Thread: My First Blue Gill Popper

Originally Posted by Buffy

So many choices! I like legs o.k. I seem to have better luck with lures with legs Have you tried them out yet? How's the actual fishing part of this addiction going?

Wish I could answer that, but since this one was my first and I finished like yesterday I have not had the chance to go yet. I will get out to try them really soon and I believe they are going to work and work well.

I am also going to get some balsa wood to work with and make some poppers with that. I really like balsa baits anyway.

I also need a trip to Walmart for some additional colors of paint since most of my painting has been for eyes on jigs. So I need an avocado green for a frog pattern and a few other colors to paint poppers.

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I use an upholstery needle for the mandrel on my Dremel lathe for soft foam popper bodies (Dremel Bugs). The foam needs to be rough textured so I have to pick and choose to get the right foam. The smooth foam is the foam rubber stuff and won't work for me as it glazes on the mandrel. The stuff with mostly rough closed cell foam has less foam rubber content and works better. The needle generates friction on the foam to hold it but it won't hold (create friction) with the smooth foam rubber. The Dremel operates at high speeds so please be careful. Use protective eye glasses also. I do not do hard balsa bodies on the Dremel. I do hard balsa bodies by hand with a cut down blank, small file, and sand paper or emery board. Balsa is soft wood and easy to shape even by hand. I like the balsa better than cork though as cork splits too easy for me.

I've found a major difference in soft and hard bodied poppers is that fish tend to hold on to the soft bodies longer than the hard bodies but the hard bodies last longer than the soft bodies. So I have a bit longer to set the hook with soft bodied poppers. I rarely even use hard body poppers anymore but still carry some with me if I need them. The soft foam bodies are fast and easy to do on the Dremel (using the right foam) so I don't make the hard bodied ones very often anymore.