2 1/2 inches long and weighs 1/4 ounce, popularized poppers in modern bass fishing and became the foundation for many newer poppers. Versatility is an important virtue. It can be cast on spinning or baitcasting tackle, fills a medium size niche that fits many situations, and lends itself to working a host of ways. The original Pop-R is also the centerpiece of a whole family of Rebel Pop-Rs, as detailed in the video below.