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 bottom 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.
What is a popla popper
The finished device consists of the following parts:
- Light spinning
- Spinning reel
- Main line
- Small popper without tee
- 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 poplar popper becomes especially successful if you follow certain rules for equipping tackle, techniques and fishing tactics, which are described below.
Fishing with popla popper
Popla-popper is a rather unique bait that determines the nature of the equipment. It is a combination of a classic popper and micro bait, which ultimately opens up new horizons for fishing with ultralight tackle. Not only predators, but often peaceful fish are caught with the popla-popper.
The peculiarity of the pop-popper is the use of a small float in the form of a popper, to the back loop of which a leash is attached. The leash is made of fluorocarbon or monofilament of small diameter, and the following miniature baits :
- Microwisters;
- Micro turntables;
- Front sights;
- Streamers.
The diameter of the fishing line for the leash is 0.1-0.16 mm , and the length is directly dependent on how deep the bait immerses you want to achieve when pausing. The slow sinking process of a small silicone bait on a single hook is quite attractive to fish, as it resembles the sinking of natural food. If, for some reason, acceleration is required, a regular hook can be replaced with a small jig head (up to 2 g) or a small piece of lead can be clamped next to the hook.
Using a pop popper has several advantages.
- The popla-popper will allow the fisherman to make long-distance casts with light or ultra-light tackle for such small and light baits as microtwisters, microspinners, and flies.
- The popla popper attracts fish with characteristic sounds . Swimming up to the place where the squelch of potential food was just heard, the fish discovers a micro-bait impressively moving on a leash behind a pop-popper.
- The popla-popper also has good maneuverability . The abundance of water lilies and algae rarely becomes an obstacle for him. The hook of the bait is very thin and sharp, so the chance of a hook is significantly reduced. In addition, the silicone bait can be attached according to the offset principle, which will also protect against snags.
Popla poppers are painted in bright colors so that they are clearly visible to the fisherman and he can avoid obstacles when retrieving them or direct the bait to promising places in the reservoir. For fish, the color of the pop-popper does not matter, since it will be caught on the bait itself with a hook.
Popla poppers are used to catch different types of fish. First of all, these are rudd and perch . The popla-popper is used to catch fish that often swims at a depth of 1-2 m from the surface of the water, and therefore as a catch you can get chub , pike , and peaceful fish like crucian carp , roach , carp . This encourages experiments with wiring techniques and the variety of baits used.
To some extent, popla-popper is similar to sbirulino (bombarda). However, there are a considerable number of differences, which include the following:
- If bombards are divided into floating, slow-sinking and quickly sinking, then the pop-popper refers exclusively to the floating type of equipment;
- The bombard is heavier, it is streamlined and can fly even further when cast than the pop-popper;
- Sbirulino, unlike the pop-popper, does not have any attractive game.
But in general, both popla-popper and sbirulino allow you to cast a miniature bait over fairly long distances and make effective retrieves that attract predatory and peaceful fish.
Leash device
Fishing with a popper involves the use of a leash, which should preferably be 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).
How to fish with a popper?
Tackle
For hunting surface wobblers, it is recommended to give preference to a short, light, but at the same time rigid rod made of durable carbon fiber. As for the rod's action, either a fast or an ultra-fast option is quite suitable.
A rigid fishing tool is capable of making the most accurate cast, and its lightness will ensure a good interesting game.
The recommended rod length is 1.9 – 2.4 m. If fishing takes place in dense vegetation, choose rods with a length of 2.7 – 3.0 m and a test load of up to 21 grams. Balancing plays an important role here; the hand should be placed in the center of gravity in order to play the popper with one hand.
The reel must have an endless screw that allows you to correctly lay the fishing thread crosswise, an instant stopper that promptly fixes the fishing line during laying (level with the side of the spool), and an additional ratio of 1:5, while the capacity of the spool should be 100 m of fishing thread 0, 22 lb.
To properly store the reel, it is recommended to use rubber rings to prevent damage to the fishing line.
It is better to equip an ultra-fast spinning rod with monofilament fishing line, which has good elasticity and sufficient stretchability. To use braided fishing line, it is recommended to use a spinning rod with a parabolic action. Hunting for pike is effective with both monofilament and braided line.
Leashes must be made of steel strings.
Where and when to fish?
In cool water conditions, the performance of the popper drops somewhat; deep-sea products begin to work well.
The greatest effectiveness of the popper is observed in the hottest season , when the predator, after a long oxygen starvation, climbs into the upper layers of the reservoir and instantly rushes to the active bait.
