The Value of a Good Bug...

Guyon

Guyon

Biscuit Whisperer
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Popping bug that is...

I've been an outdoorsman all my life, and much of that time outdoors has been spent fishing. In preparing my miniature fishing kit for my survival gear, I knew that one of the essential items had to be popping bugs. For those who have no idea what I mean, I'm attaching a pic.

These little cork "flies" are generally used with flyfishing equipment, and they are extremely productive. I've caught bream or crappie on these lures when nothing else would work. In fresh water, I've also used them to catch bass, carp, and trout (hungry ones). Generally, you can always catch something with a popper.

To their credit, popping bugs are small, inexpensive, and lightweight. With a little cork or wood, a hook, feathers, and a rubber band, you can even fashion your own.

Just thought it was worth a mention...
 
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Very nice. In my tiny fishing kit that goes in my small essensials bag I keep four small spinners, a small spoon and rebel crickhopper, along with a selection of hooks and split shot. I also put five paper clips in to form the line guides. I have had the best luck with spinners. If numbers are what you're after, like in a survival situation, then they are my go to lure. The crickhoppers float or dive and do a good job too.

I like your popping bugs. My mini tackle box is maxed out so if my artificials don't make it I'll have to hunt natural baits.
 
Small spinners, like the beetle-spin or the rooster tail, are excellent baits, and I may still put one in my kit. However, the biggest disadvantage I see with these baits is that they require a quick retrieve or a stiff current to make them spin. Otherwise, they aren't as effective at attracting fish. Of course it's not impossible to make them spin. With a fairly long pole, you can pull the spinner around in circles or in a figure-8 pattern in order to produce catches. Or you can use the hand over hand technique to pull them in. Either method does require a fair amount of energy on your part though.

My idea was to have my fishing emergency kit fit into a small plastic film canister. Economy was the name of the game for me. I wanted to use the lures which are time-tested and the most productive for me. Of course, live bait is always the best, so you're right to include a good assortment of hooks.

Here's what I included:

30 feet of 20-lb. test -- There's nothing more frustrating than losing a large fish because of inadequate test. Yes, smaller line might be better for small fish, but if the situation calls for larger line (as in salt water fish), you'll regret having only 6 to 8 pound test.

3 Popping bugs -- 2 cork. 1 foam ant. These are top water lures that have produced consistently for me over the years.

Two small plastic worms -- For a small worm, I like the Slider Worm made by Charlie Brewer. Motor oil has always been the best color for me.

Hook assortment -- Includes two worm hooks.

Split shot assortment -- Try to find the re-usable kind that you can open easily. These have little protrusions on the back that, when pressed, open the split shot for removal.

Small float -- For use with live bait.


I chose lures that require little effort to use and that cover different water depths. Worms for bottom fishing, poppers for top water, with the float and split shot, I can fish mid-depths.

As I said, live bait (grubs, worms, grasshoppers, etc.) are always going to get you results. But if none is available, then use your imagination. Fish aren't exactly the brightest lights in the shed, and you can fashion artificial lures from all sorts of things.
 
I think a long light pole is going to be a must in this case. If cane bamboo is availible then that is the optimum.

I have a 100 yard roll of 12 lb test with 20 yards of 6 1b test for leaders when the fish are small and spooky. It fits seperately in my essentials bag. I figure it can double up for other needs. Mono is strong and pliant.

I'll carve my own float when I make the pole and I have a good 25 assorted hooks in the kit. They don't weigh anything and don't take up much room either. They are the hardest things to improvise besides the line.

I still like the idea of your popping bugs and may have to see if I can get one to fit. I agree with live bait being the best bet. Now if I could just fit a good ultra-light spinning setup in here somewhere.
 
BoyNhisDog: Your thought about some leader material is a good one, and I actually should put one of my fly line tippets in my kit. There is still a bit of space in the film canister. The tippet won't take up much room at all and would be good, as you point out, for taking extremely small fish. Tippets are usually tapered; you tie the fly to the small end of the tippet.

Popping bugs are very small as well, and I've caught fish as little as a couple of inches with little poppers. Sometimes, the tiny fish will peck at the popping bug only to find it's too large to fit in their mouth. Oftentimes, if I need cutbait for catfishing, I'll use a popping bug to quickly catch a couple of bream. If there are panfish around, they'll almost always go after a bug.

If you've never fished with one, you ought to try it. Great fun. The best method of course is to cast it on a fly rod, but if you're not a fly fisherman, you could just tie some line, a leader, and a popping bug to a long cane pole. Flip the bug over into a "fishy" hole--close to a bank, weed bed, lily pad, etc. The trick is to keep the bug still for a few minutes and let the water ripples fade away; then twitch the bug erratically and let it sit still again. Usually, the first twitch or two will produce a strike, and since it's top water, you'll know when a fish is interested. Let the fish take the bug all the way before you set the hook.

Larger fish (bass) will sometimes come out of the water when they go after the popper. Don't set the hook too soon. Wait till you feel a little weight on the line, or you'll jerk it right out of their mouth.

