We fish with a popper. Mastering popper fishing How to make a silicone popper with your own hands

One of the new baits, which is not yet known to a very wide range of anglers, is the popla popper.

It's quite interesting hybrid of float and popper, originally invented specifically for catching large rudd, but, as it turned out later, by choosing the right wiring and appropriate bait, you can successfully catch other types of fish with it. Having appreciated the full potential of this bait, many fishermen become its adherents, achieving success under the most unfavorable fishing conditions.

Detailed description of the bait

To put it simply, a popla popper is small float with popper properties. It has, as a rule, a teardrop shape, in its frontal part there is a familiar notch to create slurping sounds and splashes, but at the back, in the place where the classic popper has a tee, there is a regular loop for securing the leash.

They do not have a blade for deepening or a propeller. The leash is usually taken no longer than 12 – 15 cm, it is equipped with a single hook, preferably with a long shank. Some artificial bait imitating a worm, larva, etc. is attached to the hook. In some cases, to activate the bite, a live worm or maggot is attached. Fishing for it is done using a light spinning rod.

Today there are two types of this interesting industrially produced bait on the market:

1. MPP. They have a head size of 23 mm.
2. BPP. They have a slightly larger head - 30 mm.

The standard sizes of a pop-popper are very small; their length may vary, but, as a rule, it does not exceed 30 – 35 mm, and the weight is within 2 – 4 g. In this regard, it is not without reason that it is believed that the popla popper is intended for, or at least for light tackle.

They are released in three colors: white, yellow and the so-called “red fly agaric”, dark red, and BPP type baits come only in yellow and red. For greater visibility when fishing at long distances, some samples are marked with small black spots.

Main advantages

Fishing with a popper is gaining popularity due to the following advantages:

1. Simplicity and efficiency of equipment.
2. Possibility of long casting (more than 30 m) when fishing with light and ultralight.
3. The resulting squelching sound effect attracts the attention of fish from a distance.
4. When fishing, cases of snagging and loss of gear are very rare. Thanks to this, you can fish in places with dense aquatic vegetation.

This bait, despite its small size, with proper wiring capable of attracting the attention of large fish.

Expert opinion

Knipovich Nikolai Mikhailovich

Attention! Many experienced fishermen, when fishing with this bait, instead of a hook, attach a miniature jig head to a leash. Thanks to this, the bait sinks faster, which has a positive effect on the number of bites.

In addition to rudd, perch, asp, chub, and even grass carp and carp go well with it. When you attach a regular worm to a hook instead of artificial bait, you most often catch crucian carp.

Homemade popla popper

Some spinning anglers add various lures to their arsenal homemade popla poppers, fortunately, making it is not difficult at all and does not take long. A variety of available materials are suitable for its manufacture; it is quite possible to make a catchy popla popper even from a lollipop stick.

In this case, the main line passes through the stick with a stopper at the bottom. At the top of the stick, a small funnel or cone with a recess made of foam plastic or other dense material is placed on the glue. With its help, the necessary noise and splashes will be created during wiring. The result is a float capable of working like a popper when twitching the tackle with a fishing rod.

More popular materials for making a DIY popper are natural champagne cork or fine-grained, dense foam.

In order to make a good pop popper, you will need:

1. Natural cork or a small piece of dense foam.
2. A piece of stainless wire with a cross-section of 1 – 1.5 mm and a length of about 10 cm.
3. A small piece of lead or a small fishing shot.
4. Fishing line for a leash (you can use fruurocarbon).
5. Hook with long shank No. 5 – 7.
6. Sandpaper.
7. Waterproof glue and colored varnish (you can use nail polish).

