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.