# painting foam poppers



## flyfisheraa573 (Jun 26, 2008)

anyone on here fool with foam poppers? as in tying them up....if so, what's the best way that you've found to paint them?

Thanks!


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## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

I tie lots and lots of poppers for the Ft. Lauderdale Fly Shop and my own anglers.  Years ago I used to carefully paint cork headed poppers but don't bother with the foam headed ones.  They just don't last long enough to make it worthwhile...  If you just have to get artistic use pantone or sharpy markers and go to town.  i don't think it will make a bit of difference in the bites you'll get...
By the way, coloriing bugs with an art marker isn't as permanent as you'd like.  The colors begin to fade as you use them....

Here''s a sample of what I'm doing now...


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## deerfly (Mar 10, 2007)

Bob, how do you glue them and does the bond around the foam hold up pretty well to spinning or tearing loose or put another way how does it hold up compared to cork in that regard? 

I'm still somewhat in the stone ages popper wise and still use cork, which does seem to take quite a bit of abuse(I usually end up re-tying feathers before retiring the body.) But with the price of cork what it is these days I may give the foam a try.


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## flyfisheraa573 (Jun 26, 2008)

DF....I tie with foam in several different applications...hoppers, terrestrials, etc...and the foam holds up pretty decent..

Last night, I went on the Wapsi website, the company that makes the "Perfect Popper" kit...and from what they said...you do a test fit of the popper body to the "special" hook, then super glue it.

I'm actually thinking about doing that, and if they don't stay, I may hit it with some Clear Cure Goo, over the top of the super glue.

As far as painting them...the website says you can use the same paint that you use on model cars and such...I was actually thinking about some of the cheap and glittery nail polish...just to give it something more.

Here's the link to the Wapsi website...

http://www.wapsifly.com/pp.html

and Bass Pro where you can buy...

http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_61923_175004000_175000000_175004000_175-4-0


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## DarkstarCrashes (Nov 29, 2009)

I have used those wapsi perfect poppers and they are nice. The soft foam ones are much better in my opinion. They can be splatted down on the water or laid down delicately.

I color mine with magic markers but it's not very permanent. Been messing with spray paint coated with spray on varnish, seems to work alright unless fishing around rocks and pilings.


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## deerfly (Mar 10, 2007)

I guess I need to get out more.  I see they have their own hump back hooks, which should help prevent the spinning to some extent and a few basic colors too, but nothing about paint compatibility. 

I always used Mustad 34007's or facsimile with a flattened shank and epoxy with cork bodies. The only time I used hump back hooks was for bluegill and small bass poppers. With the heavier straight shank versions I over cut the slot so the epoxy doesn't get smeared off on insertion and forms a bed of sorts for the hook to float in. Not sure that actually helps any, but I like to think it does.


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## flyfisheraa573 (Jun 26, 2008)

DF.....read on down at the bottom...for painting info

from the Wapsi website....

"If desired, paint the popper body with a water-based acrylic paint (like those used on plastic models) and/or with waterproof marking pens."

another question....I'm assuming soft bodied poppers are for freshwater critters, and the hardbodied are for toothier salt water variety? or Musky?


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## flyfisheraa573 (Jun 26, 2008)

>


Nice looking stuff sir....thanks for sharing it with us


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## deerfly (Mar 10, 2007)

> DF.....read on down at the bottom...for painting info
> 
> from the Wapsi website....
> 
> ...


I see that now thanks. 

I'm sure Bob will weigh in again with all that. Knowing what I know about Bob and the kind of fishing he does, I imagine these foam things hold up fine or he wouldn't use or sell them.


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## tguasjr (Mar 9, 2009)

I've been trying these poppers out and they look semi decent for my amateurness. My question is do you glue the body first? or do you tie your materials first then the popper body?


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## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

So let's do a little answering.... Tico the heads are glued up first then the tail, flash and collar are tied right up to the head...