You will also need a set of tools:

• sharp knife with a thin blade;
• pliers;
• round nose pliers;
• vice;
• wire cutters

The production of a popper takes place according to the following algorithm:

1. From the material for the body (cork or polystyrene) we cut a piece about 30 mm long.
2. Using a knife, we give the body of the popper the shape of a large drop with a blunt nose.
3. Using a knife and coarse sandpaper, we make a cup-shaped depression in the bow, which will be responsible for the sound and splashes. You can also do it using a drill of a suitable diameter (28-30 mm).
4. We sand the entire surface of the bait to give it a complete shape.
5. We make a fastening for the leash and the main fishing line from wire. You need to bend it so that you get loops on both sides of the fastener. Make sure the lengths of the parts are correct.
6. A longitudinal incision is made in the body to the central center line. We insert the mount there.
7. A small plate of lead needs to be inserted into the same cut, serving as a weight for the bait. After this, fill the cut with waterproof glue (you can use epoxy resin) and carefully clamp the workpiece in a vice until it dries.
8. The bait is sanded with fine sandpaper.
9. Next, you need to paint it with varnish of the chosen color and let it dry. Repeat this procedure twice.
10. We attach a leash with a hook to the back ring.
11. You can attach a carabiner to the front ring for more convenient changing of bait while fishing.

That's it, the homemade popla popper is ready for fishing.

Expert opinion

Knipovich Nikolai Mikhailovich

Zoologist, hydrobiologist. I am interested in fishing at a professional level.

Important! The weight of the load is selected taking into account that the bait should not sink, it should only submerge it a little. Thanks to this popla, the popper does not twist and always remains in one position (the heavier side is always below).

In one day it is quite possible to make several of these baits of different sizes and different colors.

Features of using bait

Of course, fishing with a popper is very exciting and is an active type of fishing. You can catch both ordinary, peaceful fish and predators.

In order for fishing to be effective, you need to select the appropriate equipment for it. The popla popper rig has its own characteristics:

1. Light class rod should not be longer than 2.4 meters, even if casting is done from the shore. With such a fishing rod it is easier to make long and accurate casts of light bait.
2. It is better to take a light reel(1000 – 1500), inertia-free type. The sensitivity of the gear largely depends on the quality of its work.
3. More suitable as a main fishing line small diameter braid. It is able to withstand the resistance of a large rudd or other fish, even if it goes into the reeds after hooking. A fishing line with a breaking load of up to 5.5 kg is sufficient.
4. Hooks must be of high quality, designed for the fact that grass carp may also be caught, capable of unbending them during an active fight.

Popper is a surface bait and is included in the arsenal of many amateur and sports anglers. During wiring, such baits emit characteristic sounds that actively attract perch, pike, and sometimes catfish.

Fishing stores have many models from different manufacturers with very interesting colors. Of course, it is very difficult to find an alternative to branded models, but you can still make catchy poppers yourself. If you consider how many varieties of baits actually exist, and that it is not cheaper, then fishing turns into an expensive pleasure, since you want to have a full set of existing baits for all fishing occasions.

The basis of the bait is a dried willow stick of a suitable size. To bring the stick to the required shape, you can use an ordinary, but rather complex knife. Using a knife, the sides are slightly narrowed so that they become flatter. The tail part is formed in the same way. The front part of the workpiece is sawed off at an angle using a regular hacksaw. Then you can begin to form a recess in the front of the workpiece. To do this, you can use a well-sharpened round chisel. Finally, a cut is made from the bottom of the workpiece, along the body of the future popper, for loading. The bait blank is ready, as you can see by looking at the corresponding photo.

After this, you can begin preparing the frame, which is made of steel wire with a diameter of 0.5-0.8 mm. Depending on the size of the popper, a frame is made with either two or three rings. This frame is inserted into the cut, along with a lead load, and secured in it with glue. After installing the frame, voids may remain in the cut. They can be sealed using matches placed on glue or filled with epoxy and then carefully sanded. To ensure that the workpiece is not afraid of water, it is well soaked in drying oil, after which it must be allowed to dry completely. And finally, it is advisable to paint the popper with nitro varnish or other paints, preferably with the addition of varnish. For greater reliability, the top of the popper is coated with two more layers of colorless varnish.

