Whether It's a Jiggle or a Wiggle, Try Something Different When the Tried and True Fail

In my previous blog post, I discussed how I had to alter the conventional method of working a Booyah Zell Rowland Prank Cranking Popper in order to achieve any degree of success day before yesterday. Afterward, I started doing some Internet research and stumbled across a piece written by Ethan Martin (left), a fly-fishing guide and owner of TaleTellers Fly Shop in Lynchburg, VA.

In an Aug. 4, 2020 post on his blog (https://taletellersva.com/blogs/techniques/how-to-fish-a-popper), Martin focused on the most effective ways to work a fly-fishing popping bug to catch more bass. While our gear differed, the same general principle was involved...or so I believe.

Following is a modified version of Martin's pro advice.

"Cast your popper and let it sit. Don't move it. Don't twitch it. Let the popper stay perfectly still," he advised.

"As fish see insects plop and chill on the water, they get conditioned to dead-drift presentations (just like trout). Cicadas, hoppers, beetles--really all sorts of insects and animals that fall on the water--don't actively move around immediately after they hit the water. Typically, for the first few seconds after creatures whack the water, they chill out, trying to get their bearings. Now I've seen hoppers chug back to shore after landing, but they typically still sit there for a few seconds first.

"If there's a bass around, they usually will come quickly to inspect the floating object, and if they're hungry, or there's competition around, they will launch like a bullet to eat the object in a few seconds. If they come up really slow, like a brown trout rising to dries, you can assume there's not many other fish around, or they may not like your fly. If the rejection happens fish after fish, I'd swap patterns for something smaller or a different color.

"If they don't eat after a few seconds of letting the popper sit, move on to the next method: 'Give 'em a twitch.'

"When you combine the 'let 'em sit' philosophy with the twitch, you'll be using that net a lot more often. Now a twitch is not an active retrieve. It's a jiggle of the rod tip or a slight lifting of the rod (pretty much what I was doing day before yesterday). This is where you will entice a lot of picky fish.

"Here's how I like to do it," said Martin.

"Let your bug hit the water, pause it for approximately five seconds, or until the ripples subside. Then wiggle the rod tip or slightly lift the rod to give a little bit of action to the fly. Then wait a bit longer. If nothing eats it or is underneath staring down the popper, cast to your next target.

"The twitch works really well when you have an 'inspector.' You'll see her staring down the fly and then turn as if she doesn't want it. As soon as the bass turns off the fly, I either lift the rod tip or give it a slight jiggle to give that fish a little more affirmation that the bug is 'alive.' Sometimes, that twitch action is enough to make her whip around at a mind-boggling speed and obliterate your fly.

"This combination presentation of 'letting it sit' and 'giving it a twitch' is deadly in summer months. In fact, it's how most successful fly anglers I know fish throughout the summer for smallmouth," concluded Martin.