Fly Fishing Forum banner

Tubular Beach Popper?

25K views 33 replies 11 participants last post by  Tin Pusher 
#1 ·
Here's a question for you, Leland-- You mentioned a while back that some folks have tried your beach popper tied on a tube. I'm getting ready to try just that-- is there a reason not to do so? It seems like it would be a quicker way to get around the snelling process plus you wouldn't be wasting a hook-- I'm going to tie some up tonight or tomorrow for a Saturday trip for SRC and thought I would check with the master first....

thanks for the advice--

Keith
 
#2 ·
I've made a significant advancement since my first poppers.

Here it is:

The hook is now a Gamakatsu #4 Octopus. I take a length of doubled over #25 Maxima and pinch the ends together to flatten them enough to shove them down the shank and through the hook eye. I now have a "loop to loop" connection with my hook. I also have the doubled strength of the Maxima as well as the stiffness I have always desired (to keep the hook from sometimes curling over and fouling with the popper head). And you can change hooks if neccessary. Not only that, the Gamakatsu hook is really "sticky sharp," (just ask my left thumb after I straighten my materials)!

I have also substituted Icelandic Sheep for my white and olive hair but that's not nearly as important as the hook.

Tubes? If you can tie 'em, do it!

Hope this helps,
Leland.
 
#3 ·
Leland-- Thanks for the advice-- but now I have a follow-up question. The pix at the Puget Sound flyfishing site show a fairly full wing on your popper, but earlier photos show a pretty sparse wing. Do you fish your poppers with a wing that full or was that done more for illustration?

I was going to tie some MBP on tubes before my latest outing, but I got sidetracked (used a gurgler for SRCs instead) and as a result just got back to the table-- as I was assembling pieces and parts for the poppers, I started thinking about the variations of your popper I've seen, and thus the question. I hope to get out Friday and give the popper tube a try.

I noticed that on one of the boards you mentioned that the Edgewater Dinks were getting hard to find. Rainy's makes a bass popper head that could be a dead ringer for the Dink. They should be easier to get.

Keith
 
#4 ·
Keith,

The fullness of the white – either polar bear or arctic runner or icelandic sheep depends on the fur itself and underfur. Generally, I like a slim profile, kinda like a fat candlefish (sandlance) or a skinny smelt.

FYI, I just back from landing two dollies of approx. ten pounds each on a very slim and chewed up popper.

Also, the flyshop I work part-time at has just received 300 #6 and 300 #4 dink components. We will package them in packs of six and also put together popper kits with hooks, materials heads and instructions.

Good luck,
Leland.
 
#5 ·
Leland-=- Tried tying some poppers on tubes and then your new method with the mono loop. Like the latter a whole lot better. The ease of tying is not that much different from the tube, but it makes an intrinsically simpler fly-- everything is in one package and ready to fish. I won't have to fumble around in my boxes looking for the tube hooks that have spilled.

I did have some trouble getting the mono loop through the eye of the hook. Perhaps it was because I didn't have any 25 pound Maxima. I first used 30 Trilene XT which was impossible. Next I tried 20 Berkley Iron Silk-- a new line-- and it was still too large to fit through the eye of a #4 Gamakatsu Octopus when doubled. I ended up using the latter with one of Mustad's new tube hooks. The only problem with this rig is that the hook cocks a bit since it has a ringed eye.

I'm thinking I'll drop to 15 pound test on the next tying.

Thanks for the advice you've given. Hope to see you at the coho clave.

Keith
 
#6 ·
Keith,

I've noticed that sometimes, when I cut a length of 25lb Maxima, the ends get a "knob" on the end and won't fit through the Gamakatsu #4 eye. Try flattening the ends with a pier of pliers before cramming them through the eye. The bigger and stiffer the mono, the better – it will keep the hook from curling over and hooking onto the foam head and, most importantly, it is not easily pushed out of the way by surging bow wakes.

Leland.
 