As for the coloring of the bait, this is more necessary for the fisherman than for the fish. Since the popper moves along the surface of the water, the fish only sees its silhouette and how it moves and makes sounds. As for the fisherman, he needs to control the operation of the bait, and from a great distance. Therefore, it is better to paint the popper in bright colors so that it can be seen far away.

Once the popper is painted, you can begin installing the tees. To make it more attractive, you can tie a small fly or a bunch of rain to the rear tee. The size of the tees is determined experimentally. It is possible that the middle tee will be larger than the rear one. It all depends on the action of the bait: this way it “squishes” better and attracts the predator more.

Perhaps look at the diagram of the wire frame and how it is located in the cut.

These poppers successfully catch good perch and pike. Despite this, the design does not allow placing a rattle inside. As a rule, branded models have such an addition to their design, which makes them unrivaled.

In conclusion, we can say that there is room for imagination. And if you are smart, it is quite possible that soon a similar homemade popper with a rattle inside will appear on the Internet.

This article will talk about making your own popper for an ultralight spinning rod. Based on these instructions, you can also make larger poppers, because their self-production technology is no different from light poppers. Of course, making a popper yourself will take a lot of time and money (if done individually), but if you approach this on a larger scale, and immediately make, for example, 1-2 dozen, then this process becomes profitable. With a single production, you will spend more money on paints, varnishes and hooks than you will win.

To make your own popper we will need:

Stationery knife
Hacksaw for metal
Small block of wood
Fine sandpaper
Epoxy glue
Wire for making ears
Tee hook 1-2 pcs
Lead or tin for loading
Paints and varnish of your choice.

Popper making

In order to better view the picture, click on it for its interest.

We take the wood and cut it into small pieces, this will make it easier and more convenient for us. You can buy one suitable block at a hardware store and cut a bunch of future poppers from it.

Now, having come up with the image of our future popper, we cut it out with a stationery knife and smooth everything out with a file and sandpaper. The workpiece should be as symmetrical as possible.

From the bottom of the workpiece we make a cut in the center, approximately to the middle.

Since we made an oblique cut of the spitter on the popper, it will be located in the water at approximately a 45-degree angle. And for this arrangement, the load must be moved closer to the rear.

Since the average density of wood is 0.45, then 1 g. wood will easily hold 1 gram. cargo Our workpiece weighs 2 grams, and we will load it with 0.5 grams of lead, the rest will be taken care of by the wire, winding ring and hook.

Let's make ears from wire. You can also make a loop in the middle for a tee on the belly of the popper. But the option with a tee at the belly is better left for larger poppers; for an ultralight one is enough.

We glue our ears; for gluing it is best to use epoxy glue.

After the glue has dried, we sand our workpiece with fine sandpaper and proceed to painting the popper. We paint it as you please, after painting we cover it with a couple of layers of varnish. And for fun, we weigh it. Our workpiece has gained weight again.

How to make your own poplar poplar popper? In this article I will tell and show the process of making a popper at home.

An increasing number of spinning anglers prefer fishing with poppers. This bait is used mainly in fresh waters. In ponds and rivers overgrown with grass, a fish-like fish will definitely attract pike or perch. This device attracts predators and significantly increases the catch, making fishing more exciting and fun.

Popper Features

Many experienced fishermen note that poppers can captivate even an inactive predator. Wiring creates noise and splashes, provoking the fish to an instinctive reflex attack. The device is also supported by the fact that it rarely clings to snags and is wasted.

Poppers are usually divided into 3 types:

With front loading;

With rear loading;

With average shipment.

The front load provides the device with the ability to dive and move smoothly at a shallow depth, which reaches 10 cm. The rear load is needed for long casts. The working depth of such a bait is at least 40 cm. The average load contributes to a heavier flight of the popper during casting, but the device does not sink deeply, but can withstand a dive of 20 cm.

Making your own bait is not difficult. To work you will need:

A small block of wood (10X6X4 cm);

Wire (for “ears”);

Tee hook;

Shipping material (tin or lead);

Stationery knife;

Hacksaw for metal;

A piece of sandpaper;

Pencil;

Waterproof paints or varnish.

