Tied by Jack Harford
This is a great time of year to throw a bass popper and Jack Harford reminded me of an old popper with his post on Facebook last night. The legendary Lefty Kreh created this popper for one of his favorite rivers, the Potomac. From Harry Murray’s book, Fly Fishing for Smallmouth Bass, here is the lowdown on Lefty’s popper.
Hook: Mustad 33903 size 8 through size 1
Thread: 3/0 monocord
Body: cork
Tail: squirrel tail
Paint: yellow
Instructions:
Trim cork flat in front, back and along one-third of the belly. Taper cork from a large head to a slightly smaller rear area. Cut a groove along underside to receive the hook. (Lefty uses a jig for this cutting process that greatly simplifies the job.)
Place the hook in the vise and form a full thread body to assure good cork-to-hook glue bonding. Tie in a short tail of squirrel tail at the rear of the hook shank. Coat the portion of the cork to receive the hook with epoxy. Clean the groove in the cork and apply epoxy. Place the cork onto the hook so it lies in a straight line with the bottom of the cork. Set this aside until it is completely dry. Seal the cork and paint.
