How To Fish With A Popping Cork

Some things never change, like a popping cork'due south ability to produce strikes when all else fails. But popping corks have been around a long time, and it's like shooting fish in a barrel for anglers to overlook their plain looks and simplicity, distracted by the range of revolutionary rigs and attractive new lures that seem to come on the scene just about every year..

I was equally guilty equally anyone of forgetting about these venerable fish producers. And when friend Keith Goodin pulled one out afterward the tide went slack i calm afternoon in Buras, Louisiana, I crinkled my nose and went on casting a flashy spoon. I before long remembered that fishing with popping corks is downright deadly.

Redfish of all sizes, including big bulls, reply to the audio and splash popping corks create. John Frazier

PROVEN PRODUCERS

We'd hammered redfish and trout all morning, but in one case the water stopped moving and the surface slicked, it was a long fourth dimension between strikes. That's when Keith tied on a popping cork 3 feet in a higher place a 3/eight-ounce jig caput rigged with a plastic chow. And for the better part of an hour, he caught fish simply past chugging the cork every and then often and letting the jig settle before repeating the procedure. Meanwhile, I caught zippo. I relented, fitted myself with a similar setup, and I hooked a huge redfish within minutes.

Since that mean solar day, I've had many other occasions when popping-cork rigs were the summit producers. Using a popping cork for trout and using a popping cork for redfish are common techniques. But flounder, black drum, cobia, striped bass, snook and diverse other game fish have, at one time or another, been drawn to my lures or baits by the sound and splash of a popping cork.

Popping corks emulate feeding activity and fish rush in to investigate the surface mayhem. John Frazier

The Popping Cork Rig

A popping cork is simply a ii- to 6-inch-long bladder made of cork, Styrofoam or hard plastic. Most are cupped at one end — to produce loud chugs and pops when the cork is pulled abruptly — and tapered and often weighted at the other for easier casting and to keep the streamlined stop below the surface.

Whether yous opt for the original or a more modern blueprint, popping corks often produce strikes you wouldn't get otherwise. Bob McNally

Why Popping Cork Rigs Catch Fish

The theory behind the popping cork is that game fish are attracted to surface commotion because information technology simulates surface feeding or baits fleeing from predators. When game fish come to investigate the sounds, they see the bait or lure dangling beneath the cork and hit it.

The angler casts the popping cork to a spot where fish are likely to cruise or hang out, then he yanks hard on the rod a time or two to make the float pop loudly and splash on pinnacle of the water, while the bait or lure dangles enticingly several feet below.

Subsequently the initial popular, information technology's best to interruption the retrieve, much like when working a topwater chugger. Then pop the cork a couple one time or twice a few seconds later, and again intermission for a moment earlier repeating the process as you slowly reel the rig beyond the probable strike zone.

If yous retrieve beyond the strike zone without a response, crank the rig back to the boat and brand another cast. When a fish hits, the popping cork is pulled under, so it serves double duty equally a strike indicator. Then y'all quickly air current in the slack until you come tight and set the hook. If you miss the claw set, cast to the aforementioned spot. Otherwise, change the distance or direction of every subsequent cast to encompass more h2o.

In cloudy or stained water, popping corks help game fish track downward your lure or bait. Bob McNally

Angling With Popping Corks Explained

The call back cadence and the loudness of the pops tin be critical in attracting fish or turning them off. Big jacks, stripers and bluefish respond well to fatty retrieves and deep chugs that push a lot of h2o and make the loudest dissonance.

In rough water or in turbulent rip tides, working a popping cork and jig combination hard and fast is normally the best tactic also. When searching for redfish or trout forth troughs, channels or shorelines, a medium-speed, pop-and-stop cadence is often the ticket.

But when targeting tarpon or snook laid upwards around a mangrove signal or lurking in the shadows of a dock at dark, a popping cork chugged too hard or also fast will probably cause those persnickety fish to commodities. If instead they hear the cork just slosh the surface, tarpon and linesiders are more likely to come up investigate.

The concave front of this popping cork style displaces the most water, producing louder pops and greater splashing Illustration by Tim Barker

Sliding weights on this style of cork produce a crustacean like clicking noise and a pendulum effect that helps create subtle pops and splashes. Analogy past Tim Barker

Best Popping Cork to Use When Fishing

Matching the size of the popping cork to the task is important. Line-fishing for big fish in large h2o, when the surface is rough, an oversize popping cork usually is all-time. A big cork casts well in a strong air current, plus it moves a lot of water, necessary to draw attention from game fish in a chop. A hefty popping cork is also a must when teaming it with a large lure or live bait required for the larger fish species.

By contrast, when angling in calm, protected water no more 3 anxiety deep, scaling down the size of both the popping cork and the lure or bait you suspend below it yields significantly better results.

