Notes from the Field: Panfish and Bass Fly Fishing Reports

Here are a couple of fish photos from our river using your poppers. The guides at Tight Lines and myself are on the river every day of the week. A normal painted foam head popper usually will last a couple of hours before it starts to lose its paint job. The BoogleBugs have lasted me weeks of constant fishing! Hands down the best popper I have ever used. They cost more, but they last about ten times longer than any of the competitors' bugs. What's more our guides and clients have caught many 20 inch smallmouth bass your poppers.

Couldn't Resist. Caught on the Tennesee River Today.

My boyfriend and I have been a fan of the Boogle Bugs for a few years now, they are well worth the money. We just recently relocated to Birmingham because I am in grad school at UAB. We took a break yesterday from his work and my school to get a line wet. I caught this nice 19.5" spot on the electric damsel popper at the Cahaba River NWR. Thought I'd share my catch from the local waters of Birmingham. I really do love your poppers. When I have one in my box I pretty much don't use anything else.

Got another picture for you. I caught this 18" Smallmouth in a feeder creek of Pickwick Lake. I fished with the Electric Damsel Popper all day and caught countless fish (around 30). That day I caught six species all on the same popper (Largemouth, Smallmouth, Redbrest, Longear, Bluegill, and Rock Bass). Just thought ya'll would enjoy.

Another Day, Another Boogle!!!

Hello! Here are the pic's we discussed. You have my daughter, Maggie, who caught her first ever fish on your Solar Flare BooglePopper, on an Orvis 5wt Encounter Set. Also is my son, Tom, who caught another bluegill, on a Yella Fella Amnesia, with Orvis 908 Clearwater IV setup (we where looking for bass :P) Finally, I included a shot of me, and the brim I got with the Pearly White popper, and same setup as my son. Again, thanks for a great product, and these are the absolute best warm water flys!

Tried out the Booglebug in Mossy Green with my 6WT and had a ton of action on Redeye and spotted bass wading a local Middle-Tennessee Creek. The fish of the day was this 16” Spotted Bass, which is respectable given the size of the creek.

Love those bugs!

Used your "bugs" in Central Louisiana, @ my Father-in-law's camp, on a deep hole, in a creek. My son, Cameron & I wore the perch out with these little poppers on July 4th weekend. We bought a bunch of them from our local dealer ... AWESOME lures. Fans & customers for life. I make offshore trolling lures & WISH I had the patience to create these little bugs. Thanks for the great product.

Thought you would enjoy some pictures of what Smallmouth on the French Broad think of the POWER PUMPKIN. Pictured are one of my clients and DRO guide Landon Lipke with a couple of good ones.

Redeye Bass love BoogleBugs®, and so do Rainbow Trout! Check out J.E.B.'s blog for more cool photos.
 
Also see of the June 2010 issue of BassMaster magazine (p.50-53) for a great article by Jeff Samsel on fly fishing for Redeye Bass.

The Boogle Bug Popper proved to be deadly for shoal bass in the Flint River. It brought out the aggressiveness of the fish and produced the best top water action I've ever had for shoalies. The one in the photo was 16 inches and probably weighed 2 1/2 pounds, which is a respectable shoalie. It was one of 23 I caught that day, with most on the Boogle Bug.

Here is a picture of a longear sunfish that I caught on an Electric Damsel BoogleBug on the Buffalo National River in Arkansas.

Love your Boogle Bugs gear and so does my friend Don Perchalski who lives and guides in Melbourne. This is a 4:15 from Lake Washington on the St. John's in late May. - Paul
 
This past May Paul Bruun showed me the Boogle Bugs, I coudn't believe it, someone finally developed the perfect bug. They are positively indestructable, they look good and they work. If you ever happen to come out with "The Bug" in saltwater sizes, the world would be a perfect place and my search for the ultimate popper would be over. - Don

Here are some pictures from recent guide trips where we spent the day throwing Boogle Bug poppers. These fish would just smash the popper as you would chug it along, and any other brand just wouldn't have held up. We have tried many different brands of poppers for smallmouth, and they just don’t hold up to the abuse these fish can dish out like the Boogle Bugs do. I have one popper that has caught somewhere around 200 fish; it has some wear on the paint, and the feathers on the tail are pretty thin, but it keeps on catching fish. We spend over 100 days a year guiding for smallmouth, and you need equipment to hold up. I recommend Boogle Bugs not only for their ability to hold up, but also because they catch fish. They float well, throw great, and have a great color selection to be able to change to and find the proper color the fish want. Get yourself some Boogle Bugs and get fishing!

Boogle Bugs are the best popping bugs on the market. Excellent Construction, Very High Quality. This 6.5 lb. pound is just one of several south Georgia bass I have taken in the 6 to 10 lb. range. I really appreciate your fine product.

