Pop Art (Painting Bass Poppers)

     Constructing Bass Poppers occupies a special place in my Fly Tying repertoire. My readers might not know that aside from being a Fly Tier and Fisherman I've been an artist since I was old enough to grasp a brush. Making poppers gives me the opportunity to blend my interests and the vicious topwater strikes from a hungry Bass attacking the finished bugs are just an added bonus. 

     As with a lot of things, making your own Bass Bugs can be as easy or as complicated and time consuming as you want it to be. Back in the day an angler who wanted a Bass Bug would have to carve and shape it from scratch out of cork or balsa as well as paint it. Today however we have things much easier although many tiers still prefer to make them from scratch, not only as a nod to the past but for the freedom it presents to create something unique and personalized. 

     If your looking to make a bunch up quick or are just starting out you can't go wrong with the "Perfect Popper" kits from Wapsi. These can be purchased with or without hooks and also include an instructions sheet for assembling them. There are also tons of "How-To's" on the Web as well as videos on YouTube to get you on the right track.

      The Poppers shown here are from the Wapsi kits. I purchase mine with hooks but have found that the popper bodies really benefit from a hook that is 1x larger than what is on the pack. I really like the Gamakatsu B10S. If you do decide to use the hooks that come in the pack I recommend opening up the hook gap slightly with a pair of pliers. 

     Once you have the bodies attached to the hooks it's time to paint. Before you paint however use fine grit sandpaper or an Emory board to get rid of any mold lines. If you don't they can show up in a big way once color is applied. Also, if you are using adhesive stick-on eyes it's a good idea to apply them before you paint then mask them with tape, it can be difficult for them to adhere properly on top of the paint. 

     Now for the fun part, painting! I paint mine with spraypaint but am looking forward to trying the Copic Airbrush system. Some paint theirs with acrylic craft paint while others use plain ol' permanent markers like Sharpies and Prismacolors. Each have their pro's and con's so it's best to experiment. I prefer spraypaint for it's ease of use and the myriad of different effects you can create with stencils and the paint itself. For example, the crosshatch pattern on some of the poppers below was created by using DryWall tape as a stencil. On others the plastic net bags that fruit comes in were used as a stencil or stamped into the wet paint for a different effect. Go crazy and have fun!