# Popping in the surf



## Kim (Aug 5, 2008)

Throwing poppers is by far my favorite method of fishing because there is nothing like a surface blow up, so my question is this. What do you catch on a regular basis surf fishing throwing a popper or a stick bait?


----------



## ThaFish (Feb 27, 2013)

I wonder if anyone around here actually does this on the regular. I'd like to hear some answers from people on this subject as well, good question Kim!


----------



## jcallaham (Dec 13, 2009)

I love throwing poppers or shiny stuff into the surf. In years past I remember catching Lots of blue fish, an occasional spanish mack and jack creval. The last few years those fish seem to have gone elsewhere.I can count on one hand the fish I have caught that way in the last two or three years. Then again I kind of gave up fishing with them .
Maybe Chris V will weigh in on this one ,he seems to catch fish out of the surf that I never knew were there


----------



## daylate (Feb 22, 2012)

Used to catch bluefish from Pensacola Beach on poppers when I was a kid. Further west we caught bluefish and speckled trout on poppers at Alabama Point but that was a long time ago and there was very little boat traffic there.


----------



## fishboy (Oct 6, 2007)

I keep a rod rigged with surface lures every time I'm on the beach, throwing pencil poppers and other properly weighted lures that cast well. This time of year you can target redfish, jacks and bonito in the summer I've landed sharks reds jacks and all the smaller blues and ladies. If there is bait near the surf you can do well with poppers. One New Year's Day my mom dad and I landed 50+ good sized blues in a thick fog on top waters, the mullet were running and the blues were thick. Several weeks ago at chicken bone, I had something blow up on my first twitch, I set the hook and my main line broke after a 50yd run or so... No idea what it was but that fish had some shoulders


----------



## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

I still use a lot of plugs on the beach, both surface and subsurface but I used to love throwing the big stuff and should start doing it again with regularity.

Years ago, Me, my friend Sam and a few other buddies used to get out on the beach and throw big poppers for Jacks, Kings, Sharks, etc. I'd get out early and bring one heavy outfit and throw big plugs until I was exhausted. Its a persistence game. If you are impatient and need constant action, do something else. This is a matter of mastering your casts to get past the outer bars, throwing your arm out and hoping for the big bite. It is totally worth it too. Bringing in a 20lb King on the pier or boat is fun and pretty common but do it from the sand and its like catching your first one all over again. I've landed two kings from the beach, both over 20lbs and lost several others. Sam and I were out one morning down west beach in GS and while I was hooked up with a huge Bluefish, Sam had a King sky on his popper in 4ft of water. I don't know how that king got the angle but he went about 8ft in the air with Sam's popper.

I've caught Jacks to 43lbs doing this, a lot of big Blues, Blacktip and Spinner Sharks, one Cobia and have hooked two Tarpon. Its a lot of fun if you can "hang" and keep throwing that big plug and don't mind looking like an idiot throwing huge plugs on the beach, lol!

My current beach plug setup is a 10'6" Star paraflex and a Penn Spinfisher 7500SSVLC with 30lb braid. I can throw plugs and irons well past 100yds with this setup.

Obviously the majority of my beach plug casting is with lighter gear and for smaller species, but every now and then I have to bring the heavier outfit and go for something big. Now I'm already looking forward to next season


----------



## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

I should've added to my previous post. Don't get discouraged if you try throwing big plugs and get multiple mornings of either no blowups or few. It's really a quality over quantity game.


----------



## Kim (Aug 5, 2008)

I'm in tune with you on your post Chris. Surf fishing is something I haven't done much of here and I have the patience of a buzzard so I think I'll be doing more of this. I throw big poppers in the sound for practice and fun and my neighbor laughs because I only get a few hook ups a year but when I do they are good ones.


----------



## jcallaham (Dec 13, 2009)

just to add to my previous post,went fishing yesterday afternoon.Decided to to try a plug, nothing else was working. landed a a nice spanish mack.


----------



## Kim (Aug 5, 2008)

The set up I use is a Stella 5K spooled with #30 PP on a Tiralejo TRS96MA and my favorite lure to throw is a Halco Roosta 105. I also use a popping wind on leader which lets me wind the lure up closer to the tip of the rod which I think gives more accuracy without loosing distance from leader slap on the guides. On the rare occasion that I take it down to the dock when fishing and get the chance to drop it in front of some surface busting hard tails, accuracy counts.


----------



## Randall2point0 (Feb 11, 2011)

Wirelessly posted

I like the thread.

Chris V, what's your go to plugs - regular and large size?


----------



## JD7.62 (Feb 13, 2008)

I've caught tuna and dolphin and have seen sails well within beach casting distance. Who is going to be the first to pull that one off?


----------



## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

Next August/September Jason I will go ahead and verbally commit to putting in some time casting from the beach there. We know where the best areas are. I think it's just a matter of perseverance and the right outfit. With some of the plugs and jugs I throw, I can hit 110-120yds or so and I think it's enough. Hell, I had that triple header that one afternoon in 10ft of water!

Randall, I like smaller, but more compact plugs. Basically I try to find something that has a lot of punch to get long casts but still has enough size to get attention from big fish. Williamson surface pro and popper pro, Frenzy Angry popper and pretty much anything made by Halco. I'd just about consider the Halco Roosta Poppa the best choice. Roberts Ranger is good too. 

The old Spro poppers we used for tuna were killer too but Spro doesn't make them anymore.


----------



## MrFish49 (Jun 30, 2012)

Chris is it worth the effort to try use poppers and surface baits this time of year?


----------



## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

It could be. Prob get blues and big reds. Some Jacks still around, but it gets incredibly slow. I've always hung it up mid October.


----------



## MrFish49 (Jun 30, 2012)

Chris V said:


> It could be. Prob get blues and big reds. Some Jacks still around, but it gets incredibly slow. I've always hung it up mid October.


Hmmm, might as well try tossing a few of the lures I got, a lot of daiwa sp minnows, and a big pencil popper to toss, along with some rapalas. Anything else going on in the surf?


----------

