What modifications do you make to a rebel pop r besides hook upgrades to make it fish better? I know there are better quality baits like the iovino splash it, yellow magic and Rico. The money is not an issue but I just like to tinker and thought I'd experiment on a bait I already have.

I swap out the hooks with inline hooks and shave the lower lip so it will "skip" easier instead of digging in the water. the action imitates a fleeing baitfish

Check out Zell Roland's articles on modifying Pop-R's.

Tom

 

Well here's a thought. See if you can hollow it out and fill it with the fish equivalent of crack and leave just enough of a hole that it puts out a small amount at a time to give off scent. I know you can buy lures that do this from Odin lures and a few others, but if you're creative enough you could probably create something similar.

 

 

A lot of emphasis is placed on the 'tail feather'.

The goal being the best breathing-action during the pause.

 

Roger

The original Pop-R wasn't designed to be retreived fast, it has more of a chugger shape face. The Japanese modified the design so the lure could be retreived faster and spit instead chug. The Micheal was the 1st slimmed down body with shorter lower lip and chicken feathers in lieu of Mylar flash tail treble hook.

As mentioned Zell Roland modified his Pop-R and followed by introducing his modified lure as the Zell Pop. 

I remember when we sanded lower lip shorter and the sides to remove the textured scale finish to slim the down because the Micheal cost $20 and hard to find back in the 80's. Don Iovino recognized the need for the lure and had his Splash-It made to meet the demand.

Tom

If you look at the face you will notice a rounded shape, this is an older model Rebel Pop-R. The XCALIBUR XZ2 ZELL POP has a more oval shape.

 

I have an original Rebel Pop-R modified by Zell, the sides of the mouth were shaved & sanded to an oval shape. The lower lip was shaved & sanded. Both mods cause the lure to spit instead of pop (chug).

 

The whole body was sanded to lighten the lure & change the color to bone white, a orange belly was painted.

 

Zell would also add a thicker rear hook to make it sit tail down nose up.