Poppers Popping

Had great success with the Rebel popper in the 1/8oz size, silver-and-black pattern. Pickerel were hitting the hell out of it on almost every cast. It's hard to get the hook to set, tho, so I only would up landing two small ones, 14 inchers, before something significantly larger ate it right off the line. (10lb braid - snapped it in a hurry! Didn't help I had the drag torqued down way too tight.)

WallyWorld didn't have any more in silver-and-black, so I'll try the silver-and-olive shad color, and see if it has the same effect. I also managed to find some Owner #1/0 offset worm hooks - more svelte than the Gama hooks in that size. We'll see how that works. The dropshot hooks I had been using are really for nose-hooking soft baits, not Texas rigging them.

As an aside, it kind of sucks that the local outfitters are all saltwater shops - WalMart and Dick's (and to a lesser extent, Sports Authority) are the only places to find freshwater stuff without hiking up to the Bass Pro Shop or down to Wildwood Outfitters. I'm looking at mail-ordering Little Cleo lures, because no-one within a half-hour driving distance has the real tiny ones in stock.