16 hours ago, the reel ess said:

I like to have one tied on when I see bass chasing bait and throw it right at the action. Immediately pop it a few times to get their attention. A great bait for summer schoolies.

This is when I'd rather have a spook. I can cast it further than a popper and when they're boiling like that, they seem to eat anything. 

 

14 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

I also like to fish it in bogs with heavy cover. An opening of a couple feet is a great place to drop one. I get a far higher hookup than I do with a frog. Yes, it can be hard to land those bass with all those hooks.

I've heard a lot of great fisherman talk about fishing poppers in those small holes and pockets. Seems like it'd be a pain to keep the hooks out of the grass/pads when bringing your bait back in, no?

 

13 hours ago, Darth-Baiter said:

we all have been there, seen it, heard it.  we are casting to shore and we hear a ruckus behind us.  we look and we see that wolf-pack of bass smashing bait out in the wide open.  grab that popper and get it to them.  it is almost a 100% bite for me, if I get it to them on time.  

 

the smaller Megabass pop-whatever.   I have one on a rod I kinda hate.  spinning.  the rod is a Powell Naked spinning rod.   it is a one-hit wonder in my hands. it throws the smaller popper like magic.  the light, super stiff broomstick vibe I get from that rod just works those poppers kinda nice for me.

That's my other big knock on poppers over other topwaters- they're so much harder to cast. It takes a lot longer to get the accuracy dialed in throwing a light bait and I tend to miss some spots I would've hit with a 5/8 ounce frog. 

 

13 hours ago, king fisher said:

The best time is when big bass want a popper.  I don't know why, but some days the popper is it.  I didn't get a bite on a Whopper Plopper, or a spook then I tied on a Pop R. and my luck started to change.  

So in your experience, some days it's just what they want and there's no rhyme or reason to it? Usually, if I've tried a buzz, spook, plopper, and frog to no avail, I'm abandoning topwater. 

 

12 hours ago, casts_by_fly said:

I know fish eat them, but I too rank poppers way down my list.  A buzzbait, walking bait, or frog/toad will be my first choices depending on the cover.  I struggle to fish a popper as slow as it needs to be fished in the situations where it shines.  And then we also have a ton of vegetation in most of the lakes here which make treble hooks tough.  As a result, a toad/buzzbait/plopper take up the bulk of my ‘finding fish’ duty depending on the cover (heaviest to lightest respectively).  For open water (rock) or submerged grass i like a walking bait to be able to cover a ton of water but they are also great around docks where you can walk them down the side and even up under the edge.  And of course if things get thick a frog is sometimes the only thing to get through it.  

I think my biggest issue is slowing down enough to make them effective. I struggle to pause a spook or jerkbait for more than 3 seconds. I see videos of guys pausing poppers for 20 seconds and it blows my mind. 

 

10 hours ago, Joedodge said:

Try downsizing the size of the plopper. Go to a 75.  It can help 

This is true. 75 and 90 is about all I throw.

 

10 hours ago, GReb said:

I’ve had best luck around the shad spawn on the edges of pads. A place where most guys are throwing buzzbaits, toads, and frogs. It’s something highly pressured fish in these places don’t see as often and it stays in the strike zone. I rarely hard pop it, just slight rod twitches. A popper will come through sparser patches of pads better than you’d think 

That makes sense, but for whatever reason, we don't get a real strong shad spawn on most of our lakes. But it makes sense it would be effective in a situation like schooling bait. 

 

21 minutes ago, the reel ess said:

Not to hijack the thread, but the Plopper is a funny bait in that way. I fished it a while, but didn't really commit to it until a couple years ago. Then I just thought "I'll tie it on and fish nothing else for a day. I caught a few fish, and good ones. I kept it in my rotation and the bites kept coming. This calendar year it has been one of my top 2 producers. This year I've learned to fish it over a little deeper water and structure. It will call bass up from deeper than you think. Now it's jut one in my rotation with walking baits and poppers/Chug Bug. But I like to start with the Plopper if they'll bite it because it covers water so much quicker.

 

I've definitely found the plopper to crush it in one lake/river and be a dud in the lake/river 2 miles away. Tannic stained water and cypress... they usually get angry at a plopper. 

 

 

Reading all these responses, I'm not surprised to see people are pretty split on poppers. Seems like you either love them or don't use them much. I can see how they'd be like a lot of baits where some days they just work better than everything else and you don't know why. I may add a MB Popmax or two, but reckon I'll keep the popper inventory pretty low in the topwater box. I can see myself resorting to it when all else fails and the conditions line up for it now that I've caught a few fish on them. But more likely, they'll get used if the popping frog is drawing short strikes and the cover lets me get away with trebles.

 

Thanks for all the input and responses, y'all.

Old School Hula Popper excels in small ponds and lakes. It's still around and being sold. Use it anytime the water is relatively calm. 

Good Fishing

1/4oz.

1 hour ago, JHoss said:

Seems like it'd be a pain to keep the hooks out of the grass/pads when bringing your bait back in, no?