Keep your eyes open. I have seen some really tiny spinning reels with collapsible rods. They're usually sold as "traveller's combos." In fact, stores often stock them this time of year as one of the many "gadget" X-mas gifts.
 
I have fly fished without a flyrod for years. I just put a clear casting bubble four to six feet up from the fly and cast it out and let it sit. Then reel it in slow. It's not as pretty as a fly rod in action but it is one more trick in my bag that gets fish.

Thanks for the thought on foam ants. I found a couple in my tackle and added them to my essentials bag. In a survival situation small fish cleaned and put whole in a soup would be very nurishing. If I run into big catfish I have a spool of black nylon upholstery thread for tying up strong shelters that would work great in catching them for dinner. A big fat grub or hopper would take them.

I do have a four piece St Croix pack rod and a Shimano Sustain 1000 that I take along if I am near freshwater. That and a small tackle box the size of a paperback book and I can fish all week.

If I am going to be near big fish or saltwater I have a couple of three piece setups that are sweet. I was in Florida earlier this year standing thigh high in saltwater, playing Spanish Mackeral. Those speed demons burned deep into my eight lb test with 20 lb floro leader that happily was not cut by those wicked rows of teeth. I kept two 25" fish that fed five people for lunch.
 
Those Spanish are a lot of fun when they're running. You can actually see the school coming and cutting top water. Decent fighters for their size, and good to eat. What part of Florida were you fishing?

If you're ever around the Gulf near March and April, you ought to go after pompano. For its size, you can't beat the fight, and its big white fillet is a delicacy. Here I am holding a nice one that almost took my buddy's expensive Penn reel out to sea. My t-shirt is soaked because I didn't catch up to the rod and reel until about waist-deep water.
 
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We were at Alligator Point in April renting a house on the beach. It is south of a little town called Panacea, which is south of Tallahasee.

I like that photo!

I caught alot of fish while I was there but those Spanish fought me the hardest. I did not hookup with any Pomano. I wish I would have. That one you are holding is a beauty.
 
Well, you were in the right spot--just at the wrong time. Pompano run in that area of the Gulf in the spring. You can catch them later in the year, but not in abundance. The pompano in the picture was caught at Fort Pickens National Park on Santa Rosa Island (near Pensacola). I used to live on the coast over in Mobile, AL (about an hour away), and I drove over pretty often to fish there at Fort Pickens.

Great spot by the way, and you can camp there very cheaply. It's $15 a night for a camp site (non-electric), but you do usually have to make reservations well in advance--especially if you're visiting during peak season. I and some friends have gone down to camp the last couple of years in May. Each trip only produced one pompano though because of the timing. However, we're going to try and get our schedules straight this year so that we can go down in early April.

FYI, pompano like crustaceans. Sand fleas (a crab-like critter) and live shrimp tend to work the best as bait. They're in the jack family, and they tend to fight like their cousins--the amberjack, jack crevalle, etc.

Some of the fancier restaurants along the coast in Florida, Alabama, and Louisiana serve a dish called pompano in parchment, pompano en papillote, or "pompano in a bag"--a fillet cooked in in parchment paper with shrimp sauce, crab meat and sometimes a vegetable or two. Good stuff.

Good fishing to ya!
 
Excellent thread! I've wondered why more people don't include some terrestrials in their kits. Things like foam ants, spiders, grasshoppers, mosquitos, etc. Lately, I do most of my (limited) fly fishing with these flys and a float/casting bubble. Add a few streamers and your set, and you don't have a degree in entomology!

Patrick
 
Let me add my vote for popping bugs. Over the years, probably the most productive lure in my kit. For those not used to them, timing is everything. They work best near sunset or after, IMHO, on still water. Without a fly rod to make them do their best magic, just use your pole to 'dap' them along surface, as if they were dragon flies or something similar flying close to the water, touching down now and then near a stob or log, lily pad or other cover. Be prepared for explosions. When I was a kid, after ruining a 'thumb-buster' reel and being denied access to Dad's expensive gear, I learned to wade the creeks with a few poppers, some 12 lb mono tied to a long, whippy willow or cane pole and bring home tons of bass and bream. Dapping is like fly fishing, but without a reel. Not a lot of huge fish, mind you...but rural kid popper fishing and survival fishing have this in common, quantity counts! And the occasional large fish still came my way. Wait until dark, use that same short stout string and long limber pole, remove the popper and attach a stout snelled hook baited with a limber strip of pork rind cut with a split tail that immitates a 'frog'...or use a similar strip cut from the belly of another fish. Walk along deep water (dam faces or 'fishing holes with good watercover) and 'slap' the frog along the surface in the dark. Splash it around like something wounded, you'll bring out all the benevolent members of piscatorial society. You might be surprised at the charitable monsters that you can yank out of small streams and ponds this way. Give me some poppers, a few hooks some mono and a frog gig head, I'm good to go. I'd probably miss my 6 weight and/or my ultra light spinning gear...but I doubt if I'll get hungry. Let me add that a few of your popping bugs really should be red...you can always catch frogs on a red feathered lure 'skittered' near enough for your bufanoid to get annoyed.
 
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