I went to the MARSHALL MADRUGA presentation on fishing baja last night in San Diego. It was very informative.
Most of his fishing was shoreline fishing. A favorite technique is casting Pili Poppers into the rocks repeatedly and cranking in as fast as you can.
Has anyone out there fished these poppers like that?
I thought these poppers were mostly used on dorado on the surface. He targets leopard grouper with them and casts to all likely looking shoreline,
regardless of working fish or birds.
I have been using Krocodiles mostly in those situations. Those Pilis are about $10 a pop. Could get expensive with cabrilla. The size of these fish,
however, were quite impressive.
Poppers
baitcast - 4-8-2005 at 04:19 PM
Poppers from the beach,it does,nt get any better than that.
I,m not familar with Pili poppers, I have always used big fresh water poppers,I used them as far back as the 60,s and 70,s.....rebel made a
big jeck bait that we used also,with a mack finish that worked great.
The retrieve we used is different tho it goes as follows.........pop.....pop.......pop.......Pause and so on changing speed wise tell you find
out what they want.
The take is outstanding........its a visual thing.
Any fish that crashes bait on top will take a popper!!!!!!
Ive lost track of the kinds of fish I,ve caught on poppers
caught fish while it just sat there without moving!!!!
Any fish that comes close to the beach you can take with these things
Wading in the sand fishing corvina is a kick you can use lighter rigs,if you have rocks mixed in I use a heavyer baitcasting outfit .
Just buy 1 or 2 poppers,5"or6" long and a jeck bait 6" to 7" and your in bussiness.
Color..........silver bottom dark back is always good....mack finish also.
BAITCAST
A couple more things that make these great is don,t cost a arm and leg.........and they float,backlash no problem,rocks no problem!!!!!!!
Poppers
baitcast - 4-9-2005 at 06:51 AM
I meant to say jerk bait some call them stick baits
BAITCAST
The Pili are nice...
Hook - 4-12-2005 at 01:14 PM
....and well made but they are expensive.
You can get cheaper alternatives from Luhr-Jensen or use Pencil Poppers and change out the hooks to a more saltwater type hook like a VMC.Pompano - 4-12-2005 at 01:18 PM
I will be looking for these poppers next week at Fisherman's Landing, SD. Any preference on colors, sizes, etc?Don Alley - 4-12-2005 at 01:41 PM
I've used a number of poppers. My favorites are the cheaper ones-they seem to get bit as well as the fancier ones. Cotton Cordell Pencil poppers (6
inches) are good, so are Rangers (5 & 5 1/2 inches). Colors? I haven't really fished enough of them to have a preference. I fish them pretty fast
and don't think color is important, but I'm still experimenting. Good close in for cabrilla, leopard grouper, barred pargo, ladyfish, and others.
Unlike a krocodile or megabait, when casting from shore you won't lose poppers in the rocks, unless, of course, a fish takes you to the rocks. And
they will.
DonPompano - 4-12-2005 at 02:16 PM
these sound like great roosterfish lures in a boil...ever get any?
Poppers
baitcast - 4-12-2005 at 06:26 PM
One of the neat things about these baits is you don,t need a boil or action on top to start throwing ,just start looking for likely areas and start
pitching it out there,your wading along,life is good, its daybreak or late in the evening which is the best time for these rigs.
You can,t take your eyes off the thing as your working it along and the world explodes before your very eyes,its a visual happening,they get
so excited sometimes they attack it from above,and you get so excited you miss a lot because your to early on the hook set, at least thats me
Try them you might like them, I,m pretty sure you will.
BAITCAST
Pompano, check your U2U
Hook - 4-13-2005 at 10:02 AM
I sent you some info about the Rangers yesterday, in relation to your frustration over not being able to reach those roosters in Coyote.Skipjack Joe - 4-13-2005 at 10:18 AM
I have been looking for these poppers recently and haven't found them in the area where I work, Irvine. I have also looked on the internet, attempting
to purchase them online (not as good, in my opinion, because I like to handle them before buying) and have also had little luck. If you find some
please let me know where.
My research shows that they were originally made by a Mr Pili on the Hawaiian islands. They use them over there when fishing over the shallow reefs
next to shore.
I have had one in my tackle box and never caught anything, so I gave up trying. The same is true, by the way, of mirrorlures and yet it appears to be
Pompano favorite lure. But I am convinced that they (Pilis) are good lures and should be fished in a different way in different locations then I have.
I have never caught roosterfish with a popper but I have had very good luck with jack crevalle with other poppers. Casting a popper into a school of
rampaging jacks works well. On the other hand, almost anything works well when jacks are in a feeding frenzy.
The thing is... I never thought of fishing for cabrilla with poppers until recently and am excited to try it.
Pretty sure
Hook - 4-13-2005 at 10:43 AM
The Jigstop in Dana Point carries them.
You might also try Turner's in Orange or the Longfin in Orange.Pompano - 4-13-2005 at 10:56 AM
One those 'poppers', I will be at Fisherman's Landing in SD for some needful things and will try to get some...and let you know how they work out in
the Cortez.
Getting ready for some action!!woody with a view - 5-7-2005 at 08:56 AM