 

Absolutely.

55 minutes ago, JHoss said:

So in your experience, some days it's just what they want and there's no rhyme or reason to it? Usually, if I've tried a buzz, spook, plopper, and frog to no avail, I'm abandoning topwater.

On this particular day I tried the popper first.  I got some medium size bass on it, so out of curiosity I tried some other topwater's, especially the spook because the bass wanted my popper walked like one.  I didn't get any strikes so I switched back to a popper and caught a over 30 pound 5 fish bag.  I do not fish any bait without any rhyme or reason  sometimes to my detriment.  I fish for fun, and solving the puzzle is more fun for me than catching bass.  If I was a tournament fisherman, I would have to dial back the experimenting.  I should have never tried the other topwater's that day.  The popper was working, but curiosity and my inner need to experiment like usual, got the best of me.

 

Rick Clunn won lots of money fishing a Pop R when others didn't even consider a topwater in play.  If you don't like fishing poppers don't fish them, there are thousands of other baits to fish.  I'm sure on most days you will out fish me, but if you want to catch a trophy bass on top in Mexico, bring a popper.  

Sometimes poppers get crushed - like post-spawn smallies on a Canadian Shield lake. 
 

Other than that I have better luck with poppers when the water is glassy and the bite is subtle. Your standard walking baits and Ploppers are almost too “in their face.” Times like this, I go with small poppers, even BFS poppers, which seem to out-fish larger offerings. 

I agree with A-Jay fully but would add one consideration.  When bass are shallow on a really steep bank the popper At its best to me.  When you put the popper right on bank and if you move it eight feet it’s over 20 feet of water.  That is popper time for sure.

16 minutes ago, Columbia Craw said:

I agree with A-Jay fully but would add one consideration.  When bass are shallow on a really steep bank the popper At its best to me.  When you put the popper right on bank and if you move it eight feet it’s over 20 feet of water.  That is popper time for sure.

That's been my experience too.  It's quite something to have a popper smashed in 15ft of water when fishing parallel to the bank.

Yes, of course it's better, when it is. I love a popper. Took me a while to get comfortable with them - like years - but it's one of my go to baits for the top. I'll throw them before I throw a walking bait. 

14 hours ago, Columbia Craw said:

I agree with A-Jay fully but would add one consideration.  When bass are shallow on a really steep bank the popper At its best to me.  When you put the popper right on bank and if you move it eight feet it’s over 20 feet of water.  That is popper time for sure.

This makes sense. Especially if you have a nice shade line in the summer. I can think of one spot I'll have to try it. Steep channel swing bank on a river with a field behind it. When the wind blows the right way, all the bugs and stuff from that field wind up in the water of that channel swing and the fish stack up. 

A lot more experienced anglers have pretty much answered the question here, but I guess I'll add my own experience with the popper. 

 

I find it most effective when I just  k n o w  that there is a fish in a specific spot; I already covered enough water, and this spot looks way too fishy to not have a fish in it. It's the best lure to work painfully slow since it moves sideways more than it does forwards, and the bites are often destructive. 

 

Thanks to this thread however I'll have to try fishing it over steep drop offs close to shore. That sounds really fun.

Drop offs are an interesting piece of structure. I'm in over 60 fow in this clip. That fish is sitting in 12-15 fow, on the edge of the weed line. Where it strikes the surface is out over 30 feet. The lure is a Popmax, in Python. 
 

 

16 minutes ago, J Francho said:

That's wild, what an aggressive strike! 

Little guys lack accuracy. The big ones are often much quieter, but not always. 

If you fishing where the weeds don’t hit the surface, a popper or spook will land more fish than any other topwater in my experience. I tend to go with a popper first.

 

Start with a buzzbait or a prop bait as they can cover water faster. If you don’t get any fish or the bite slows, switch to a popper.

 

In later July and August I will use a 1/2oz popper. The rest of the time (in the northeast), a 1/4oz usually lands more fish, assuming you can cast them acceptably on your setup and with whatever wind you’re dealing with.

19 hours ago, J Francho said:

Drop offs are an interesting piece of structure. I'm in over 60 fow in this clip. That fish is sitting in 12-15 fow, on the edge of the weed line. Where it strikes the surface is out over 30 feet. The lure is a Popmax, in Python. 
 

 

my python popmax is still unscathed.  hahah...I work it way slower than you do.  maybe I need to hurry it up.

 

what a great color..it got me as a fisherman.  

Id be sad if I didn't have a Lobino Rio Rico popper and a Megabass Pop Max They both just get bit when I throw it on the 4 lakes I fish.. The Berkley bullet pop 70 size is a good one also.Between  those poppers, a Lucky Craft Sammy 100 , a D&M easy roller buzzbait and a Berkley Choppo 105 , those cover my top water needs. But the Rio Rico is the most fun and productive $25 bait I've ever bought ! Low light , shady side of docks , isolated cover , I'll throw a popper any time of day with those scenarios.

Last week I made a comment that I love to fish topwater but rarely do it anymore.

