Its getting to the time of year where a popper can be a deadly weapon to use on the stripers. Here's alittle "how to do" on poppers. I've added some stuff on the drop fly and also some comments on what catch and release fisherman can do to make poppers more fish friendly.
There are a lot of ways to use a popper. The only time I would fault a guy on the way he works a popper is if he doesn't change something after it has been demonstarted not to work. You
have to vary the action until you find what the fish are afetr that particular day. Big splash , little gurgle , slow blip, blip , blip and even just a slow swim ( yes swim a popper) doesn't matter as long as the fish hit it. My use of a popper is varied until something in that spot on that day hits it. The popper also serves as a casting weight for my teaser. Sometimes I don't care what the
popper is doing. I'm making my fly appear a certain way and the popper is just tied to the end to get the fly out there. I think the biggest thing to remember when working a popper is not to
pull it out of the fishes strike zone on a tap. I see a lot of guys just spaz out on a strike and jerk the popper 15 feet from where the fish hit. If the fish misses the plug or is just bumping it
before it comes back to eat it , its important that it doesn't suddenly disappear from the area. The best way to develop the calm response to a hit is to fish schoolies with a popper and a single
tail hook. With only a single tail hook your chances of the fish hooking up on the first strike are low. This forces you to stay calm and continue working the popper in hopes of a second or third
strike. Its good practice for when large are around and even with all the hooks back on the plug the fish sometimes misses the strike or is just bumping the prey. It trains you not to jerk the
plug out of the strike zone. Its also a blast watching the fish strike and chase the lure several times and then hook up. I have seen bass strike the plug six or seven times then hook up. They
won't keep striking if you jerk the lure too far away on the first strike.
I almost always fish a popper with a drop fly when I'm after stripers. I tie the dropper on about 3 feet ahead of the popper. I like black hackle over white bucktail on a 4/0 forged hook. I also like a graded type of color pattern. I would say that when I fish poppers with drop flies I get about half the hits on the teaser and half on the popper. I get more total hits though with the teaser on there. great feeling to catch a bass on a fly you tied yourself. Its also a way to get a fly into play when the fish are way out.
One thing I have noticed is that poppers can be tough on small bass if you leave both a head and tail hook on. One thing that can be done is to remove the tail hook and only use the head hook. Another thing that can be done is to remove the head hook and just put the one tail hook on. As mentioned above , your hook up to strike ratio will go down but its lots of fun , makes it even more important to work the popper correctly and its easier on the fish when its time to release it. One thing you shouldn't do if you are a catch and release fisherman is to fish a treble head hook and a single tail hook. What tends to happen is the bass will strike and get hooked on the head hook. The hook up with the head treble hook makesthe fish end up with the whole length of the popper in its mouth. If you then add the single tail hook , that hook hangs way into the fishes mouth and gets hooked up in the gills or down its throat. If you are going to go with a tail hook , use only the tail hook and no head hook treble.
The last thing to comment on about poppers is the sad disappearance of seconds from Bob Ponds Atom Lure Company. the new people who took over apparently don't sell seconds. The best poppers in the RI area are now the ones you get from Plugman. They are wooden polaris style poppers with a slightly more heavy duty lip. Typically 2 OZ but he has other sizes. I think they last longer than the Gibbs. He also puts good quality , properly sized hooks on them. Last time I got some they were 6/$25. That's the best deal around and they are top quality poppers that float.

Saltheart,
Excellent post on poppers. I also fish a teaser when fishing a popper and will agree that you definately catch more fish because of the teaser, about 60-40 popper to teaser ratio. Have caught some good sized fish on the teaser too!!!! The only thing is that when in a blitz, now I take the teaser off because it's a pain trying to get 2 fish landed and off when you know there is a blitz going on in front of you. When fishing around other people, I tend to do better I believe it is because of my retreive. Especially with bass, but even with bluefish I use a very slow retreive with just average "pops" and some swimming of the plug and I think this entices more strikes and definately more hookups than someone who pops hard and retreives really fast. I think the slow retreive allows the fish to hit more than once if missed and the fish actually gets pissed off that he missed it and comes back for more. I always use a single tail hook and still catch plenty of fish, I also leave on the belly hook and actually most bass hit the belly than the tail anyway, but the single tailhook is easier especially in a blitz because all you need to do is get one hook out rather than a treble. The single hook of course is also easier on the fish. As for plugs, I love the Gibbs type of plug, it casts far, has good swimming action and pops well, but for cost the Creek Chub is also a great plug, it also casts well and I don't think I have had one break yet, in fact most of the plug fish I have caught in my life have been on the Creek Chub.
My only problem is that I love to catch fish on plugs so much, that I think I sometimes sacrifice the bigger fish just to see a fish crush a popper. I have made a vow this year to use more swimmers and bucktails to get under the small fish.
Oh, as for teasers, I use red gills and store bought clousers and deceivers, lighter colors during day, and darker at night. Do you use the black over white day and night???????? Is this a larger profile type teaser you use???
Again, good post, haven't seen one like this from you in a while.
MZ

Saltheart!!! Great post on poppers and teasers... I like what you said about practicing on the small fish with a reduced (or no) hooks on the popper... I would like to add that I almost always crush the barbs on the hooks when smaller fish are hitting. I may loose a couple more small fish but they are released much quicker with less damage... I also like the Gag's Popper but it has a tendancy of getting fouled on the front trebble on the cast. I need to put a smaller front hook on them as Fisherwoman keeps telling me. I also tend to cut off two hooks of the rear trebble on many of my plugs until I get around to putting a single hook with or without bucktail...

GREAT ! post on the poppers. Some guys shy away from them I hope this will give them some insite to start using them.Good Luck,Good Fishin.