I was in Costa Rica this past week fishing for Tarpon and river fishes. I managed to catch 53 cichlids, similar to our bluegills....but really huge and much more aggressive. Those cichlids have teeth, fairly large ones for that size of fish, and much stouter mouths than a bluegill or crappie. When they hit a top water fly they take it like it owes them money. I used the Solar Flare, white and Orange boogle bugs so much, that by the end of the trip the Orange was missing all its legs, and the solar's eyes and black feathers were scraped off! Some tough fish. But no matter how ugly those things got they were still hooking the fish. I used 3 boogles over the course of my trip.  That's about $15 worth of poppers. I caught 53 fish on them.  That's pretty dang good fish to dollar ratio.

Here is a nice bass Caught at Lake Daingerfield State Park, Texas. I am lucky enough to live near a number of good lakes and ponds in Texas, and to be able to travel and mix business and pleasure. Since buying my first booglebug back in the early spring I have caught over a hundred fish just on one solar flare #10 popper. BoogleBugs hold up better, they sound better, they cast better, and you can see them better because of the colors.  I can say without a doubt I have had more success fishing here in Texas and in Costa Rica with Boogle bugs than any other brand of popper I have tried.

I took this photo of a small mouth on the French Broad River while fishing last summer. The photo won The Drake Magazine bass bug competition. I thought it would be neat to share it with the Boogle Bug world. Top shelf popper flies for sure.

Late June 2008 - The #8 solar flare popper in this 20 incher's lip is the same one I've had tied on SINCE MEMORIAL DAY. Lotsa fish brought to hand this month, but just as many boathouses banged and unsuspecting trees snagged. The flies hold up great. Every gripe I've had with other poppers is fixed here (super durable finish, perfect hook gape, lotta noise from a small fly, good footprint in the water...it's a great product.) Use big tippet - you don't want to lose these flies!

These darn things catch Smallmouth!
My son, Nick, is still getting the flycasting thing together but wanted to take Dad out for Father's Day on the yaks and go fishing. I hooked him up with a Casting Bubble on his U/L Spinning Outfit and a Chartreuse Boogle Bug Popper about 18" down. He started catching fish INSTANTLY (he had tried hard with some Rapala's but nothing hit). The results are clear (you can see the Boogle Bug in the fish's mouth)!

This was the result of Don, my fishing partner's, first cast with a BooglePopper. We are both impressed with the durability and quality of the BoogleBugs. Don and I have been fishing a lot of years, and BoogleBugs are the best quality bugs we've found in the last several years.

I caught this 22in – 5lb 6 oz smallie on a #4 White BoogleBug. The durability and action are unprecedented. Please make a size #2 and possibly a 2/0.

I wanted let you know about the great time I had yesterday fishing your Orange Pumpkin popper. I just picked up fly fishing when it got cold last year, so not too much action with a topwater popper. Over the past few months I've been working on my cast and I made a visit up to see Brandon at Riverside Fly Shop. He said your Boogle Bugs were incredible in that they hold up very well, but more importantly, catch fish. I bought just about every color he had in stock and have been saving them for when the weather warmed up a bit. Yesterday after church, still dressed in my suit and tie, my brother and I slipped away to wet a line and enjoy the fresh air. What we thought would be a break from an afternoon get together with family turned into a great fishing trip. Check out the attached picture to see my catch. Thanks for the great bugs!

These Boogle Bugs are great. I put on a number 4 mossy green popper and caught several bass in the 2 to 3 pound range. I tied this fly on and was never tempted to change to anything else.

Caught this 3 pounder on the white BoogleBug.

These are two photos of my self and son Frank from a recent fishing trip to Northeast Texas on a private lake. We caught a lot of sunfish and bass on BoogleBugs on our fly rods. It was a great trip. Thanks for making quality top water poppers.

I went flyfishing with your black booglebug this weekend in Mentone. I would conservatively estimate that I caught about 30 crappie in a little over 1 hour and a half – just about every cast!

July 1, 2008 - Your Boogle Bullets are some fish catching machines! At first the price scared me away, but I tried a size 10 pearl at the begining of June. It has caught well over a 100 fish and looks like new, so I tried a Black Galaxy and Solar Flare bullet. The Mossy Green and Electric Damsel are on my list for next colors to try.
 
