I've used many things to catch fish, but a flip flop has to be the most wacky. When told about it I was a bit skeptical, but became a fast believer.
Here's one for the fly fishing and lure-tying enthusiasts out there. I decided to get back to my roots this year and found a unique way to do so. It's funny how many years can go by, but things done way back when seem so fresh.
Fishing creates lasting memories, that draw an angler back to the water year after year. As the years go by, new lures come out and your techniques tend to change. A favorite lure of the past may become nothing more than a rusty old ornament in the tackle box. Sometimes an old faithful lure gets discontinued, and there is no way to get them. For whatever reason, we sometimes abandon lures and techniques and later ask why. That is how I was feeling about popper bugs this past winter. I remembered having good luck with them, but haven't used them in many years. I made the plan to take a trip down memory lane, but with a twist. I decided for several reasons that I would learn to make my own poppers. It turns out they aren't that hard to make, and still work as well as I remembered.
I caught the fly fishing bug many years ago before I moved to New York. I was about 12 years old and living in Virginia at the time. I don't remember catching anything on a fly rod while I was there, but I enjoyed practicing how to cast one in my backyard. When I arrived in New York, I had an assortment of poppers that I had received from a buddy’s father. Likely he was over the technique, and on to something else himself. If I remember right, that's about when the Texas worm rig came out, and everybody was switching to it. Either way, I had some poppers and a fly rod, and now lived only a quarter mile from the Chenango River.
I remember heading down to the water my first time with little expectations. I had no experience, and didn't even know if the fish would like the baits. I was only a few casts in when the water surrounding my bait exploded. I jerked the rod, but missed the fish in my feeble attempt at setting a hook. A couple casts later, the water burst again, and this time I felt the weight of the fish as I set the hook. It was pulling so hard I was worried my line would break, so I played the fish for nearly five minutes before landing it. To my surprise, it was a smallmouth bass, and not a big one at that. It was probably not much over a foot, but in the current with a fly rod, put up an amazing fight. I was so hooked!
I used the lures up, and when they were gone, I looked for new ones. I searched high and low, but was never able to locate any. I gave up on them until I realized I was tying flies that were much like my old baits, but without the floating head section with legs. This realization put me on the hunt as to how to make them.
I enjoy learning from videos much better than I do from books. When I heard about YouTube, which has online videos of people making things, I had to check it out. It had videos of people doing everything from explaining how to use their newfangled smart phone, to showing how to make poppers from an old pair of flip flops. I still haven't watched the one on how to work my darn phone, but the popper one was very informative.
It showed how to take tubes of metal and cut plugs from the flip flop by chucking it in a cordless drill. I happened to have a bunch of different sized brass casings, which I ground the bases off to make tubes. Like with pipes, you must file or deburr the inside and outside, which will allow it to cut smoothly. Some were used to cut at the neck, while using the body of the casing provided bigger plugs for bass poppers. I liked that one casing could produce two sizes of plugs, so that's what I went with.
Once the plugs or floats were cut, a hook was selected that matched the size of the plug best and then dressed it. Using a bodkin or large needle, I pushed it through the center of the plug to allow the hook eye to pass through. I then spun the plug while pushing it onto the eye. A dab of super glue locks the head tight to the dressed hook. I then add a tail of fur or tinsel and spin on a body of hackle.
The final step is adding legs and eyes. Small diameter rubber bands or spinner bait skirt work best for the legs. Thread the split band onto the needle, and tie a knot at the halfway point. Now push the needle into the plug, but make sure it passes under the hook. Pull the band until the knot almost touches the plug. Add another dab of super glue to the knot, and pull it inside the popper body to permanently affix the legs. Now cut the band in two by the eye of the needle to make it look like the bug has four legs. Add some stick-on eyes or paint some on, and head to the water.
I guess you can catch fish on a flip flop. I caught mine on the first cast, and had a blast doing it. Never forget to walk down memory lane once in a while, you might find that you missed it.
Good wishes, and save those old flip flops.