Using The Big Boogle Popper to Mimic The Pop-R

The size 4 Boogle Bug is a big popping bug, which in reality mimics a Pop-R bait casting lure. The Pop-R is a go to lure on the bass tournament circuit for a lot of the bass fisherman, who want to land large bass on the surface.

 Tuesday morning on Smith I use the size 4 Boogle Bug as a Pop-R. To mimic the Pop-R one needs to use short jerks and a pause with the big Boogle Bug. On the pause is when the hits occur. I have seldom hooked a bass moving the Boogle Bug.

I have had some problems casting this size popper with a regular 6 weight fly line, so I spooled my 5/6 Redington Drift reel with the Scientific Anglers SeriesBass Bug fly line which turns over the big bugs with ease even in windy conditions.

 

The result of the pause when this nice spot nailed the olive green red eye Boogle Bug setting motionless. My 6 weight 9 ft. got quite a workout matching muscle with this fighting spot. This fish knows no boundaries when it comes to freeing itself from a hook popper.

This spot killed the popper right at daylight, in fact I could barely see the bug, but I could hear the explosion on the surface. Daylight is my favorite time to fish any surface popper; it seems to bring out the ugly in the spots on Smith. After the sun peaked over the horizon it was all over for the top action and time to head home. I hope I get a chance to challenge the big bluegills again next week.

Back to Work on my 2014 Bluegill Quest

I was back on Walker County Lake Tuesday working on my bluegill quest. I wanted to see if the live bait crowd had left any bluegills on the beds that I could take with the small poppers. I fished roughly 3 hours and landed some nice gills worthy of my count for this year. This is a daylight dust to dark lake and if one wants to catch anything at all you need to fish at those times.

The first bull gill of the morning with the popper stuck deep in its throat; awesome on the 4 weight.

Most all the bluegills were located directly under this overhanging tree. It was tricky casting placing the size 8 popper directly under the tree limbs. When the popper did make it to its target under the tree and next to the bank, it was just a matter of seconds before the popper disappeared and the fight was on. Sorry for the poor quality of this image.

Another nice bluegill with the popper stuffed inside it's mouth.

I thought I would enter this bluegill in the contest Mel’s friend is conducting on Facebook.

These five are worthy of the quest, I am now 35 away from my goal. 

Some fantastic table fare baked or deep fired in peanut oil. Add some fresh fries, cole slaw, hush puppies and of course a cold Coors; anybody hungry??

 

 

 

 

Fishing The Sink Tip Line for Super Size Bluegills

I guess all of you have noticed my long lapse in posting. Well road trips and baby sitting grandchildren has put a damper on my blogging. Since my wife retired in December we have been taking short little junkets to some places we never had the time to visit when she was working. I mentioned sometime back that my wife told me that when she retired she wanted to travel some, so we are making up for lost time. My blogging will be limited somewhat from this point, so if you wonder what happened to Bill in the week’s and months to come, just know he is traveling around with his college sweetheart here and there.  

I did manage to work a fishing trip in last week on Smith fishing for the spots and bluegills. This big bull gill was landed using a new method for me, which is fishing with a sink tip # 4 fast forward weight line. The sink tip as you know enables me to go deep when the top action isn’t happening, which was the case on this day. The Super Nymph was the fly which the fish inhaled deep into its throat. The disadvantage using the sink tip for me was the lost of flies in brush and rocks. I lost a couple of flies and one fish I never got to see, which I think was a nice spot.

I feel the sink tip will be a winner for me in the summer months on Smith, especially on the rock walls. This line is a weight 4 and one would assume you would use a 4 weight fly rod to cast it, but I found I can get the line up out of the water much better with a 5 weight line when casting. The sink rate on this line is tremendous and one can get to a depth of 20 ft. or better fast. I landed this bluegill in a 30 foot depth range.

Nice spot on the Boggle really early, but when the sun came up the bite stopped. I will count the big gill on my quest, I am now 40 away.

The Bulls are Running!!!

 



 

 

 



The bulls I am really referring to is the big bull bluegills on Walker County Lake. I couldn’t have asked for a better morning to continue to work on my bluegill quest. This morning was unusual in that there was virtually no wind for at least three hours, which made for some fantastic on and off surface action.

 

First gill of the morning on the Black Super Nymph, which is lodged in his throat; I started with a popper but no takers.  The fish were extremely wary and I had to keep the boat some distance from the bank to keep from scaring the bigger fish. This lake is fished quite heavy this time of year and the bigger fish tend to know if danger is approaching. Lighter presentations with lighter flies work best for a while as I worked the banks.   

Another counter for the quest with the nymph inhaled. I lost numbers of fish today simply because I wasn’t keeping a tight line on the fish. These fish usually bed in water 4 to 6 feet deep, and once hooked they make a beeline for deep water, so stripping line as fast as one can will ensure landing the fish, otherwise you take a chance losing good bull bluegill.  

This bass eyed the dark green black-legged Betts popper a little to close. I landed numbers of bass as I work the steep banks. I had two combos with me today, my 3 and 4 weight, both 8 ½ ft. Equal numbers were taken on both combos.

As the Super Nymph faded, I went back to my popper, which was a black-legged faded black body, Betts.  Sorry, I don’t have an image of this popper, which was lost on a break off in a brush pile. I ended the morning with the black-legged chartreuse.

The best of the best for the morning; I will count 8 towards my quest which makes me 41 away.