How to Use Popper Lures: Cadence, Pauses, Size, Hook Sets

The short answer

Cast a popper near cover, let the ripples fade, then twitch the rod tip so the cupped face spits water, and let it sit. Brett Preuett (Bassmaster) jerks twice, waits for the ripples to go, then jerks twice more. The pros quoted fish them mostly early and late in the day, and let the fish take it first.

Poppers are simple to fish. This guide follows what named pros and editors say about cadence, pauses, rod position, size, water temperature and time of day, and says where they disagree. New to bass fishing? Our bass fishing tips for beginners covers the basics.

The popper sources below fish them from spring through fall, but their temperatures differ. Mark Bilbrey starts at 55 °F (13 °C); Jimmy Mason gets serious when the water reaches the upper 50s by day and stays above 50 °F at night. In fall, Bilbrey stops at 55 °F, while John Garrett keeps a slow popper going to about 49 °F (9 °C). The conditions table has the details. For colder water, see our roundup of bass lures for winter.

What you need

A popper. A topwater lure with a scooped, concave face. A Field & Stream photo caption says the concave mouth “shoots water forward and to the sides, creating a fish-attracting commotion.” Sizes are in the size section below.
A medium-action rod with a soft, limber tip. Preuett uses a “7’ medium action baitcasting rod with a really soft tip.” Mark Bilbrey, in a 2013 post on The Bass Cast blog, suggests a “six and a half to seven foot medium action rod with a limber tip.” In a 2007 Bassmaster profile, Mark Hicks writes that Jimmy Mason, a bass guide who had just qualified for the Elite Series, uses a 6-foot, 6-inch medium action baitcasting rod, and a 6-foot medium action spinning rod with 10-pound line for clients who cannot use baitcasting tackle.
Line that floats or stretches a little. Preuett: “I like to use 15-pound monofilament on my topwater poppers because it floats, unlike fluorocarbon that sinks and detracts from the lure’s action.” Mason ties on 14- or 17-pound Super Silver Thread line.
Long-nosed pliers. Outdoor Life’s Pete Robbins warns that you will often find a Rebel Pop-R “in the back of your fish’s throat.”
A fishing license where one is required. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s beginner pamphlet says: “Depending on your age and your state, you may need one to fish legally.” Ask your state wildlife agency before you go.

How to fish a popper, step by step

Tie the popper on

A popper carries sharp treble hooks, and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s beginner pamphlet says: “Be careful when handling sharp hooks.” The same pamphlet gives the Improved Clinch knot: “Pass line through the hook eye and, with the tag end, make 5 turns around the standing line. Insert the loose end of the line between eye and first loop formed. Bring the end through the large second loop formed.” Then: “Wet the line and tighten the knot slowly while holding the loose end of the line end between thumb and index finger so the knot is partly closed before it’s secured against the eye. Clip the loose end of the line.”

Pick a target edge

Outdoor Life’s Joe Cermele suggests casting parallel to a dock or sea wall, so each chug keeps the popper in the strike zone through the whole cast, and warns that “dock poles aren’t typically very forgiving” when a bass runs back to the shade. In spring, Mason targets “stumps, flooded bushes, grass patches and other cover” in the backs of coves and creek arms.

Cast, then wait

Before every cast, follow the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service pamphlet: “Don’t cast near other people, and always look around before making a cast.” Treble hooks make this matter. Outdoor Life’s Robbins describes one way to fish the Pop-R: “throw it out, let the ripples dissipate, and then slowly pop it.” Preuett does the same: “allow the ripples to disappear from around the lure.”

Pop it with a short downward snap

In the same 2007 profile, Mason “repeatedly snaps his rod tip downward from 4 o’clock to 5 o’clock while taking up half a turn on his baitcast reel between snaps,” which he says gives a spitting action and a slight dog-walking motion. Preuett holds “your rod tip pointed downward at about the 7 o’clock position” and makes “two short jerks.” Their clock positions differ; treat them as two examples. Bilbrey says the pop, the chug and the spitting-water effect all come from “the action of the wrist as you move the rod tip.”

Pause, and pop again

Preuett pops twice, waits for the ripples to go, “then jerk twice subtlety again.” Near cover in the prespawn, Mason pops up to the cover “at a deliberate pace, stopping just before it reaches the cover, and letting it rest for several seconds before imparting a single pop.” Bilbrey: “Experiment with time that you pause between pops and pauses until you find what’s right.” No source gives one pause length.

Note what gets bites and repeat it

Outdoor Life’s Cermele advises noting what action “seems to be enticing bites” and repeating it.

Let the fish take it before you set the hook

See the hook-set section below. A soft rod tip does part of this for you.

Unhook with care

Use long-nosed pliers, as Robbins suggests, and take the same care with the sharp hooks as in step 1. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service pamphlet lists a “hook disgorger” among handy items. For fish you release, it says: “If possible, keep the fish in the water and handle it carefully, pushing the hook back through the lip,” and “If the fish has swallowed the hook, do not tear the hook out. Simply cut the line as close to the mouth as possible.” Ask your state wildlife agency about rules for releasing fish.

