Poppers

iphone_pic, a photo by ...olson family... on Flickr.

It's worth elaborating on popper tactics that have been really good for me over the last few years. My basic premise is that poppers are good during certain windows: sunrise, the secondary morning bite window, the mid-evening bite, and sunset. There are other times when conditions point to poppers such as off color water, and in some cases , windy conditions.

My color selection is dictated by light conditions. I go dark on dark and bright on bright. If it's cloudy or the light is low I go for a dark, usually a solid black popper. If the sun is high and bright I start with neon yellow (aka chartreuse) and may shift to white or softer light colors. Water clarity should also be accounted for. Clear water requires a natural presentation such as an olive green frog pattern. If the water is dingy an obnoxious bright color or solid black works. Calm conditions may require more subtle approaches employing smaller poppers or sliders. Good popper targets are weeds, brush piles, and rocks.

Poppers do not yield bites all of the time. They are often called a 10% solution and applied at the wrong time they are inferior to streamers and other sub-surface flies. I have found that sound popper tactics applied at the right time,place, and conditions are hard to beat.