I recently purchased a pack of poppers and kink shank hooks to tie up some Flymen Fishing Co Surface Seducer Poppers. I felt that I couldn’t find a better way to prepare for some hot summer days. Swinging by a pond and trying to find some aggressive bass and monster bluegill. I was pleasantly surprised to realize how fun these poppers are to tie and to fish. I can’t wait for more and more chances to throw these wonderful poppers and the memories that they are going to create.
Here is the material list I used:
Step 1
Start out by building up a quality thread base to just behind the kink in the shank. I went over this section 3-4 times to get a good thread base. Do a whip finish and cut your thread. After that coat the area with some super glue.
Step 2
Take a needle or sharp bodkin and poke a hole through the entire body from the back tail socket to the front. Aim to get the needle/bodkin to poke through just above the bottom lip of the front of the popper body. Push the popper body (rear end first) over the hook eye and push it back until the eye of the hook is exposed again.
Step 3
(Optional) Place a small dot of superglue in the eye socket, and place an eye of your choice. In this instance I used a Surface Seducer Dragon Eye. Press into place and be careful to not get glue on the outside of the eye.
Step 4 & 5
Grab your thread and get it back on the hook. At this point you will build the tail section. I chose to use a clump of marabou and I measured it out about 1 hook in length and tied it in. I followed that up with some flashabou to give some extra pizazz. Feel free to experiment with whatever tail material you want.
Step 6
Select an appropriately sized saddle hackle feather (or two) and tie them in at the back of the hook, right where your thread covers the tail materials, and palmer the hackle forward.
Step 7
Poke a needle or threader through the popper body and pull a few legs through the popper body and trim them to whatever length you feel is appropriate – longer legs work well and can always be trimmed shorter on the water if you want.
Step 8
Take the fly fishing. I am still working towards my first “big” bass, but this bass was a happy and hungry fish that really wanted to become close friends with my popper! I hope you are able to have an absolute blast with some poppers this summer!
