Suggestions for poppers and stickbaits for Landbased fishing

[Kiel Hinds]

I'm new to the idea of fishing with lures as here in barbados it's really not common. But i've done it a few times and its addictive!! but i need some help. The majority of my fishing is land based, from ledges, rocks, piers etc. I'm looking for stick baits and poppers that can be worked effectively from heights. I was on the hammerhead site and the g-cup seems to be one that works pretty well from heights. Any suggestions guys?!?

[Travis Heaps]

So i'm thinking something that sits flat in the water, decent sized face on it, not tail heavy...idea being you get the popping action without pulling it out of the water due to being up high? 

Maybe opt for a belly and head hook rig with no tail hook as a start?  Others will have better suggestions but the Cuberas and GTmanias are a good starting point for poppers i'd suggest?  And for sticks mabe the Orion Bigfoots and Heru (etc) Boboras - something in a sinking style to keep it down in the water a bit?

Slower, big bloops that allow the lure to settle after working might be a good technique and also work the lure with the rod facing down to the water as opposed to straght upwards/skywards pops which tends to bring the lure out of the water...watch the rod tip on rocks and pylons though

[Mark Harris]

I think Travis is very much on the right lines by suggesting poppers that sit flat, verging on front heavy.
One popper of that nature which I have found fairly easy to work from high ledges is the 160 gram Adhek PomPom. The long and light tail seems to help a lot.

[Andrew Poulos]

I have to check which one, but one of the Adheks I used off the rocks wasnt too good. I use the cuberas landbased and ebipops. Depends how choppy the water is - does it get rough over your way ? Skipping poppers work when you are up at a height as you get them up to the speed you want for the conditions and they dont tumble over. Stickbait wise, I prefer the sinking ones. I have some of the hiramasa dorado ones to test out this summer and they sit vertically when at rest. I find the floating ones hard to use landbased, but this one might be different.

[Kiel Hinds]

Thanks for the feedback thus far guys! Yeah it does get pretty choppy up these parts. Plus where i fish is also pretty windy most of the time. so casting ability is also very important. Anything that will get caught in the wind is a no no. As Travis mentioned I was also thinking along the lines of sinking stick baits as well, something like a runboh maybe? Carpenters seem to be all the rage at the moment (with bloody good reason it seems), anyone ever fished them from the shore?

[Brandon Khoo]

Carpenter aren't a new rage product - they're one of the oldest and most established brands of GT fishing equipment.

[Travis Heaps]

Kiel didn't say new rage - just rage.  I think its fair to say they are enjoying somewhat of a renaissance rage at the moment.

[Andrew Poulos]

and expensive if you get reefed regurlarly...

[Gareth Branicki]

Kiel  where i fish lbg height not an issue however  the lbg who fish the rock ledges down south i.e aroudn sydney and places south do use popper but this is done for kingfish which they get and we dont their ledges are quite high . seems the kings love poppers cuberas seem to be the most popular seen some great pics on anothor forum of kings on poppers one included a 30 kg kingfish caught of a rocklegde using a cubera cant rember if it was the 125 gr or 150 but think it was the smaller. so preety certain they handle height ok 

[Kiel Hinds]

Carpenter aren't a new rage product - they're one of the oldest and most established brands of GT fishing equipment.

As Travis pointed out, i didn't say they were new. (I knew someone would read that wrong) However, they are new to ME. Hear in the caribbean we hardly ever use lures of any kind. We mostly still use hand lines from the rocks and surf, so to be casting a 3/4 oz piece of wood into the sea to catch fish would be quite the head turner here. It's only recently i've come to know of carpenter products and of popper casting period! But from what i've read and seen so far carpenter products seem to be highly rated, and i dont mind spending a little extra for a quality, proven product!

[Mark Harris]

Hey Kiel, you could certainly do far worse than homing in on Carpenter for a first port of call for lures and rods.

You might find helpful Brandon's excellent guide to poppers here: http://www.gtpopping.com/forum/index.php?topic=1124.0

[Kiel Hinds]

Very true Mark! But one of the first gt fishing videos i watched was Fukui-San fishing in tonga, after that it was pretty hard to start anywhere else but at carpenter! And it's funny you should direct me to Brandon's post because i had that open most of today. (I was stealing some time at work to read when the boss wasn't looking ) It's a great read, but i was still concerned about choosing a popper that won't stay in the water when i fish it from height. PLUS, casting distance is very critical when you fish here sometimes!! It's kind of pointless buying a great swimming stick bait that will blow back at you when you cast it into the wind..

[Kurt Carlson]

Hey Kiel,

I fish a lot from a short cliff.  I have found that for both stick baits and poppers, that a sinking version is better.   Definitely ones that are very light tumble with even the lightest pull due to the increased angle.  You will also find that you can pull hard for the first few pulls then will have to make the pulls shorter and lighter the closer it gets.  I make some of my own poppers and I had one that ended up sinking because the wood was saturated with a light resin.  It has turned out to be my favorite lure for the cliffs.  I know some people shiver when I say this, but I will.  I also cast bibbed lures from the cliff, it can be quite productive.

[Andrew Poulos]

I find floating stickbaits hard to use landbased. I find if its choppy and a bit brezzy they just get dragged around too much.

Used a tailwalk gunz(sinking) yesterday and scored a king. My first on a hardbody stickbait. Finally!!

[kriss brown]

Hay guys
Talking about popper and sttick baits.I am curious what sort of rod do u guys use for land base popping?And reel size .??