Safety

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s pamphlet also lists: “Wear a Coast Guard approved personal flotation device or life vest when wading or in a boat,” and “Fish with a companion who can offer help in an emergency.”

Ways to vary the retrieve

Outdoor Life’s Cermele says “anglers lean too heavily into a pop-and-pause cadence” and offers other options. Other pros vary the cadence for water, light and the fish’s mood.

Change	What the source says	Source
Fast, steady pops	Mason “often works a popper over the surface with a fast, steady cadence,” and slows down in the prespawn and spawn	Bassmaster, Mark Hicks profiling Jimmy Mason (2007)
Speed reel	Reeling a popper back quickly without popping, “its scooped mouth will still grab water and throw it out to sides”	Outdoor Life, Joe Cermele
Bug shake	With a dressed tail, “nudge your popper ever so gently, just enough to make that dressed hook quiver”	Outdoor Life, Joe Cermele
Soft twitches	In “super-clear water where fish are on guard,” a shallower-mouthed popper worked “with soft twitches”	Field & Stream, Joe Cermele
Louder pops	Frank Scalish (2011) goes loud in “windy conditions”: “With wind comes waves, and that is the time for big noise” (his loud picks are a Pencil Popper or a large Spook)	Bassmaster, Frank Scalish (2011)
Quiet pops	With Pop-R type lures, “very little movement in your cadence and long pauses in between” for slick flat water, postspawn or after a cold front	Bassmaster, Frank Scalish (2011)

Scalish calls his picks “a general rule of thumb.”

When to fish a popper

The pros below tie the popper to season, water temperature and light. Each row is one angler’s pattern, not a rule for all lakes.

Condition	What the source says	Source
Spring warm-up	“When the water temperature creeps into the upper 50s during the day and stays above 50 degrees at night, the first big wave of bass moves into the shallows”	Bassmaster, Jimmy Mason (2007)
Sunfish and shad spawns	Bluegill and shad spawn in shallows in late spring; a bluegill-colored popper “jerked calmly over their heads,” or a white/silver one at sunrise	Bassmaster, Brett Preuett (2015)
Summer	The bite “typically ends when the sun hits the water in the morning and begins when the sun dips close to the horizon in the evening”	Bassmaster, Mark Hicks on Jimmy Mason (2007)
Mayfly hatch	A 1/8-ounce Pop-R on a 6-foot, 6-inch medium action spinning rod with 10-pound line	Bassmaster, Mark Hicks on Jimmy Mason (2007)
Fall, water cooling	“When the water temperature drops below 65 degrees, he works the popper with more pauses”	Bassmaster, Mark Hicks on Jimmy Mason (2007)
Late fall, 55 to 49 °F	Near 49 degrees, John Garrett leans “on the little popper more because I can work it slower and keep it in the strike zone longer”	Bassmaster, John Garrett (2017)
Season and light, one angler’s range	The Pop-R “can be fished successfully through most of the year here in Tennessee,” from 55 degrees in spring to 55 degrees in late fall, mostly “in morning and evening and overcast days”	Mark Bilbrey, The Bass Cast blog (2013)

Bilbrey adds a cadence rule for temperature: “In warm water shorten the time between the pops, and as the water cools down near fall longer pauses between pops produces better results.” Mason’s and Garrett’s slower cold-water pops agree with it, but the cut-offs differ: Bilbrey’s 55 °F and Garrett’s 49 °F are each one angler’s water, not a rule. For colder water than these notes cover, the winter roundup above is the place to start.

Which size popper to use

No source gives one size rule. What the named sources say:

Match the forage. A Bassmaster photo caption in Mark Hicks’s article reads: “Make sure the size of your popper matches the profile of available forage.”
Mason’s Pop-R sizes. Hicks lists the “1/4-ounce P60, 1/2-ounce P65 or 3/4-ounce P70” models Mason uses. “I throw the P60 most of the time,” Mason says, moving “up to the P65 when the shad spawn” and the P70 “if I feel like I’m in an area where there’s a lot of big fish.”
Go small for hatches and spinning gear. For mayflies Mason fishes an 1/8-ounce Pop-R, which Hicks writes is “too small to cast accurately with baitcasting tackle.”
Mouth depth changes the noise. Field & Stream’s Cermele: “Deep-scooped mouths make louder, more aggressive pops that attract fish from greater distances,” while shallow mouths “create subtle surface disturbance.”
There is no fixed answer. Outdoor Life: “Sometimes it could be a small three inch popper, while other times it might take a much larger version.”

Hook sets: when to pull

The popper sources pick a soft-tipped rod or stretchy line so the bass can take the lure before you react; they give no wait time. The timing tips further down come from frog and walking-bait anglers.