 

Yesterday I went out early evening and said what the heck I’ll bring a rod with a popper on it.

 

The water ended up being pretty dirty from all of the rain but I still managed to catch a couple on it.

 

 Boy that was fun.

 

The bluegills loved the tail feather though and kept nipping on it.

On 7/7/2025 at 12:48 PM, A-Jay said:

The Megabass Pop Max (already mention in this thread at least once) is my popper of choice.

 

I know there are others that throw the Megabass version, are they really worth 2 KVD Splashes?

 

What do you think the main difference is?

29 minutes ago, HawkeyeSmallie said:

 

I know there are others that throw the Megabass version, are they really worth 2 KVD Splashes?

 

What do you think the main difference is?

'Worth' is almost always a personal preference.   I have had quite a bit of success on plus size brown bass with other Megabass baits.  The fit and finish is high quality and in the clear waters I fish, I believe that it might help seal the deal for potential biters.

Incidentally , I have a metric ton of Strike King and KVD other bait; lipples, crank and jerkbaits.  They catch plenty of fish for me too. In fact the Sexy Dawg is my favorite walking bait.  So much so that I sold off ALL my Megabass walkers because the SK's got way more bites.

But when it comes to poppers, the Pop Max seems to have the right size, profile and sound. 

This might all be complete bunk.

But it's the kind of bunk that has me using my net, scale and camera - repeatedly.

A-Jay

20 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

But when it comes to poppers, the Pop Max seems to have the right size, profile and sound. 

This might all be complete bunk.

But it's the kind of bunk that has me using my net, scale and camera - repeatedly.

A-Jay

 

Thanks for the reply.

 

I have a bunch of jerkbaits from Megabass mostly because many people swore by them.

 

Love their rods as well.

 

Maybe I'll need to buy one of the bigger poppers and try it out.

 

It's only money right. 

Anytime they are looking and feeding upwards. That could be on spatterdock edges, hydrilla edges, open pea gravel flats, grass flats, open water boulder formations, bluff wall banks , it just depends on the fishery. I've caught them in bluebird skies on tidal rivers, flats with zero structure or grass, and crystal clear glacial lakes from 30 feet down. I typically prefer calmer water, but a little chop is OK too. The key is that you're calling them to the lure, and they will either ignore, investigate or inhale. You just gotta figure out if they're into inhaling them or not.

 

I'll throw a Rico anytime I think there's a remote chance fish will bite it though. It's my preferred method of fishing.

16 minutes ago, HawkeyeSmallie said:

 

Thanks for the reply.

I have a bunch of jerkbaits from Megabass mostly because many people swore by them.

Love their rods as well. Maybe I'll need to buy one of the bigger poppers and try it out. 

It's only money right. 

 I'm one of Those People too.

https://youtu.be/E8UfnBPoH-M?feature=shared&t=1181

A-Jay

21 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

 I'm one of Those People too.

https://youtu.be/E8UfnBPoH-M?feature=shared&t=1181

A-Jay

 

You must have a great and understanding wife!   

 

I made the mistake the other day where I lined up about 15 unopened jerkbait boxes and said "These all cost about $25 a piece".

 

I'm really not sure what was going through my mind at the time.

 

I won't do that again.

I have one white (bone) Rico that I will throw when it’s really slick and glassy.

Lately I’ve been fishing a Choppo 75 like a popper - jerk, sit, jerk, etc and picked up my PB smallmouth a couple weeks ago doing this (4 and change on my cheap, wholly inaccurate scale, but still a toad for a Roosevelt smalljaw).

 

 

 

21 hours ago, Junger said:

The key is that you're calling them to the lure, and they will either ignore, investigate or inhale.

I'm not a "scoper" but have it on my boat. Should I be scanning around my popper to see if fish are coming to investigate it?

 

21 hours ago, HawkeyeSmallie said:

I made the mistake the other day where I lined up about 15 unopened jerkbait boxes and said "These all cost about $25 a piece".

 

I'm really not sure what was going through my mind at the time.

 

I won't do that again.

I picked up 3 MB Popmax and one of the Shimano Flash Pops because of this thread. Last night, I came dangerously close to slipping up and saying to my wife, "can you believe these things are $20 a pop?" 

 

22 hours ago, A-Jay said:

'Worth' is almost always a personal preference.   I have had quite a bit of success on plus size brown bass with other Megabass baits.  The fit and finish is high quality and in the clear waters I fish, I believe that it might help seal the deal for potential biters.

Incidentally , I have a metric ton of Strike King and KVD other bait; lipples, crank and jerkbaits.  They catch plenty of fish for me too. In fact the Sexy Dawg is my favorite walking bait.  So much so that I sold off ALL my Megabass walkers because the SK's got way more bites.

But when it comes to poppers, the Pop Max seems to have the right size, profile and sound. 

This might all be complete bunk.

But it's the kind of bunk that has me using my net, scale and camera - repeatedly.

A-Jay

The finish on the Popmax is incredible. I bought one to try them out and went back to get two more after I opened the package and saw how good it looked and felt.