Friday 26 October 2012

Pike Poppers



If I lived in pike paradise… I mean in a country like Ireland, Finland, Canada,… then I would certainly fish a lot more with poppers. They’re not the best way to catch a pike, but they certainly are the most spectacular way! Unfortunately I live in Belgium, where focusing on catching a pike (in whatever way), is already a big task. So I mainly focus on the best way  to hook them on a fly.
But they’re so much fun on your vise, that sometimes when I’m in the mood, I just can’t resist making them. I say ‘making’ instead of ‘tying’, because to my knowledge (please correct me if I’m wrong), there is no pre-maid popper-head on the market that will support a 5/0 or 6/0 hook, along with a steel- (or titanium-) leader tip (and swivels), plus some rubber legs and a 15 to 20 cm tail tied on to it, that will still float enough to call it a popper. So ‘making’ the head will take most of your time.
But, this week I was in the mood to make some,…

They’re 15 to 17 cm long, tied (made) on a Piketrek, Eagle Claw, Pike Fly Hook (that’s a mouth full), size 5/0. I took two pictures from each so you would have a better idea on how I made them.


I also made some sliders. Fish these on an intermediate line, let them hit the surface, then start stripping again, and you’ll have a deadly fly.


What I would also like to share, is the material I used to make the heads. On a previous post you’ve seen how I make my popper heads (if you didn’t, click on the label ‘poppers’ on the bottom of this post or on the right column of this blog). This time I used another kind of  (cheaper) foam. I got another great tip from Renzo Callebert, a great fly-tier, and always in search of unconventional tying material.

Some of you will remember those wooden blocks in different colours we used to play with as a child. Well nowadays (due to all kinds of safety regulations for child’s play), they make this stuff in foam! And an interesting (and really cheap) foam it is.

Do you have any idea how many popper heads you can make with this? Well,… neither do I, but it will certainly be a challenge to find out.



The next pike flies I will post also started with an idea from Renzo,… although some other stuff will come first I think (pike on stamps for example, because my collection has grown)… 


7 comments:

David Romanillos said...

Hello Stefaan, congratulations, very nice and I write you in the last post ...
Greetings

the lonsome piker said...

Thanks David and sorry for not answering sooner.

Anonymous said...

Hallo,
De edgewater boilermaker popperheads in de grotere maten hebben echt wel veel drijfvermogen en kunnen je dus misschien wel veel tijd besparen...
http://www.vliegvisshop.be/shop/index.php?action=full&id=44
groeten !
Jeroen, Schelle

Unknown said...

I'm really into pike poppers at the moment. Maybe you could do a dressing I could copy. I love the green poppers, they look like frogs? Excellent, really excellent.

thomas said...

very nice popper

Unknown said...

Excellent post. Appreciate the time you put in my friend. Tight lines

Carina Sun said...

really beautiful lures, love this blog
shaddockfishing