Speckled trout are suckers for lures and baits dangled enticingly beneath a popping cork. Bob McNally

How to Rig a Popping Cork

Popping corks are effective rigged with a diverseness of baits, both natural and artificial. Shrimp, mullet, menhaden, sardines, pinfish, pigfish and mud minnows are among the top live allurement choices. Sometimes, especially when in areas with fast tides that impart action to the offering, dead baits and strip baits are used instead. As for artificials, the selection ranges from jigs and streamer flies to spoons and even sinking plugs.

At times multiple lures or multi-claw rigs fished below a popping cork tin be deadly. A jig at the cease of the leader with a lightweight streamer fly as a dropper can trigger strikes and produce double-headers on trout, redfish, school stripers and others.

Even wary species, like snook, get fired upwards at the audio of a popping cork. Bob McNally

Where to Fish with Popping Corks

Popping corks are nearly productive when used in at-home water. They're too superb for night angling, or where fish relate to structure or cover and must be fatigued from some distance to take a lure or bait.

Prime places to fish a popping cork include shell bars, sandbars, flooded grass flats, channel edges, bayou or creek mouths, mangroves roots and around docks, piers and bridge abutments. And popping corks also work their magic around oil rig structures, aqueduct buoys and range markers.

Truth be told, the popping cork is a productive and versatile tool that virtually anglers underuse. Dig deep inside your tackle box, chances are you have a couple hiding at that place somewhere. I bet you find a few situations where popping corks help yous land more fish.

Altering the loudness and cadence of the pops makes it possible to concenter other species, like this flounder. Alex Suescun

Popping Cork Tackle and Rigs

• Rod and Reel: Medium-heavy vii- to 8-human foot rods, spinning or casting, help make long casts and the hard snaps over a wide arc necessary for all-time popping cork action and quicker hook sets. Braided line, with its minimal stretch, also helps matters.
• Leader: Monofilament works in nigh situations, but fluorocarbon (less visible and more abrasion resistant) performs better in clear water and effectually structure. A curt trace of wire is wise when toothy critters similar bluefish and mackerel are effectually.
• Lures and Baits: Shrimp, mullet, crabs, menhaden, sardines, pinfish. pigfish and mud minnows are top live baits. Jigs with curly tails and paddle tails, plastic shrimp and weighted swim baits are top lures. Bucktails and small single-claw spoons work well also.

Popping corks present come up in a staggering diversity of size, shapes, colors and configurations. If y'all're gunning for big, powerful fish, make sure the ane yous choose is tough plenty and can provide the action you need. John Frazier

Different Popping Cork Options

Popping corks come in a staggering multifariousness of sizes, shapes, colors and configurations. Choose the size co-ordinate to lure weight or bait size (large plenty to easily suspend the offering). When information technology comes to color, the more than subdued, like moss green, white or black, are all-time for articulate, shallow h2o and skittish fish. Bright colors (hot pink, orange, lime light-green, red or yellow) are easier to see, and using a different color for every angler helps everyone keep runway of their cork.

The least expensive popping corks just accept a hole through the center from 1 terminate to the other. Some also have a slot cutting lengthwise to easily insert the leader, which is then wedged in place with a plastic dowel. A skilful way to rig those is to run a short length of 30-pound monofilament through it and so eight to x inches beetle from each cease. Next, slip a small plastic bead and tie a butt swivel at each end of the line. The plastic beads aid prevent the swivels from jamming inside the opening or groovy and breaking the cork during fishing.

More modern designs have a length of wire or cable running through the center with loops or swivels on both ends. Some also have beads, sinkers and rattling devices to attract fish. Others are egg-shaped, lacking a cupped cease, and rely on the rocking action produced by sliding weights to create noise and surface disturbance. Such corks may wait a little clunky, only they're easy to rig and to cast.

How to rig a popping cork: A two- to 4-pes leader with a bait or lure attached tied to the wire loop or swivel at the tapered stop of the cork completes the rig. And no matter which popping cork style you chose, it's how y'all piece of work it that really makes a difference.

This one-time classic design has a slot to insert the leader and a plastic dowel to wedge it in place. It's plenty loud. Analogy by Keilani Rodriguez

A wire with swivels at both ends connects the line and leader. Sliding weights aid casting and add a subtle clicking to its splashes and loud pops. Illustration past Keilani Rodriguez

Platonic whenever loud pops spook fish, this design combines the splashes created as it rocks back and along with the clicking of beads and sliding weights. Piece of work it fast. Illustration by Keilani Rodriguez

This style creates little mayhem as it lands and relies on the clicking of beads and sliding weights to imitate shrimp and attract fish. Information technology's perfect for skittish fish, clear, shallow h2o, and smaller baits. Illustration by Keilani Rodriguez

Source: https://www.saltwatersportsman.com/better-popping-cork-styles-and-tactics/

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