Popper head point indicator

[ACW]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qv7-i-X-e-4
Paul this is the best I can find picture wise
My dressing that has worked for me in recent weeks is
hook sprite sproat #12/14
thread white uni 6/0
rib fine silver wire
body dubbed fluro green wool (what i used to use for lime green baby dolls )
wing white deer
method catch in thread wind down shank catching in the wire to half way round the bend , dubb on the wool thinly winding to 2/3rds of the way back to the eye ,stack a small bunch of deer hair to even the tips ,trim to length ,pinch and loop the bunch avoiding flaring ,if you have trimmed the deer hair to the coorct length there should be a tiny bit of but tie that down and a tiny pinch of dubbing over the roots then stack another bunch of hair same as first ,whip finish varnis and there you go . for fishing a merest dab of gink on the wing helps bouancy .
the permutations on this pattern are endless ,a mainly black with a red holo rib is one of my favorites
its a progression from the sedge hoog where the winging is 4/5 bunches all the way along the shank ,an excellent sedge results from these .

[Paul Arden]

Got it - thanks Andy. I use similar sedges but on straight shanks. Used to be my go-to Stillwater top dropper for dries. Another really good one was a balloon Caddis. Which had a bubble of yellow foam over the front. I suppose if I was hanging something I’d be inclined to use the or a floating fry depending on Season.

Cheers, Paul

[ACW]

Got it - thanks Andy. I use similar sedges but on straight shanks. Used to be my go-to Stillwater top dropper for dries. Another really good one was a balloon Caddis. Which had a bubble of yellow foam over the front. I suppose if I was hanging something I’d be inclined to use the or a floating fry depending on Season.

Cheers, Paul

Come december january a floating fry on the point and a couple of hare eary type shrinps (intermediate sink rate ,not leaded)
are my go to grafham bank teeam ,cant wait to give that a whirl with the HT4 .Its had a few fit 4= rainbows from walthamstowe the last few weeks ,I was worried that it might not have the grunt to handle them ,now no worries

[Paul Arden]

It’s not a problem at all. If anything I feel I have more control because there is less line weight being dragged around.

Cheers, Paul

[rowch]

Just to clarify the popper is reversed - sharp end to eye. When retrieved it dives. On the backcast you're pulling it under at high speed. Drag increases by the square of the velocity. It gets a hiding. I'll post an image later today.

As water is 784 times more dense than air...

[Paul Arden]

Hi mate, I fish poppers as my go to fly for Snakehead in the jungle. I also spend a lot of my time teaching others to make quick shots with poppers.

I’m sure you’ve worked this out, but it is absolutely essential to make a slow lift all the way to the popper before you make your backcast stroke. Otherwise the popper gets pulled under the surface and causes all sorts of problems.

If you need to make a roll cast pick up, then don’t try to pick the popper up, but instead roll cast the line to the popper and then pick up the popper.

If for some reason your cast is colliding with the water during false casting and this is causing you to lose poppers - God forbid! - then I can help and we will fix this!!! It may be casting, it could be leader configuration. If this is what it is then I’ll need to recreate your leader here.

I have a question or two. Where does the line break, what tippet do you use and what knots?

Cheers,
Paul

[rowch]

You are quite right Paul, I should slow the lift. Thanks for the tips.

The popper separates from the hook rather than line breaks. As a rule, I use STROFT FC 5lb on the tippet and droppers.

I took your previous advice on the leader and it works well.

[Paul Arden]

That’s interesting. I make my own poppers and this never happens. However the foam I use doesn’t have the weight of your popper heads (so you’d have to add some lead).

Cheers, Paul

[rowch]

It's been a learning curve. This is an improved version. Yet untested.

[rowch]

Too heavy but robust. About half the weight should handle variations in line speed. It was a little unpredictable and did not feel balanced. Hard work.

Distance, free of obstructions in the back cast, was surprising, shooting line to the white running section. Inclusive of rod length' leader 14' and line 51' = 65'. But that's picking line off the water with successive casts.