Below the Wilson dam superstructure , Webster would get right up on any current break and catch massive quantities of fish .
“ some days , we ’ d get 100 in a day , just having a good time ,” says Webster . “ i remembered that old trick when i couldn ’ t get them to come up during the cup , and that thing was pretty awesome the last two days .”
The Setup for both anglers , the setup looks like this : a large cork – 4 or 5 inches long – tied to the main line , a 3-foot leader tied to the opposite end of the cork and a light jig tied to the leader . the jig is usually 1 / 16 or 1 / 32 ounce .
“ the cork is really the only weight you have to cast with ,” perkins says . “ When the fish are kind of randomly placed , the cork seems to get them going . they might come up out of 35 feet of water , or you might find them up shallow .”
Standard Popping Cork
Betts Pop N ’ Stripe
GeaR Guide
Joseph Webster Customized Popping Cork
Custom Jig By Kelly Readhimer
Brandon Perkins : – 7-foot , 6-inch , medium-heavy hammer rod – 7.1:1 abu Garcia Revo reel – 17-pound-test seaguar invizX fluorocarbon line – custom-made 1 / 16- or 1 / 32-ounce fly ( by Kelly Readhimer ) with no . 1 or no . 2 owner hook
– standard foam popping cork photo by rob nEwELL
Joseph Webster often paints his popping corks gray to give them a less gaudy appearance .
The Action in any depth , the goal is to create a racket . cast as far as possible . cut and slash on the retrieve , like you would a walking bait .
“ You work that cork like you would a strike King sexy dawg [ stick bait ],” says perkins . “ When the fish go down and won ’ t do anything , you can bring them back up with that cork . they are predators , and they think their buddies are up top schooling again so it brings them up top .”
When the bite is slow , perkins reduces his retrieve to a slow bloop-bloop , similar to a popper , though both anglers agree that when the bite is on , you can ’ t work the cork fast enough .
“ it ’ s not my preferred technique ,” adds perkins , the pickwick-area native . “ i ’ d obviously much rather be throwing a strike King 6Xd or 10Xd offshore , but a lot of times in late summer and early fall the schools are so busted up that they ’ re hard to catch . instead of throwing a 6- or 7-inch swimbait , the fly lets me target fish with something similar to what they are feeding on , and it doesn ’ t really matter if they get a good look at it because that fly looks really legit .”
Webster says monster bass occasionally hit on the cork rather than the fly , which can be frustrating . for a time , he attempted to solve the problem by fishing the fly behind a Zara spook , but the light weight of the fly meant the leader frequently got tangled in the hooks of the spook , rendering the cast useless .
“ now , i just stick with the cork ,” he says . “ if you get them fired up , look out .”
Joseph Webster : – 7-foot , 3-inch , heavy hammer Rod – 7.2:1 shimano curado reel – 15-pound-test Berkley Big Game monofilament line – 1 / 0 Betts pop n ’ stripe jig – standard foam popping cork ( sometimes painted gray to be less intrusive )
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