#8 ·
Duh! I see what I was doing incorrectly. I formed and tied the loop to the lead hook and then tried to push the doubled end through the hook eye after the popper was tied. Putting the ends through first would be easier no doubt. Replacing the hook, though, will take some doing.

Now I'm regretting leaving for a trade show in the morning. I could be fishing instead... I wonder if my boss would mind me not showing up... thank heavens the show is shorter this year, and I return Friday afternoon.

Surging bow wakes are cool, but I really like having a pod of three or four fish competing for my fly or in this case, popper. That can be a real double-shot espresso experience.

Now if I can stay focused and get my work done in advance, I can have September off. Guess I better get back at it.

Thanks,

Keith
 
#9 ·
Here's another exciting scenario. To see big dollies ripping at bait in a fast moving tide and casting a popper about ten feet away from the boil, then stripping like mad and having one turn and, with a surging bow wake, slash twice at your popper before eating it.

Enjoy your trade show,
Leland.
 
#17 · (Edited)
Finally the written portion of the pattern

Just follow the steps as they correspond to the pics,....good luck boys.


The Miyawaki Beach Popper
by Leland Miyawaki
The popper head, which technically, is a slider, is called a Dink Component and is made by Edgewater Fishing Products in Clearfield, Utah. The other materials are grizzly hackle, Holographic Flash, Krystal Flash and polar bear.

The fly is a two-hook setup. The front hook is only there to be held in the vise and hold the materials. I use Mustad 3407 or 34007 hooks. I use as small a hook as possible, preferably #8, in front to keep the weight down. The hook point above the bend will be cut off when we are finished. The trailing hook, or stinger, is either a #8, 6, or 4. I use small #6 Dink Components with size 8 hooks and size 4 heads with the larger #6 and 4 hooks.

Tying the Popper

1.Take a #8 Mustad 3407 (or 34007) and secure it in the vise. Don’t sweat pinching down the barb, it won’t matter.
2.Attach your tying thread. It’s OK to use a fat thread like 3/0 or G. The color doesn’t matter as it’s going to get covered anyway. Don’t worry about keeping the wraps thin and pretty – it all helps hold the popper on later. And don’t come to close to the bend (see step #14).
3.Take another hook (this one is either #8, 6, or 4), pinch down the barb, bend the eye up and snell about 6 inches of 25 pound Maxima to it. This is the business end or stinger.
4.Leave the hook to trail about 1 1/2 to 2 inches. Keep the hook point up. Tie all the way down and back up the shank.
5.Now, here’s the important part: Double the tag-end back over on itself and wrap it all the way back to the bend and back up. This will keep the stinger tight to the hook and won’t pull out when the big boys hit.
6.Trim off the excess mono.
7.Tie in two grizzly hackles (back to back). They should be a tad longer than the stinger.
8.Tie in some Holographic Flash. Vary the length. Keep it scraggly.
9.Tie in a few strands of Krystal Flash. Mixed Colors will do. They should be a touch longer than both the hackle and Holographic Flash. I think they imitate bubbles.
10.Tie in a small clump of white polar bear. Keep the materials sparse. We’re not tying a herring imitation here.

11.Whip finish.
12.Smear head cement all over and around the tied down materials on the shank.
13.Jam a Dink Component over the shank with the pointy end forward.
14.Take the fly out of the vise and trim away the hook point all the way up past the bend. Don’t cut into the materials, or you’ll be tying this little puppy over again.


The Dink Components come in white, yellow and chartreuse. I match my materials to the color of the popper head: white with grizzly as illustrated above; yellow with yellow hackle, yellow holographic flash and yellow krystal flash; and chartreuse with green holographic flash and chartreuse krystal flash.

Fishing the Popper

I fish the popper on a dryline with a 12-15' leader tapered to 3x. If fish are showing, I cast to the rings. If not, the popper is a great attractor and searching fly. I cast across the current and use the tide to put a belly in my flyline. In this way, the fly is already moving forward and I simply add movement. I strip, or twitch, just hard enough to make a small V-wake. You can quarter cast downtide, or make uptide mends, if the tide is really trucking along.