July 9, 2008 - Another success story for Boogle Bugs! That's right! My friend and fishing companion, Jon, was skeptical of paying the price for a Solar Flare popping bug size 8. Then he looked at the fly again and saw the quality finish and first-class hook. Still skeptical, he went out and started to fish. [After a while,] Jon put on the Solar Flare, and on the second or third cast caught the biggest bass of the evening between 18 and 19 inches. Jon continues to catch fish, and he says to me, "Is this the only Boogle Bug popper on the lake this evening?" The next thing you know, Jon says, "It sure is a great $5 fly". He proceeds to catch more fish. The next thing he says, "This sure is a great $10 fly." He proceeds to catch more fish and says, "This sure is a great $15 fly." Jon catches more fish and says "This could be a great hundred dollar fly tonight!" I say to Jon, "Wait a minute, Jon. I can see, it could be a great $10 fly, because that's all I can afford to pay if we are going to be buying a lot of them." Jon then says, "Well then I will buy a half a dozen tomorrow."
 
Jon’s own words - "The best hooking popper I have ever used". P.S. - Jon will be 75 at the end of the summer, between fly fishing and ice fishing he gets over 250 day of fishing in a year so he knows what he is talking about. Tight Lines to all! Keep them Boogles boogling!

This summer I have been fishing a nice stream about 30 minutes from my home. It is a series of riffles, runs and deep pools. It is full of spotted bass, warmouth and green sunfish. I have had good luck fishing the booglebugs and catching the spotted bass. I use the darker colors on overcast days and the bright ones on sunny days, casting into the deeper runs around 3 ft deep. I twitch the bug a few times then let it drift keeping a tight line. The strike comes just when I think it's time to twitch again. I want to try the 8's on a lighter line. I hope to see some in a #10 or even #12 someday. Thanks for making a quality popper that I don't have to worry about falling apart after a few fish. I am recommending the booglebugs to all of my friends. These things are great. Caught 28 bass last time out using a BoogleBug.

My first trip to use my new 5 weight rod at my brother's lake on his farm in Port Gibson, TX, my first open cast – wallop!!!! – before I could think of setting a hook he broke my new rod. Shocked I was, and managed to land a 7lb.13 oz largemouth bass; no thrill in the fight because the rod was broken about two feet from the tip, but your bug got him, and I landed him. By mid morning I had landed 7 bass none less than 3lb 5oz. and probably 20 large blue gill bream. My brother seeing this has now taken up fly fishing and is the proud owner of a new rod and reel along with a dozen BoogleBugs complements of little brother. After catching his first Bream he has now got the fever and is putting forth a great effort to learn good casting habits. Thanks for the bugs – my friends and I think they are of supreme quality.

Booglebugs are RIDICULOUS! Two nights ago I picked up about 12 largemouths in a tiny stream in like, 20 minutes…biggest was about 1.5-1.75lbs…fun stuff. They have sweet action and like you said, many times the strike hits just as I wait for a few seconds between popping.

Dog days of summer, Saturday , August 20, 2005. My Dad and I went out early before dawn broke on Watts Bar Lake in eastern Tn in search of bass. After throwing everything we had at them with spinning gear and having one small large mouth to show for it, I decided to try a fly rod with your chartreuse, smaller sized popping bug attached. Instantly we started catching every size, shape and color of bream along with a few yearling bass. I would estimate we caught and released at least 50 over about a 1 hour and 30 minute period. The action was very fast and rescued a rather dismal morning of fishing. We rounded one rocky point and picked up several bream when I decided to let my Dad take a turn with the 1 fly rod I had brought as he was getting a bit miffed that your bug was what was catching all the fish. He immediately started catching bream with virtually every cast. Then what appeared to be a very nice bream hit erupted into an aerial jump of about 5 feet in height by a small mouth bass weighing we guessed around 3 pounds. Unfortunately the big one did get away , but what excitement !!
 
Bottom line , your BoogleBugs are indeed extremely high quality and durable popping bugs. I loved the way the bug floats in a very natural position in the water. The rubber legs maintain their position and composition and do not bunch up like many cheap bugs do. Even after catching so many fish, the paint, the finish, and the legs look as good as new and ready to go for the next trip. I am truly impressed with the precision quality , durability and most importantly the "catch fish ability" of your very fine bugs. If I was hungry, and counted on catching fish for my supper and could choose one lure, the BoogleBug would be my pick.
 
. . . We had another good day last Saturday morning [9/10/05] on Watts Bar Lake with your Boogle Bugs. The first cast at daybreak latched on to a 3 pound smallmouth. It was spectacular with several jumps before boating the bronze back. We caught a ton of nice bream and one other nice small mouth before calling it time to go have breakfast. I have been using the chartreuse color bullet. Even after lots of catches and releases of fish, the popping bug still looks virtually brand new. They are indeed top quality bugs. . . . On several of the larger fish that were caught, we had to extract the bugs with forceps which many times will tear up most bugs or at minimum mess up the paint. Even after several intricate and very less than gentle extractions, the bugs still look super with no sign of wear.