Step-by-step making of a popper

1) A wooden block (the wood must be soft) is sawn into 3 parts. From each such part you can make a separate figurine.

2) On the surface of the block you need to draw an image of the future bait. Then the specified shape is cut out from the drawing. The cut of the front working side is made oblique. For this job you will need a knife, a file and sandpaper.

3) A correctly made workpiece is symmetrical and does not have chips.

4) A central cut is made at the bottom of the workpiece. The cutting depth should not be greater than the middle of the mold. Lead will be poured into this hole.

5) This popper has an oblique cut to the nose, which will ensure that it is immersed in water. In this case, it is best to place the weight at the rear of the bait. If the workpiece weighs about 2 g, a load of, for example, 0.5 g of lead will be quite enough.

6) All that remains is to glue the “ears” made from wire. After the glue has dried, the workpiece is sanded and painted.

7) At the last stage, the mini popper is equipped with rings with hooks. The finished product can weigh about 4.5 g.

The use of a popper is relevant from June to mid-September. This feature is explained by the fact that cold weather forces the fry to descend to depth, so to attract a predator in the cold season, other types of bait will be needed.

Spinning is an active fishing tool, and spinning anglers are fishermen who give preference to constant movement in search of cool places, selection of catchable baits, and selection of effective fishing. They will not sit in one place waiting for a float bite or an alarm on the donk to go off. But there is a way to combine a spinning rod, a surface popper and equipment for peaceful fish (for example, rudd) into one tackle. It will allow you to use active fishing techniques to catch non-predatory fish. Thus, catching rudd with a spinning rod became possible thanks to an invention called a popla popper - a tackle that combines a calm float with the excitement of a spinning rod.

The finished device consists of the following parts:

1. Light spinning
2. Spinning reel
3. Main line
4. Small popper without tee
5. A leash with a hook and a nozzle (most often artificial).

It would seem like an ordinary spinning tackle, with the exception of one detail - the bait is not the final link: a leash with a hook is attached to it. Sometimes a jig is used instead of a hook, but bait must be present.

Fishing for a popper becomes especially successful if you follow certain rules for equipping tackle, techniques and fishing tactics, which are described below.

Which fishing line should you choose as your main line?

You can use monofilament line. Taking into account the possible bites of chub or, its diameter should be 0.2 - 0.25 mm. But for a cautious rudd, this size will be too large, which may affect the catch downwards. Therefore, it is recommended to use braided fishing line with a breaking capacity of up to 5 kg, which has a significantly smaller diameter, but is able to withstand large fish.

Leash device

Fishing with a popper involves the use of a leash, which is preferably made of fluorocarbon. It is a little harsh, but resistant to abrasion, and, most importantly, is hardly noticeable under water. It should be attached through a fastener with a swivel to the rear loop of the popper, previously freed from the tee. It is better to prepare in advance several leashes of different lengths (from 5 cm to several tens of centimeters) so that, if necessary, you can quickly change the fishing conditions.

Quote from a classic!“The bait is launched into the water or 18 cm from the surface, depending on where the rudd swim. In the summer, in the heat, it is best to catch a rudd on a fly, with a light float and without a sinker, and a large one takes it very well on a grasshopper” (L.P. Sabaneev, Life and catching freshwater fish).

Popper float features

This design does not provide for the use of a float in the form that the fisherman’s imagination depicts. Its role is played by a small, brightly colored popper. The main task facing him is to create characteristic “slurping” sounds during the retrieve, attracting the attention of the fish and provoking it to bite. The second task is to signal an attack by moving downwards or to the side. In addition to the visible bite, the fisherman can feel the twitching of the spinning rod.

Making a Pop Popper

This float can be easily made by any fisherman. It can be made from wood, cork or foam. We illustrate the production with photographs.

Photo 1. Take a foam blank.

Photo 2. Cut and make a dimple.

Photo 3. We install wire reinforcement.

Photo 4. Glue in a lead weight.

