Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - July/August 2014 - 13

A kayak's greatest advantage is stealth. Ease along, casting and retrieving parallel
to brushy shorelines. Bass will be waiting to ambush prey on the surface.
Black is a good all-around
color for bass-popping
my leader, but by starting with 3X at the tippet and cutting
bugs. A concave face
off almost 3 feet, it has to be pretty strong. I've never had a
creates the gurgling "pop"
bass break off on such gear unless it got tangled in weeds or
that triggers strikes.
brush. It is important, however, that the leader tapers down

from a stout butt end. This allows you to transfer energy
from the rod, along the line, and flip the popper out to the
far end of the whole assembly.
Use big poppers for bass, no smaller than size 6/0.
Largemouth Bass are in no way intimidated by a meal of
that size, and the bigger offering keeps pesky Bluegills from
trying to suck in your bug. Poppers come in many colors
and patterns, but I don't see much need for anything beyond
black. I once had some black and gold striped poppers that
resembled Pittsburgh Steeler uniforms. Those worked well,
but I think it was the overall black appearance that brought
the strikes. More important, in my experience, is a concave
front or face. That's what yields the popping gurgle that
seems to trigger bass to attack and eat. You also want some
rubber legs or long saddle hackle legs for motion.
I look for a long stretch of shoreline that's difficult to
fish from the land and position my kayak so that I can
move parallel to the shoreline with occasional, gentle
paddle strokes. But, stroking with a long double-bladed
paddle creates a lot of disturbance. I like to bring along an
old table-tennis paddle or a simple kids' paddle that once
bounced a tethered rubber ball. When I'm in position to
fish, I ship the long paddle and steer and propel myself
with gentle flicks of that one-hand paddle on either side
of the craft.
PFBC website: www.fishandboat.com

As you get more experienced,
you'll find that you can actually
"steer" the boat by the way you cast
and retrieve the popper, assuming
there's no wind, which is often true early and late in the day. A
kayak rides so light on the water that casting a few degrees to
the port side of the bow will tend to pull the bow that direction
as you retrieve the cast. The same is true in the opposite
direction if you cast a few degrees starboard of the bow. I find
that I can reduce paddling even more by allowing a hooked
fish to pull me ahead a bit to the next spot I want to cast.
Fish your way along the shoreline, casting ahead. Most
strikes come when you fish a line parallel to, and about 4 feet
from the shoreline, or right at the edge of overhanging brush.
A retrieve parallel to the shore keeps your bug over the prime
holding water for its entire length.
Sometimes, bass will nail a popper as soon as it hits the
water. At other times, they'll hit on that first twitch. Retrieve
the bug with a series of erratic "pops" and pauses. Be ready
at all times for either a smashing violent strike or a gentle sip
from beneath. Either attack could be a lunker bass you'll never
forget. Give the fish a second or so to turn downwards, then
strike. You'll be hooked on kayak bass-popping from that
moment on.
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater * July/August 2014

13
http://www.fishandboat.com
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - July/August 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - July/August 2014
