Favorite Top Water Popper

[Mark]

Yak Fish,

That's helpful. That's a pattern similar to LM and SM bass, although SM in rivers will sometimes rise at midday.

I popped the shoreline at Goodhands a couple of weeks ago for an hour at daybreak. I got one swirl but no hookups near a reedy bank. I couldn't tell for certain what kind of fish was attracted to my popper.

I'll keep trying.

[Yak Fish]

I find hard, rocky bottoms that drop off relatively sharply at the shoreline that have access to some relatively deeper water is good. I think it allows them to hide more easily. If the shoreline is really gently sloping they may not have as many places to lurk.

[reel-em-in]

Haha, I got one in the hand too. The SMB was hooked with both trebles. I got the rear set out with long pliers, but when I tried to spin the fish around to get a better angle at the other set of hooks, it went wild hooking me to the fish. It was going so nuts that it eventually pulled the hook back out of my hand, thankfully...leaving me a bit bloodied. I guess it's just justice.

I fished from the launch at Lapidum all the way to Deer Creek as well as around the islands up there. It's amazingly bouldery up there, if that's a word. I hit my fins on the bottom so many times which isn't a lot of fun. I caught fish along the shorelines, in the middle of the river and along the channel drop offs....so pretty much they're everywhere it seems fishy. I've only been up the river twice so I'm far from knowing the waters up there. Day 1 was largely exploratory and day 2 was to hit some fishy places harder and it turned out that they were there.

Also of note was that the water wasn't really moving. I'm not sure if that's typical, but when it seems like the water is always coming down the river when I fish below it. So I'm not sure if it's been different because of the lack of rain or if I'm flat out mistaken. If that water's moving, your best bet may be to paddle upstream and let it carry you back, rinse/repeat. But like I said, I've only fished that section twice this week so I don't know all the ins and outs yet.

Yeah he got hooked trying to remove a SMB too. Though he was hooked deep and had to have it cut out. I guess the SMB were out for vengence on Saturday lol.

I've fished the area you are talking about several times. And like you said it is pretty fishy. As far as the water is concerned you can call the dam in advance and find out how much water they are planning on running. Of course the caveat is that it is "subject to change" but it gives you an idea. On Saturday they were only running 1 small unit at 5,000 cfs until 3:00PM, then they opened the gates more. The number is 1-888-457-4076. It is a recording that they update every day at 5:00PM for the next days planned generation schedule. Like you said when the water is moving, I find it best to hang out in the eddies behind the islands to make fishing a little easier, especially in a paddle yak.

[Mark]

I know someone on this list who very recently got stuck in his finger with the barb embedded. It was a treble hook from a crank bait. He pushed the hook through his finger and cut the hook below the barb with his pliers and pulled it out...and he kept fishing. It wasn't me. I would have fainted!

[Mark]

This article has some good info about stripers and poppers.

http://www.saltwatersportsman.com/sp...s?image=142956

Now, if I can make it happen is another matter.