TackleTour

I'm re-vamping my night topwater approach and am curious whether anyone uses poppers at night. If so, what do you use?

I fish a clear water lake - sometimes shallow (less than 6 feet) by docks and shoreline, and sometimes over outside weed lines at 10 to 12 feet. For night time topwater, I've mostly used a black jitterbug. I plan to try a black spook and a rhoumba. But I don't know about using poppers at night.

Anyone got any experience with them?

Thanks,

Backlash Picker

I use walking baits the same as you do. I like the bubble walker by r2s and it may be a good in-between option. I have had good luck with the trout pattern, and wanted to get the ghost minnow but TW stopped carrying that color. I tried the r2s popper but have had no luck yet.

I have caught a few on Storm Chug Bugs at night. I haven't done a lot of popper fishing at night, but they worked okay. They are also cheap, so I wouldn't have minded losing them vs. a twenty-dollar( or more) popper.

Buzzjet and big wake baits work well. Down south the old reliable Redfin still gets it done.

Yes, used to fish a lot of poppers at night ranging from the Pop X to the Rebel Pop R 1/2 oz model, depending upon moon phase, windiness.

Sounds like other topwater baits are preferred over poppers at night.

Johnny A, Could you say a bit more about "depending on the moon phase and windiness" for using poppers at night.

Thanks.

Backlash Picker wrote:Sounds like other topwater baits are preferred over poppers at night.

Johnny A, Could you say a bit more about "depending on the moon phase and windiness" for using poppers at night.

Thanks.

I'm just a weekend angler (if I'm lucky), so I can't speak for a tournament angler like Johnny A. However, I have found that in the limited time that I have with nighttime poppers, they tended to work better when there wasn't too much chop on the water. Also, clear, moonlight nights seemed to help the bass spot the lure better.

REW wrote:

Backlash Picker wrote:Sounds like other topwater baits are preferred over poppers at night.

Johnny A, Could you say a bit more about "depending on the moon phase and windiness" for using poppers at night.

Thanks.

I'm just a weekend angler (if I'm lucky), so I can't speak for a tournament angler like Johnny A. However, I have found that in the limited time that I have with nighttime poppers, they tended to work better when there wasn't too much chop on the water. Also, clear, moonlight nights seemed to help the bass spot the lure better.

John...I didn't know you fished tournaments!

Mcyl wrote: John...I didn't know you fished tournaments!

Doesn't he? I thought he had sponsorships, and such. Maybe I'm thinking of someone else, then.

REW wrote:

Mcyl wrote: John...I didn't know you fished tournaments!

Doesn't he? I thought he had sponsorships, and such. Maybe I'm thinking of someone else, then.

I did fish tournaments but mostly club, local with a couple regional. Then I had some medical issues and ended that. I was doing some field testing but not sponsorships.
Back to moon phase and wind level. The moon phase can affect the popper color more than anything. If you have a full moon, you can add some silver or reflective elements. New moon, a black or darker bait.
Wind would affect topwater style. If you have heavier winds, you might choose heavier poppers or jitterbug type bait. Light breeze, a bit softer of bait like the Pop X.
Low to no wind, would be Zara Spook, the Sammy, the Giant Dog X.

Thanks for your reply. So poppers at night work best if there is some wind. Never knew that. And I never knew that a walking bait, like a spook or sammy, is right when there is no wind. Can't wait till it warms so I can put this info to use.

Another question - what would you consider a heavier popper (1/2 oz , 5/8??) - to use when the wind is more than light.

Thanks again,

Backlash

I actually do the opposite.

Bigger walk the dog baits push more water, so I use them in windier conditions so fish can find them easier.

In more calm conditions, I like a popper where I can use short, quick pops and throw less water.

G3Steve wrote:I actually do the opposite.

Bigger walk the dog baits push more water, so I use them in windier conditions so fish can find them easier.

In more calm conditions, I like a popper where I can use short, quick pops and throw less water.

+1
I fish topwater almost exclusively. At night, I would fish a black topwater regardless of moon phase. No wind - light winds, I would fish a smaller bait in the 1/4-1/2 oz range and 2" - 31/2" in length. As the winds picked up, I would go bigger. 31/2" -5" in length and 1/2 oz or greater. Another thing to remember when topwater fishing is different internal rattles can make all the difference. Multiple small bbs are sometimes better than a single bb knocker ball. The fish will tell you what they want. As a general rule, quieter bbs in no to low winds and a loud knocker as the wind picks up.

A great all around bait for most conditions is the Lobina Rio Rico or the Yellow Magic popper. You can walk it, pop it, chug it and anything in betweven. Both are outstanding topwater baits.

I'm a big fan of fishing poppers at night I generally prefer darker baits, e.g black, but I have had success on many different colors. It seems like I have more success with more moon or nights with little wind (rare here on the plains).

When I am fishing with friends, I've noted a lot of success when we both fish poppers in the same general area. One of us will cast first and pop our bait a couple of times. The second bait gets placed behind the first bait and we pop them in succession all the way back to the shore or boat. Seems like the bait in back gets bit quite a bit. We've also had quite a few double hookups.

As far as bait selection, I tend to prefer Chug Bugs, but have had success with the G-Splash, Rico, and Pop-R. Pick your favorite bait and give it a try.

Buzzbait are better!