Tennessee Valley Angler

I’m going to say something that I had hoped and even promised myself that I’d never say. At least not and actually mean it. My job has owned my life for the last couple weeks. I have worked long hours, and the hours have been long and stressful enough that I haven’t even felt much like fishing or tying flies or rod-building or doing any other activity that I truly value. It’s basically this: get up at 5:45, be at work by 6:30, eat breakfast while checking email, work until lunch, eat quickly so I can be back for a meeting, work until 5:00 or later, do just enough chores to keep the house from being condemned, vegetate in front of a television for awhile, collapse for the night, get up and do it all again. Something is seriously wrong with that, but there’s not much I can do about it right now other than complain. Anyway, enough whining. I have a few things for you to waste your time on this Friday.

Bass popper made from a chunk of sandal foam.

A few weeks ago, I tried making a bass popper out of foam from a cheap pair of sandals purchased at the local retail store. It turned out well. This is now by far my favorite technique for building a foam popper. I found a really good tutorial on a California striper and bass website. There’s a similar tutorial on the Alabama River Fishing site that has other good tips, although he doesn’t get his foam from sandals. As you can see from my photo, I designed mine with a flat face. I like flat-faced poppers even more than the concave ones because they seem a little more versatile. You can get all sorts of different sounds from them. The popper that I built can make a really loud pop or a muted gurgle. It floats better than a cork and casts like a bullet. I based its design on Tapp’s Bugs. I used the Delta Ceramcoat sealer and varnish to help finish the popper. I hope to try it for some Lake Guntersville largemouth soon. Continue reading Friday Footnotes: June 5, 2009