As soon as the popper hits the water, give it a couple hard pops to attract a little attention. Retrieve it with short little jerks with an accent at the end . . . slow, medium or fast. Try them all. I prefer a two-handed retrieve because I can do all the different speeds while pulling steadily.

Keep an eye on your fly because this type of fishing is totally visual. Look for following fish. If you aren’t watching, you’ll miss all the fun of fishing on top.

If you get a follow, first, try not to swallow your heart, then strip faster, or slow down, pop it, or change the direction with your rod tip. If the fish hits but doesn’t stick, play dead then give the fly a twitch or two, or retrieve twice as fast with short fast strokes, or change directions – anything to provoke the fish into taking the fly. This is what makes surface popper fishing for salmon or searun cutthroat so much fun. They are are predatory and aggressive and will always come to the fly. Your job is to make them want to eat the popper by manipulating your rod and line. Make your fly act like a wounded fish that is trying to escape becoming a main course.

Always retrieve your fly all the way in. Just before you pick it up, stop and make a quick change of direction with your rod tip. Sometimes, fish follow the fly without showing themselves. If a fish boils, drag the fly across the water parallel to the beach with the rod tip. That should do the trick. If you see the bow wake of a fish as it follows the fly all the way in to the rod tip, immediately toss the fly back into the water in the direction the fish turned. The fish should come out of the water and pounce on the fly as soon as it hits the water.

Through the years, I’ve noticed that the small to medium-sized fish follow the fly quite a ways before striking and, quite often, missing. But many of the larger fish simply roll up and attack from the side. They are very businesslike about eating the fly.

If you don't see any fish working and wish to explore the water, cast a popper straight out and retrieve. Then quarter downtide and cast again. If nothing happens, move about 10 feet down the beach and cast a couple more times. Walk and work the beach. The popper, for obvious reasons, is a terrific attractor.

That’s about it. Remember, this isn’t some secret fly that is going to catch you any more fish than you’ve been catching, but it IS definitely more visual. If you fish dry flies because you like to see the take, then popper fishing off the beach will give you all the excitement your heart can stand

Here's the info on where to get the popper heads.

They are called:

Dink Component #6, White, and are from:

Edgewater Fishing Products
35 North 1000 West
Clearfield, Utah 84015

They also come in #2 and 4 and in chartreuse and yellow colors.

Leland.
 
#19 ·
For you guys tying my popper, I have a few variations:

Make sure you see my post on tying in a Gamakatsu hook on a doubled mono loop.

I have also substituted pink hackle for the grizzly and light shrimp pink krystal flash for the mixed colors KF.

When you lay on the polar bear, the pink showing through the translucent polar bear in the water looks good enough to draw coho from a mile away!

I have been hitting all my fish in the last two months on this fly.

Leland.
 
#20 ·
Hey leland. Try 27lb fluorocarbon instead of the mono. much stiffer and fits nicely in the owner size 4 hooks I'm using. Should last indefinitely also and be more abrasion resistant. I have a couple fresh super hair poppers in chartreuse (my standard) and pink for this weekend.
 
#26 ·
availability of kits?

Leland Miyawaki said:
Keith,

Also, the flyshop I work part-time at has just received 300 #6 and 300 #4 dink components. We will package them in packs of six and also put together popper kits with hooks, materials heads and instructions.

Good luck,
Leland.
Leland.
Reading this thread from 2003 on tying the infamous Miyawaki popper and was wondering if you still are working at a flyshop were popper kits are available. I have not tied a fly in 15 years, and then only pretty basic trout stuff. I really enjoyed tying, but my tying desk area and fishing lost out to a nursery and raising my kids. All the kids are teenagers now, and all fly fish. Getting into salt water fishing a few years ago made me realize that most of the flies I really want to get my hands on are not available commercially, and I need to DIY. Looking forward to getting back into it. Any suggestions on best locations for material and advice?
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top