Popper Lessons with a Master
PHOTO BY JUSTIN ONSLOW
Prime Time
Rowland always has a popper tied
on, regardless of the season, but he’s
more likely to reach for it at certain
times of the year than others.
“If I suspect there are fish in shallow
water, it’s going to be on the deck at all
times,” he says. “I won’t say I’ll use it all
the time, but I’ll definitely use it a lot,
especially from late spring right on
through the fall.”
Prime windows are when
postspawn bass are guarding fry,
patrolling bream beds or gorging their
bellies around the shad spawn.
Rowland says the popper also can pay
off any time schooling bass are active
or during the sweltering heat of summer,
particularly when much of the
tournament field might head offshore
to play the ledge game with crankbaits
and Carolina rigs.
“There are always going to be fish
shallow in summer provided there’s
cover, and those fish may not be near
as pressured,” Rowland adds.
Another factor he considers is wind
velocity.
“The popper isn’t a good choice in
really rough water,” he says. “I’ve had
some success when the surface is
slick, but where it really tends to shine
is when there is a little ripple to break
up the surface, especially in clear
water. The ripple prevents the fish from
getting too good of a look at the bait.”
Different mouth shapes produce different results. Rowland’s go-to BOOYAH Boss Pop spits and walks while
his Pop-R with its deep, cupped beak is more of a chugger.
Types of Poppers
Rowland divides “factory” poppers
into three basic categories: baits that
chug, baits that spit, and baits that spit
and walk.
Flat-faced poppers like the BOOY-
AH Boss Pop – a bait he helped design
– are meant to spit or walk with the
proper rod cadence. It has a shallow
cup for a mouth. The standard Rebel
Pop-R is a true chugger as dictated by
its deeper cupped beak.
It’s a good idea to have a mix of
poppers in your tackle box. More
importantly, always be willing to experiment.
If one bait style isn’t cutting it,
try something different.
“There are a lot of variables that go
into making those decisions on which
popper to throw,” Rowland adds.
“Sound is important, but so is the
action. That’s why you see a lot of pros
with 15 different rods on the deck
instead of six. They’ll have different
baits rigged on different line sizes.
Lighter lines give the bait more action
than heavy lines. We’d fish with 20-
pound line all the time if we could get
away with it, but with topwaters, you
can’t do that.”
Once he settles on the desired style
of popper, Rowland chooses the size
based on two factors: the size of the
baitfish and the size class of the bass
the lake is known for producing. He
points to the 2 1/2- and 3-inch Rebel
Pop-R models to explain.
“Right after the bass spawn, there
are a lot of small fry in the water,” he
says. “That’s when I’ll throw the 2 1/2-
inch model to match the hatch. Once
the fry grow a little and move off the
bank is when I’ll go to the 3 inch. I’ll
stick with it all summer long. You can
continue catching fish on the smaller
bait, but the bigger bait will typically
produce the bigger bites you want in a
tournament situation. You definitely
want to throw the bigger bait if a lake
has a bunch of 3-plus-pounders.”
He sticks with basic colors.
Chrome/black, bone and baby bass are
his favorites in most situations. Black
gets the call in muddy or stained water.
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FLWFISHING.COM | MAJORLEAGUEFISHING.COM | AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2020