Working Poppers/Stickbaits Re: Height

[Damien Phillip]

Gday all, very new to the site but love it allready. 

Now i'm pretty sure most poppers/stickbaits work at their best with the rod tip 1m or so from the water, correct?? I'm mostly landbased and fishing from the rocks between 2-5m high(roughly).. I was wondering if anyone could fill me in on what techniques should be used to get the lures to work properly from this height?? or what poppers/stickbaits will be the most effective for this purpose??

Looking forward to hearing peoples thoughts 

[stuart bradley]

Im in a similar situation, glad you asked. What areas are you fishing?

[Jon Li]

Some stickbaits can be used Walk The Dog style and this technique can be done with rod tip high or fished from an elevated position , it's a matter of getting the rhythm to work the stickbait to resemble a dying fish to attract the predator , easier done with stiffer rod .

Jon .

[Ewan Macleod]

When I have worked poppers from the rocks at a similar height I try and get down as close (swell permitting) to the ledge edge and hold the rod angling down towards the water, tip down as much as possible. Using poppers which stay in the water or using slightly heavier treble hooks to give them some weight can help too. Pointing the tip of the rod at the water allows for a lower tow point of the lure of course and you can work the popper as close to the ledge as permits. The higher you are from the water the more restricted you are to keep the lure in the water longer.. I use the same technique with stickbaits and blades. Using sinking sticks seems to help but its good to know the shape of reef and rocks your casting at and know how many seconds it takes for the lure to sink to the desired depth.

[Greg Burt]

If you use FC leader and pause between strokes a little longer, the FC will sink which keeps the 'stickbait's' nose in the water forcing a slight diving action.

[Colin P]

I had some success with 150g Wahoo on a recent trip to The Musandam, admittedly working them from a boat - rigged with a 5/0 ST66 treble amidships and a 4/0 ST66 treble at the tail. Long sideways sweeps, with significant pauses, produced a lovely rolling action that brought the lure to the surface before allowing it to sink again.

[Damien Phillip]

Thnx guys, some really helpful info here. Which will give the best action and be the easiest to work from a height, the poppers?? or the stickbaits??

[Jon Li]

Thnx guys, some really helpful info here. Which will give the best action and be the easiest to work from a height, the poppers?? or the stickbaits??

The pencil popper wud be my first choise in such situation .

Jon .

[Andrew Poulos]

If you are high up you will need to experiment with your rod work to make sure that you arent pulling the popper right out of the water and causing it to tumble. Gets even harder if there is chop/swell around when rock fishing. I like the skipping style as you can keep the momentum going and less chance of them tumbling and fouling.

[Damien Phillip]

Where will i be fishing?

Not sure how many of you's are fimiliar with Quobba Station but yer along the Quobba coast. For those that are familiar with the area, what can i expect to catch on the sticks & pops?? I've fished there alot in the past with success on other lures such as metals etc.. I hope to encounter those elusive(for me!) GT's.
Cheers