Photo 5. Color the bait.

Choosing a hook and bait for the tackle

The popper hooks installed on the poplar do not differ from those used for fishing roach or crucian carp. Usually this is No. 5 or No. 7 according to domestic qualification, with a long fore-end and a well-protruding beard. Tees are not used here, so there are practically no snags. The hook is equipped with artificial bait, for example, maggots or a small twister without a tail. You can also use natural baits, but they will often get lost during retrieval.

Instead of a hook, a jig can be installed. It goes well with artificial bloodworms and, with skillful wiring, can be very effective.

Variety of fish caught on bait

The main purpose of the described gear is to catch rudd using a spinning rod. But this does not mean that nothing but this type of fish will bite. On the contrary, practice shows that bright colors, movement, and sound easily provoke attacks from various predators. Attacks by perch, chub, asp occur quite often, and bites of roach and crucian carp occur regularly (especially when using natural bait).

There have also been sightings of grass carp and carp, but these cases cannot be classified as a pattern. Perhaps, with further improvement and development of gear, catching these fish will become more successful.

On the Don, Volga, and Oka rivers, the popla popper is used for catching sabrefish. Here the hook is equipped with a nymph, that is, artificial bait in the form of an insect larva, or with a real insect - a grasshopper, a fly, a bug.

For chub, flies are used that imitate various insects, which are usually made for fly fishing.

We can say that the tackle is quite universal and continues to be improved, so the specified fish species are not a final list and the list can be expanded further, and rudd on a spinning rod is an already proven, logical result.

Techniques for using gear and fishing tactics

Like any fishing tackle, the popla popper requires careful study and practical application. Only through practice can you acquire the necessary skills to effectively use bait. But before moving on to practical exercises, it is necessary to become theoretically familiar with some techniques that will be useful in the future.

Catching rudd with a popper requires silence and does not tolerate excessive movement near the reservoir. There are known cases when a fish just visible in the water, when a fisherman approached, swam away in an unknown direction and did not return to its original place during the day. Therefore, when approaching the shore, it is recommended to be careful, using natural shelters whenever possible (trees, bushes, reeds) for secretive movement.

Identification of promising fishing spots

The rudd does not have the habit of actively moving around the reservoir, changing parking places. She avoids strong currents. Her habitats:

• river bays with weak currents;
• sections of the old river bed (oxbow lake), replenished with water during floods and spills;
• flowing lakes, rates;
• large reservoirs.

In reservoirs, she chooses places densely overgrown with underwater vegetation, reeds, and water lilies. She especially likes windows in such thickets, where in the summer heat she gets very close to the surface and basks in the sun. Rudd can also stand in flooded coastal bushes or in areas with a lot of snags.

Early in the morning and late in the evening, fish may come closer to the shore, overgrown with trees and bushes. Here she watches for insects falling into the water. This is the most favorable time to use a popla popper for catching rudd with a spinning rod. The main thing is not to frighten her with your sudden appearance or excessive fuss on the shore.

Techniques and techniques for casting, retrieving, retrieving

The described tackle is quite safe in terms of hooks, therefore it is applicable to rudd habitats overgrown with vegetation. You need to try to take a position near the pond so that the fisherman’s shadow does not fall on the water. It is best to position yourself behind reeds or bushes. Casting from such a shelter will not be very convenient, but the chances of catching fish increase significantly.

It is important to present the bait to the far edge of the window in the vegetation so that the popper can make as many movements as possible during the retrieve with a sound that attracts the attention of the fish.

After casting, you need to wait a few seconds before making the first reel. Each short reeling should be followed by a stop of up to 5-7 seconds so that the baited hook can drop to the length of the leader. It is at this moment that the greatest number of bites occur.

After hooking, the fish is brought to the shore without delay, but also without jerking, where it is retrieved using a landing net on a long handle, eliminating the need to leave its hiding place.

If the bites are active, but the fish cannot be detected, you should reduce the length of the leash. After the bite stops, it is better to move to another promising place.