Sinking line and poppers
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- Roach
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Sinking line and poppers
I’ve been stocking up on pike flies mainly from Mcfluffchuckers website and I’ve come across some poppers. Wondering if anyone had had much success fishing poppers on a sinking line booby style? You don’t hear of the technique much so thought I’d ask on here.
- Mike J
- Ferox Trout
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Re: Sinking line and poppers
Ive fished homemade poppers but only in the sea.
Just used a spinning rod and braid and caught without any problems at all.
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Just used a spinning rod and braid and caught without any problems at all.
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'No Man Ever Fishes The Same River Twice, .... For It Is Not The Same River, .... And He Is Not The Same Man' Heraclitus of Ephesus
- lakefisher
- Jack Pike
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Re: Sinking line and poppers
Poppers, Ballydoolagh bombers and my own foam head pike flys can all be effectively, and very successfully fished, as you put it " booby style " on any fast sinking fly line.
Line weight needed will depend on depth of water and how buoyant your fly is - anything from a Di 3, up through a Di 7 or even a T14 shooting head.
Such flies can be deadly when the pike are in the mood to prefer a fly fished very slowly, close to the bottom -
Unless you are prepared to loose some of your flies, consider a weedless version
Above is a pic of one pattern of my home tied "foam heads"
HTH ..... Tony
Line weight needed will depend on depth of water and how buoyant your fly is - anything from a Di 3, up through a Di 7 or even a T14 shooting head.
Such flies can be deadly when the pike are in the mood to prefer a fly fished very slowly, close to the bottom -
Unless you are prepared to loose some of your flies, consider a weedless version
Above is a pic of one pattern of my home tied "foam heads"
HTH ..... Tony
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- Mike J
- Ferox Trout
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Re: Sinking line and poppers
lakefisher wrote: ↑Sun Apr 04 2021 13:52 -Poppers, Ballydoolagh bombers and my own foam head pike flys can all be effectively, and very successfully fished, as you put it " booby style " on any fast sinking fly line.
Line weight needed will depend on depth of water and how buoyant your fly is - anything from a Di 3, up through a Di 7 or even a T14 shooting head.
Such flies can be deadly when the pike are in the mood to prefer a fly fished very slowly, close to the bottom -
Unless you are prepared to loose some of your flies, consider a weedless version
IMGP0945_exposure_resize.JPG
Above is a pic of one pattern of my home tied "foam heads"
HTH ..... Tony
First three days after a springer using a single circle and although I can feel it touching bottom but haven't lost a fly yet. Very little weed either.
Worth a thought maybe?
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'No Man Ever Fishes The Same River Twice, .... For It Is Not The Same River, .... And He Is Not The Same Man' Heraclitus of Ephesus
- lakefisher
- Jack Pike
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Re: Sinking line and poppers
Thanks for the thought Mike - I usually tie on Varivas big mouth xtra hooks - but will consider your circle hook proposition for such deeply fished flies.
Regards ..... Tony
Regards ..... Tony
- Mike J
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Re: Sinking line and poppers
lakefisher wrote: ↑Tue Apr 06 2021 11:15 -Thanks for the thought Mike - I usually tie on Varivas big mouth xtra hooks - but will consider your circle hook proposition for such deeply fished flies.
Regards ..... Tony
What is your leader set-up?
Mine are various lengths of T17 with a welded loop on each end, a section of mono or braid at the top end and flouro on the bottom. (plus wire for pike).
To protect the fly line and T17 loops from damage from the mono I have begun using a double loop connector that I make myself from hollow 250lb PE braid or 100lb Dacron.
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'No Man Ever Fishes The Same River Twice, .... For It Is Not The Same River, .... And He Is Not The Same Man' Heraclitus of Ephesus
- lakefisher
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Re: Sinking line and poppers
When using buoyant flies slowly along the bottom booby style, my usual set-up is as follows
My "extra fast sinking fly line" is a home produced T14 (30 ft of Rio) head spliced to a shooting line from an old Di 7 - Roughly equates to a 12" per sec sink rate
A welded loop on the business end of the T14 - Loop to loop attached to my leader
My pike leader is 2 to 4 feet of hard mono - 25 (ish) pounds BS albright knotted to a single strand (40 Lbs BS) Titanium bite leader of around 15 to 18 inches below it with a quick change clip on the end.
