So, like everyone else, what I know about using these plugs is infantile and fragmented.
I've fished the superstrike seriously. The 2 3/4 oz plug is probably the king of modern poppers. Casts great (better than the larger version) works great, and can be slowed and swum like a swimmer. Usually I swim it 5-6 feet, pause and pop, let it drop a bit, then swim it another 5-6 feet. You can also drop them deep and slowly swim them back up.
Probably they work at night, but I can't say I've tried it.
The Pili is also a great bass plug, I don't know why, it pops poorly and doesn't swim. It is fragile and breaks when it hits a rock. But there is something about the way it rolls on its side when worked, or maybe the subtleness of its pop that makes it a very good plug.
The creekchub we have talked about. The Troublemaker is a plug a friend I fish with likes, it floats and can be worked very slowly and gently as well. I can't bring myself to try one. I've seen him take 20-25lb bass on them.
The atom shown is a bluefish plug, but atom also made a very fat version. I've heard guys used to like these for bass, and I think the plug could be swum, but never fished one. Likewise, the Rebel had a cult following. Again it could be swum. I remember hearing that some experts fished these at night as their "go to" plug. There is also mention by R Germani in "Reading the Water" about using these plugs at night when fishing rough conditions with a cross sweep, because they would hold in waves better than plastic swimmers.
The Smack It is a high quality plug that I use in small sizes for schoolies. I recall a post a few years back by a novice who caught a 50" bass the first time he ever tried fishing at night on one of these plugs. Hopefully someone has since set him straight so he knows not to use poppers in the night.......right?
As for the big old school poppers..........well this year we'll begin to find out just what those old guys knew
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