Here's how I'm doing mine. I use the soft foam heads from Wapsi and order them 100 at a time when they have them (I get them about every third order... they rarely have them n bulk). Wapsi is a wholesaler so talk to your local shop.... They rate their heads hook sizes a bit on the small side, the poppers in the pictures (the Speedbug) are meant for #4 hooks and I'm using Mustad 34007 #1 hooks.... First I tie a layer of thread (Danville's flat waxed nylon) starting just behind the hook eye and as far down the shank as the popper will cover when glued in place... Once I have 10 or 20 or 100 tied up I start the gluing process, using nothing but Krazy Glue. Each head is fitted over the thread base where it's pre-slotted. A thin line of super glue is laid into the slot, then the sides are pressed together and held for 30 seconds or so. That's all there is to it, When I'm doing production work each head is pinched together with a clothes pin to speed things up. I can usually do 20 or 30 heads in lsss than 30 minutes this way. The soft foam heads are very durable, don't take paint at all ( the hard foam heads will take paint as mentioned above). There's a reason I call them "Speedbugs" - they're simple and very quick to tie up. Kind of the opposite of what the old cork headed bugs required... You'll note that I keep the tails very short, the longer they are the more they'll foul on you and a bug with a fouled tail won't get touched (ask me how I know...). I'm particularly fond of poppers at dawn or early enough in the day that there's no wind and things are glassed off. I tell my anglers to keep the bug talking quietly and ignore the first strike since it's usually a miss. Keep the thing moivng and the fish won't miss the second time... We catch lots and lots of small tarpn with thiese and a few snook that rarely give them back...


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## deerfly (Mar 10, 2007)

> I've been trying these poppers out and they look semi decent for my amateurness. My question is do you glue the body first? or do you tie your materials first then the popper body?


 I don't think there's any Federal Statutes on the matter,  but I find it easier to tie the feathers on first without the body in my way. I usually batch them too so I can glue several bodies with one batch of mixed epoxy. If this foam stuff works OK with super glue's then I suppose it wouldn't matter much in that regard.


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## tguasjr (Mar 9, 2009)

Thanks for the info!


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## Salty_South (Feb 25, 2009)

I paint em up with my girlfriend's nail polishes. She has every color in the spectrum!


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## flyfisheraa573 (Jun 26, 2008)

SS...like the nail polish idea...


I was doing some exploring on another board...and a guy on there was using just regular old craft paint that you can get from WalMart or a craft store...once he had his design down, he coated it with Sally Hansens Hard as Nails to give it a nice hard and glossy finish...


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## Bill_Nosan (Dec 14, 2008)

I just coat the whole foam head with a 5-minute epoxy when I'm done tying. They last a little longer, but they do yellow.


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## Ed_B (Jun 28, 2010)

flyfisheraa537 & Darkstar_Crashes - Good to see some flyfishing, microskiffing deadheads here. Being new to this board it makes me feel more at home.

On the foam popper paint I've used spray paint as a base coat on the foam after it's attached to the hook, but before the dressing. then detailed with testor model paint for eyes, spots, stripes, etc... Sally's HAH makes a great top coat.

Prismacolor pens are very good as well.


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## flyfisheraa573 (Jun 26, 2008)

thanks creekhead...yes, always good to see a fellow Head and FF'er about...

thanks for the tips...been playing with the hoochie-mama nail polish...working pretty well so far...I may do a combo between that and prismacolor pens though...


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## HaMm3r (Dec 11, 2006)

Interesting thread, especially since I've been tying my own foam poppers lately. Not sure why I never clicked on it before. :

I've tried coloring the popper bodies a few times, but never saw much of an advantage in doing so. And to be honest, I stopped buying any store-tied poppers in any color except white, simply because white works best.



> another question....I'm assuming soft bodied poppers are for freshwater critters, and the hardbodied are for toothier salt water variety? or Musky?


Was this ever answered? I'm curious if there is an "official" stance on this, because I've recently started tying the hard foam bodies for bass, instead of the soft. My problem with the soft is that they tend to waterlog a bit, while the hard ones don't. the hard also seem more durable.


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