HTH ....... Tony
My "extra fast sinking fly line" is a home produced T14 (30 ft of Rio) head spliced to a shooting line from an old Di 7 - Roughly equates to a 12" per sec sink rate
A welded loop on the business end of the T14 - Loop to loop attached to my leader
My pike leader is 2 to 4 feet of hard mono - 25 (ish) pounds BS albright knotted to a single strand (40 Lbs BS) Titanium bite leader of around 15 to 18 inches below it with a quick change clip on the end.
HTH ....... Tony
- Mike J
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Re: Sinking line and poppers
lakefisher wrote: ↑Wed Apr 07 2021 15:00 -When using buoyant flies slowly along the bottom booby style, my usual set-up is as follows
My "extra fast sinking fly line" is a home produced T14 (30 ft of Rio) head spliced to a shooting line from an old Di 7 - Roughly equates to a 12" per sec sink rate
A welded loop on the business end of the T14 - Loop to loop attached to my leader
My pike leader is 2 to 4 feet of hard mono - 25 (ish) pounds BS albright knotted to a single strand (40 Lbs BS) Titanium bite leader of around 15 to 18 inches below it.
HTH ....... Tony
I do like that
Your 30ft of T14 420grains is close in weight to my Skagit set-up, what rod are you using?
I use a 13ft LPXe 8/9 to throw a 20ft 500grain Skagit + 5-8ft of T17 and a 2gram tungsten tube.
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'No Man Ever Fishes The Same River Twice, .... For It Is Not The Same River, .... And He Is Not The Same Man' Heraclitus of Ephesus
- lakefisher
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Re: Sinking line and poppers
Either my Reddington CPX or my Greys XF2 Carnivore - Both in a 9 Foot 10 weight
Reddington is "slightly" stiffer - with a tad more "ummph" for getting maximum distance - But both caast well and are also capable of taking the fight to a scrapping big momma as I hate prolonging any scrap. Preferring to defeat them quickly.
Tony
Reddington is "slightly" stiffer - with a tad more "ummph" for getting maximum distance - But both caast well and are also capable of taking the fight to a scrapping big momma as I hate prolonging any scrap. Preferring to defeat them quickly.
Tony
- Mike J
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Re: Sinking line and poppers
lakefisher wrote: ↑Wed Apr 07 2021 15:59 -I do like Reddington gear, well made and reliable, I have their waders and they still like new.Either my Reddington CPX or my Greys XF2 Carnivore - Both in a 9 Foot 10 weight
Reddington is "slightly" stiffer - with a tad more "ummph" for getting maximum distance - But both caast well and are also capable of taking the fight to a scrapping big momma as I hate prolonging any scrap. Preferring to defeat them quickly.
Tony
Thinking of your set-up I have a 10ft 8/9 Hexagraph that I was going to convert into a ledger rod but will try it with your set-up as I have enough Level T to play around with line weights, it could prove a hidden gem.
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'No Man Ever Fishes The Same River Twice, .... For It Is Not The Same River, .... And He Is Not The Same Man' Heraclitus of Ephesus
- lakefisher
- Jack Pike
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- Joined: Wed Aug 31 2011 05:00
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Re: Sinking line and poppers
As you will appreciate, a successful set up will be dependant on several factors - the ability of your rod to effectively handle the weight of line used, and to actually become "the spring" which fires the head out but in a controlled manner - your own fly casting style may need to be "modified" to suit the set up (mainly the timing of the cast) Double hauling the head on the delivery stroke (if you are familiar and practised with this technique) has proved to be very effective for me. Apologies if I'm preaching to the capable.
Hint - under lining a rod is always not effective, whilst slightly overlining can work if you adjust your cast timing. So go slowly in cutting down the length/weight of your head.
Best of luck sorting out the variables - and hope that you finish up with a successful and useful "hidden gem"
Regards ...... Tony
Hint - under lining a rod is always not effective, whilst slightly overlining can work if you adjust your cast timing. So go slowly in cutting down the length/weight of your head.
Best of luck sorting out the variables - and hope that you finish up with a successful and useful "hidden gem"
Regards ...... Tony
- Mike J
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Re: Sinking line and poppers
lakefisher wrote: ↑Thu Apr 08 2021 12:46 -As you will appreciate, a successful set up will be dependant on several factors - the ability of your rod to effectively handle the weight of line used, and to actually become "the spring" which fires the head out but in a controlled manner - your own fly casting style may need to be "modified" to suit the set up (mainly the timing of the cast) Double hauling the head on the delivery stroke (if you are familiar and practised with this technique) has proved to be very effective for me. Apologies if I'm preaching to the capable.
