Tinkering With the Popper to Catch Bluegill

Last week I spent the better part of my time fishing for bluegills. I fished a couple of days by myself and on the weekend I fished with my son-in-law. The fish was hitting better on a couple of days but the latter part of the week was tricky to say the least. Poppers and nymphs were the flies of the day. They were working well at times, but at times there was a lapse in the action. During those slow times one has to be a little innovative to entice the fish to hit. I notice especially with the popper that if the presentation wasn't landing natural on the water you would not get the hit. Of course this is not the case when the fish are on the beds, because at that time they are very aggressive and will attack anything that comes near the bed. I think one could let the popper splash on the water and the fish would attack it. To improve the hit catch ratio I starting experimenting with the poppers and notice the fish would take the popper much better if the rubber legs were trim which would give it a smaller profile. Switching to a smaller popper really enhanced the hits too. The poppers with the long legs was creating too much motion on the water, therefore spooking the fish on the slow days. I am glad I did a little experimenting to make a slow day a more productive day. This is what makes fishing so fascinating to me.