Fall 2018
®
Scott Suggs took 7th
bank. They’re designed for bombing longer-than-normal casts and covering water.
In order to do that, you need the right gear. Namely, a long, strong rod and braided line.
Suggs launches his original Pencil Poppers on a 7’6”, medium-heavy Abu Garcia Veracity rod and 30-pound Berkley Trilene Professional Grade Braid.
Gagliardi follows suit with a 7’10”, medium-heavy Level rod and 50-pound Gamma Torque braided line.
“You need a long rod heavy enough to launch the lure as far as you can,” Suggs said. “The long rod, plus the no-stretch of the braid also helps with hooksets. The braid doesn’t affect the fish, since usually you’re fishing the lure so fast and targeting fish that are so active they don’t seem to mind.”
TWO BIG KEYS
There are two keys for identifying when to pull out the pencil poppers.
THE FIRST: BAIT, SPECIFICALLY THE SIZE OF THE BAIT. Lake Murray has blueback herring, which are larger than shad. And, since the pros who used them at the Cup were fishing for bass keying on herring, the pencil poppers were the perfect replica.
However, notice how the pros fishing close to the bank and up the river weren’t using these pencil poppers. The reason is those bass were keying on shad, and most shad
in August are small. “I only throw pencil poppers on Lake Ouachita in late spring, when the shad are the biggest and the bass are looking for bigger meals,” said Suggs. “Come August, all the bait around here is small. Pencil poppers are just too big. But on Murray, or places with where the bass are keying on bigger bait, they’re good choices.”
That’s a big reason why herring lakes and many northern lakes like Champlain, which have larger forage like perch, smelt, alewives and suckers, all are ideal places for pencil poppers.
THE SECOND: DISTANCE OF YOUR TARGET. Both pros said the walking baits you already own will often work just as well as a pencil popper. It’s just a matter of whether or not your normal walking bait can reach its target.
Because of the unpredictable nature of the schooling activity many of the pros were keying on at the Cup, having a heavy pencil popper capable of reaching fish that came up busting in the distance was a distinct advantage.
Although, even Gagliardi admits, if he’s targeting specific cane piles (typical on Murray) and not necessarily schooling fish, he’ll go with a LIVETARGET Yearling Baitball Walking Bait just as often.
“Pencil poppers have their time and place,” said Gagliardi. “If you’re chasing schoolers, particularly if it’s a little windy and choppy, then they’re great. But, if I only had one topwater for Murray, it’d be the LIVETARGET, not a pencil popper.” •
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