Rod tip. Preuett picks a soft tip because “a slightly softer tip rod allows the bass to engulf the popper a little better before you have time to jerk.” Bilbrey says the limber tip “allows the bass time eat the lure before the angler over reacts.”
Cold water. Garrett fishes 15-pound monofilament because “a lot of times bass will just barely nip the rear hook of the popper in that colder water, and the monofilament provides just enough stretch to let them get hooked better.”
Wait for the weight (frogs and walking baits, not poppers specifically). A reader tip in Bassmaster Magazine’s 2008 frog tips says: “Do not set the hook until you feel the weight of the fish.” In Salt Water Sportsman, Capt. Glyn Austin, who has anglers walk the dog with a Skitter Walk, says: “I always tell people to wait until they feel the weight of the fish.” Capt. Matt Williams, who fishes the same lure, says the lift should be “a second behind the actual strike.”
A count instead. Another reader tip in the same 2008 list, for frogs, says “I count to three quickly.” These tips come from frog and walking-bait fishing, not popper articles.

Frog poppers and hula poppers

A popping frog is a hollow-body frog worked with snaps, so it is related to the popper but not the same lure. Angler Brandon Card, in a 2018 Bassmaster column, works a popping frog with fast pops and a pause: “Snap it along maybe five, six or seven times real fast and then let it sit still for about the same length of time. Sometimes, though, a shorter pause or a longer pause will get you more bites.” He says to “keep your line tight,” because that makes the nose bounce “and it’ll keep your frog from walking,” and that “most of your bites will come on the pause.” His stiff rod and heavy braid are frog tackle, not a popper setup.

The Arbogast Hula Popper is a popper with a rubber skirt. Field & Stream’s Cermele says “In larger sizes, it’s a terrific frog imitation,” and that in the smallest size it is “a killer bug imitation.”

Saltwater, trout and pencil poppers

Saltwater. Cermele writes that poppers “catch just about any gamefish that will feed on the surface in freshwater or salt.” Capt. Rob Radlof, a New Jersey captain quoted in Salt Water Sportsman, fishes “long, slow pops” for bluefin tuna: “Chug the lure really hard so it makes a huge explosion, then let that thing sit and let the fish find it.” Check your state’s saltwater regulations.
Trout. Field & Stream’s Cermele says a small cricket-shaped popper is “best fished on a line no heavier than 4-pound test,” and he gets his best results “imparting subtle twitches and letting it float.”
Pencil poppers. A pencil popper is a different lure from a cupped-face popper. Scalish names the pencil popper as one of his favorite “big noise” lures in wind and waves. This guide does not cover its retrieve.

Common mistakes

Only ever popping and pausing. Outdoor Life’s Cermele says anglers “lean too heavily into a pop-and-pause cadence” and “rarely does anyone lean on speed with a popper.” See the speed reel in the table above.
Too much noise on pressured fish. Field & Stream’s Cermele: “there are times when an aggressive popper can actually scare fish away.”
Fluorocarbon line. Preuett says it “sinks and detracts from the lure’s action.”
Pulling the lure out of the fish’s mouth. See hook sets above.
Hanging up in cover. Bilbrey notes the Pop-R “will hang up in cover”; work the edges.
A popper that plunks instead of spits. “To make his poppers spit more than plunk,” Mason cinches an Improved Cinch Knot at the bottom of the line tie, with a drop of Super Glue to stop the knot moving up. He also sands the lip and the cup of some Pop-Rs. That alters the lure; it is one pro’s tweak.

Ready to buy?

Two poppers are among the eight picks in our roundup of the best bass topwater lures: the Rapala Skitter Pop and the Storm Rattlin’ Chug Bug. Our river smallmouth lure roundup includes the Rapala X-Rap Pop.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. How do you fish with a popper lure?

Cast, wait for the ripples to fade, twitch the rod tip so the face spits water, pause, and repeat. Preuett’s version is two short jerks, a wait for the ripples to disappear, then two more.

Q. When should you use a popper lure?

The pros above use them from spring warm-ups through fall, mostly at dawn, dusk and under cloud. Garrett fishes a slow popper down to about 49 °F (9 °C). In summer, Bassmaster’s Mark Hicks writes that Mason’s popper bite is short, early and late in the day.

Q. What size popper lure should I use?

Match the forage. Mason mostly throws a 1/4-ounce Pop-R and moves up for the shad spawn or big fish, and down to 1/8 ounce for mayfly hatches.

Q. Do you wait before setting the hook on a popper?

The popper pros quoted here use a soft-tipped rod so the bass can take the lure before the angler reacts; none gives a wait time. Frog and walking-bait anglers suggest waiting until you feel the weight of the fish.

Q. Can you use a popper lure in saltwater?

Yes. Field & Stream’s Cermele says poppers catch gamefish in freshwater or salt, and Capt. Rob Radlof fishes poppers with long, slow pops for bluefin tuna.

Q. Are popper lures good for trout?

Small ones can be. Cermele fishes a cricket-shaped popper for panfish and trout on line no heavier than 4-pound test.

Sources (12)

Outgearly Team

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