The advantages of a surface wobbler over other baits are manifested in fishing hard-to-reach places: above thickets of grass, in windows of dense vegetation. The main areas of the reservoir for using such bait are overgrown bays, toad grasses, and shallow coastal areas.
Popper fishing technique
Several basic wiring options will help ensure success in pike hunting:
- After casting the bait , you need to take a short pause until the water completely calms down. After that, the cord needs to be wound evenly, while the tip of the rod makes smooth twitches. Depending on the specific fishing conditions, the speed of the retrieve, the position of the rod, and the strength of the jerking actions are determined.
- To catch a passive predator, the following animation is used: slow retrieval combined with frequent stops. A game like this is a win-win option in a no-bite situation.
- In the most hopeless situations, chaotic wiring, consisting of a series of intense jerks and short pauses (3 - 4 seconds), saves. This game realistically imitates a wounded and exhausted fish.
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.
popla popper in besklevye
It so happened that the bulk of my fishing depended not on my desires but on the catch of others. Throughout the entire time I had to help someone, give me some hints. It was these circumstances that derailed my plans a little and I began to look for guaranteed ways to catch not very active trout. So to speak, I fished for quantity, not quality. Although I managed to catch everything.
So the fishing began on a cold windy morning. A cup of coffee was a transitional element of transformation from an ordinary state to a fisherman's state. He looked around the pond, noticed where there was fish and began to persuade it. For quite a long time, the brazenly splashing trout ignored my efforts, but it came to the unloaded navel and it gave results. I don’t know, maybe it was the rubber band that whetted the fish’s appetite, but at some point the fish began to eat them too.
This bite lasted very little, because about twenty minutes after the second catch, a bunch of hungry people swooped in and began to cover my point with cords. It’s not interesting to fish in such a crowd, so I had to move.
In one place I spent an hour and found what I could use to get the char. A couple of bright-toothed beauties fell for the sicker from Krezi Fish in pink and lime color. We can say that the norm has been met.
Since the task was to determine the most productive type of fishing for that day, I continued moving. I saw the fish very far away, so after several empty movements with a wobble, I found a micro jerk in the bag. Attacks immediately began on him, among which a couple of vicious blows were earned, but without implementation.
For a long time, I had two unequipped popup poppers lying in my bag. Since the fish were not biting, I decided to try it. He took out a large Popper, equipped it with a half-meter leash with a belly button on a beardless hook and threw it into the water. Four wires - three bites. But at the very first hook, the knot burst and my Popper began to move independently through the pond.
Since the trout did not really want to return my tackle, I equipped a second, small one. A shorter leash, the same navel on the hook, and slowly began to come off. After an hour and a half, they managed to catch the thief and take away their property, which they later gave for the use of the girls, who really wanted to catch trout.
Since after yesterday’s photo, many people asked me to tell me what Popla-Popper is, I’ll pay a little attention to it. There is an interesting fisherman living near Kiev who is constantly racking his brains to come up with practical ideas, the meaning of which has been lost sight of by fishing tackle manufacturers. His name is Viktor Omelchenko. This evil guy took over his grandfather’s rudd tackle and brought it to perfection. But this redfin killer has begun to catch other fish, such as carp and trout.
The bait is a small popper with a perfect teardrop shape and a distinct spitting pattern. Thus, it has good flight qualities and visibility, which, in turn, is doubled by variegated flowers, fly agarics. There are only two lugs for fastening. At the front, the Popper is attached to the main fishing line; at the rear, a leash with a hook is attached, on which the artificial bait is hung. The length of the leash depends on the type of fish and its placement, but in my practice it is somewhere around 20-50 centimeters. The bait can be a fly or silicone. Thus, we get a bait that floats for a long time and a splash very similar to a feeding fish, which is why this idea completely kills the bombard, not to mention the ultralight accessory and the sensations that the tackle provides.
This is how the remaining time was spent. My whole new company was catching fish, and in the meantime I picked up the wiring for a micro jerk, which gave me not only the pleasure of fishing, but also powerful bites.
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.
Design and description of the pop-popper
The appearance of the artificial bait resembles a trimmed miniature popper. Most often it is painted in white, red and yellow tones, applying multi-colored spots to the body.
Popla-popper incorporates two methods of fishing: fishing with a popper and fishing with a float. The wiring resembles a light twitch with short pauses, during which a bite follows. At this moment, the bait plays the role of a signaling device and makes it possible to hook the fish in time.
Spinners use pop-poppers of different sizes, colors and weights. The design has two ears. A clasp tied to the main fishing line is attached to the front one, and a leash is mounted to the rear one. Its length ranges from 20 to 50cm. The more active the fish, the shorter the leash is taken.
