popper power

during my semester holiday, i went out to test the effectiveness of different kinds of hard body lure.among the lures i choose for this test are the usual diving plugs such as crankbait, minnow, viberating plug popper and banana baits. i went to different ponds and river to conduct this test. what i found out is that top water lure are among the most effective to entice fish that is not very active at that particular moment  especially in cold water condition.it has the ability to attract fish from deep water and also fish that is hiding in dens weed and grass. the disturbance on the surface of the water cause by top water lure are able to trigger the fish predatory instinct.

topwater lure,popper banana bait and propeller plugs 

at first i use the diving and subsurface plug such as minnow and crankbait. though there are fish that pursue these bait but they did not strike.after hours of trying and still not a strike from a fish. even the well known

Rapala x-rap was unable to trigger a strike..i wonder why.

minnow (RAPALA X-RAP)

crankbait

then i move on to surface plug.the propeller frog was the first topwater lure i use.it was effective and trigger lots of strike..but mostly the fish was not hooked.the splashes that the propeller in front of the lure made quiet a noise and alerted the fish of its presence.the only draw back is that the hooks are pointed upward and is located at the back of the lure.if the fish strike from the front or bottom, it will likely to miss the hook resulting a missed  strike and no hookups.only the fish that strike from the back has some chances to get hooked.

propeller frog bait

bujuk (channa lucius) caught on propeller frog

the first fish pf the day.

though the propeller frog could land the fish, the miss strike rate is high therefore its not the best lure. the propeller splashing on the water surface which create noise that attract the fish is proven to be effective but the overall design of the lure make it hard to hook the fish.

the next lure on the list is the surface pencil bait.it has a profile of a minnow bait but without the lip.there are lots of way to present this bait but among the most effective is the walk-the-dog. this method attract the fish by imitating injured fish that swim zig-zag on the water surface. the temptation for an easy prey is unresistable for fish.

pencil bait is also known as banana bait.

the pencil bait does not have a propeller and the only sound it makes is from the ball-bearing that is built inside of the lure.on windy condition, its hard for the fish to spot the lure because there is lots of disturbance on the water surface.it work best on still water although there are strike on water surface that is not still.i manage to land two peacockbass with this lure but unfortunately there is no photo to elaborate more.the hook is expose and it is easier for the fish to get hooked.the miss-strike rate is low but the frequency of a strike is also low.  

Popper on the other hand is a much more effective lure.its ability to attract predator in hiding is astonishing.the popper can be present in a number of way depending on the surrounding condition.it can be skittered with fast and pause retrieve to attract active predator or very slow popping method.the wide concave mouth design of the lure allows the lure to create a popping sound as the lure is jerked and pulls air under the surface.the sound and disturbance on the water surface will draw the attention of predatory fish lurking in deep water.

in warm water condition when the fish are active,a fast skitter retrieve with a few pause will create a disturbance on the water surface mimicking injured bait fish.this will entice the fish instinct to strike the lure.

in cold water condition where the fish is less active,a slow jerking retrieve works best. slightly jerking the lure making it dive produces a low bass BLOP sound which travel deep into weeds to call out fishes in hiding.

Popper was the most productive lure on this trip. no other lure produce more strike and more catches than the popper.it catches fish even when the fish are not active.