Spinner blades on poppers

[Brandon Khoo]

boy, started packing for Bugatti. I always find packing for a trip to be really hard work. I know I should be happy to be packing as that means I am actually going on a trip but I'm one of those who worries about forgetting things, not having enough gear etc.

I was getting my lures together and I noticed my poppers with blades on them. A little while ago as part of another thread, we touched on spinner blades.

I've attached a photo of a few of my poppers which have blades on them. As you can see, some of the blades are seriously big! I like blades because they add some flash to the lure and in my view, this can only help. i can't prove that they work better but from my experience, I feel as if I have clearly had more strikes on my poppers wth blades than those without. Do they result in less hookups because they don't have a hook on the back? I think undoubtedly but again, from my experience, I have found that GTs primarily attack the head of the popper so I don't think it is a significant reduction in hookups.

[Jay Burgess]

Looks good Brandon. How do the black jack poppers go?? Almost bought some a while back.

[Brandon Khoo]

There are a number of models but my favorite popper amongst them is the Cubera by far. It comes in 120 and 150g. i have found them very effective and they seem to work really well with the spinner blade at the back.

[Greg Burt]

I like them, I'll see what Neil's got in stock on Monday as I'll be in Brisbane to see 'Monday night footy' [Go Broncos] , and to pick up my Runboh's .
 Do they work just as good on the stickbaits?
 Greg

[Brandon Khoo]

Greg - I don't think anyone can give you a definitive answer on whether stickbaits catch more fish than poppers - or not. What I do feel is that the perception that stickbaits catch more fish has been driven primarily by the fact that models such as the wahoo are much easier to work and hence catch fish with than chuggers are.

The popularity of stickbaits locally can probably be credited to Nomad Sportfishing more than anyone else. They do get a lot of customers who are inexperienced on heavy popping and these people have enjoyed great success on the stickbaits. The problem with big chuggers is that you got to learn to work them properly. Until you do, you are going to struggle to catch anything. On the other hand, anyone can cast a stickbait and retrieve it in. You many not do it as well as the master of the stickbait hmself, Kenji Konishi but you can still catch fish.

I personally feel that I've seen more big GTs raised by poppers than stickbaits. Interestingly enough, speaking wiht the boys from LPB in New Caledonia, they have the same view.

.....and in response to your question re Marion next year, bring a combination of stickbaits and poppers. You don't need a huge variety of both. 2 or 3 types of each in my view is enough provided you have the right ones. Have a chat with Neil - he can give you not just the benefit of his experience but also his personal experiences at Marion. Guys like me fish here and there and we learn a bit here and there (mainly by stuffing up!) but this is his living and he is a mountain of knowledge on the subject.

[Greg Burt]

Thanks Brandon, being a tackleholic my collection of poppers and stickbaits is growing , Cuberas, Wahoos, Yu-Zuris, Jai poppers and more [love it] , so I'm setting some up with treble hooks, some with assist singles and some combined, but have yet to determine who will get a Spinner Blade which can be left on the lure.
 Do you think the long slim style stickbaits would be unbalanced with a tail Spinner Blade .

[Brandon Khoo]

Greg, before you go with a spinner blade, you need to test the popper to make sure it works well with one. With so many poppers, I'd encourage to go out and test them to see how they go. Of course, there is plenty of scope to test at Marion on the fish themselves but I'm sure you'd rather be catching them then!

Some lures need the weight of the hooks to work whereas others are better off without it. I have found the Cubera works well with a blade and a single treble. The small one is a bit sensitive  to weight so if you whack on two gama trebles, it will probably start to sink - not good!

The Bills Bug is a funny one. The new model (as George found out at Shoalwater) is different from the old in that it weighs more and is really sensitive to the weight of the hook. I'll be running either singles or a ST-66 on it because the ST-76 is too heavy for it, not to mention the gamas. I may run a Baker rig on it (two single hooks on one split ring)

For stickbaits, most would be no go. A number of stckbaits on the markets, especially the floaters, are dependent on the weight at the back ot make them start off pointing vertically. If you don't have that weight to start with, it might be a problem! Sinkers are different - some of them like the Saltiga sinkers may work really well with a blade, as may the new Runboh sinker.

[Jon Li]

Swivel blade is used and this tend to give more water " resistance " when being jerked and hence less tendency to cartwheel in the air when jerked too strong .

Some lures come with swivel blade as standard and others can be ordered as " extra " but in the end when this swivel blade is lost due to strike , one must eventually replace it with the same using splitring or use treble .

Some purist single treble follower , swivel blade on the tail is very common and have been even tried on a stickbait which still work .

Jon .   

[Ivan Verhage]

The spiner blade might draw the atention of other fish like mackrell
There are two diffrent styles of blades, the willow and the colorado
The willow blades have the best results when they are worked fast so they would be best suited pencill poppers and stick baits.The colorado blades are worked slowley for the best results so they would work best on slowley worked bloopers.

[Brandon Khoo]

damn it - might explain why I seem to catch so many spaniards on poppers