Hint - under lining a rod is always not effective, whilst slightly overlining can work if you adjust your cast timing. So go slowly in cutting down the length/weight of your head.
Best of luck sorting out the variables - and hope that you finish up with a successful and useful "hidden gem"
Regards ...... Tony
Thank you for the rundown
Sorting out the variables
Ive been trying to do that since I picked up a rod and Ive been retired 24years and still haven't got there!
If going from cane to glass, then to boron and carbon wasn't enough I never fish long enough for any single species often going from upstream drys to buzzers for Rudd, ST in the dark to Spey for tourists, not to mention the toothies and what I do in the salt all in the same year.
Today river is at its very best, the wind has changed to warm so today Im off chasing a springer on the long rod.
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'No Man Ever Fishes The Same River Twice, .... For It Is Not The Same River, .... And He Is Not The Same Man' Heraclitus of Ephesus
- Mike J
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Re: Sinking line and poppers
My quest for a springer on a fly continues.
The last fish in the book came on a composite leader of braid, level T and fluoro tippet.
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The last fish in the book came on a composite leader of braid, level T and fluoro tippet.
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'No Man Ever Fishes The Same River Twice, .... For It Is Not The Same River, .... And He Is Not The Same Man' Heraclitus of Ephesus
- John Milford
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Re: Sinking line and poppers
I'm completely fascinated by this thread - even though I barely understand a single word of it!
I did get Mike's 'Hexagraph' and ledger rod deliberations though - even if the thought did make me shudder slightly!
I once saw a 15' Hexagraph Spey caster that appeared (for a while) to be going cheap - and wondered if there might be a decent 12' pike rod lurking somewhere within the blank. Fortunately I was outbid!
I did get Mike's 'Hexagraph' and ledger rod deliberations though - even if the thought did make me shudder slightly!
I once saw a 15' Hexagraph Spey caster that appeared (for a while) to be going cheap - and wondered if there might be a decent 12' pike rod lurking somewhere within the blank. Fortunately I was outbid!
"He's some sort of lure savant. Or just has an unhealthy addiction to old lures. We are not quite sure . . . . . "
- Mike J
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Re: Sinking line and poppers
John Milford wrote: ↑Sat Apr 10 2021 10:56 -I know a Dutch guy who converts Hex Speys into barbel rods for his UK trips. No doubt a big Spey would make up into an excellent pike rod. The other blank to lookout for is the double handed sea trout version, especially if its a green.I'm completely fascinated by this thread - even though I barely understand a single word of it!
I did get Mike's 'Hexagraph' and ledger rod deliberations though - even if the thought did make me shudder slightly!
I once saw a 15' Hexagraph Spey caster that appeared (for a while) to be going cheap - and wondered if there might be a decent 12' pike rod lurking somewhere within the blank. Fortunately I was outbid!
I don't know of you've handled one but all Hexagraphs are heavy compared to tubular rods but the power they possess is undeniable, especially in the lower section.
For years I fancied trying an Avon for piking but one has never come along at a price I would pay.
.
'No Man Ever Fishes The Same River Twice, .... For It Is Not The Same River, .... And He Is Not The Same Man' Heraclitus of Ephesus
- John Milford
- Ferox Trout
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Re: Sinking line and poppers
Mike J wrote: ↑Sun Apr 11 2021 09:43 -I keep a lookout for them too Mike, but, as you say, the prices commanded by the coarse fishing Hexagraphs these days are absolutely eye-watering!!John Milford wrote: ↑Sat Apr 10 2021 10:56 -I know a Dutch guy who converts Hex Speys into barbel rods for his UK trips. No doubt a big Spey would make up into an excellent pike rod. The other blank to lookout for is the double handed sea trout version, especially if its a green.I'm completely fascinated by this thread - even though I barely understand a single word of it!
I did get Mike's 'Hexagraph' and ledger rod deliberations though - even if the thought did make me shudder slightly!
I once saw a 15' Hexagraph Spey caster that appeared (for a while) to be going cheap - and wondered if there might be a decent 12' pike rod lurking somewhere within the blank. Fortunately I was outbid!
I don't know of you've handled one but all Hexagraphs are heavy compared to tubular rods but the power they possess is undeniable, especially in the lower section.
For years I fancied trying an Avon for piking but one has never come along at a price I would pay
"He's some sort of lure savant. Or just has an unhealthy addiction to old lures. We are not quite sure . . . . . "