“Materials” discusses the basic raw materials used to fashion popper bodies, tails, skirts, and extended bodies. It also covers hooks, threads, glues, eyes, legs. and flashy decorations.

1. Materials 1
MATERIALS
ere are a myriad of fly-tying materials on the market, and each
year new products are introduced. Fortunately, only a few are
necessary for tying bass poppers. Most novice flytiers go through a
period of enthusiastic creativity and hang every imaginable materi-
al on a hook in search of the perfect lunker buster. Some of my
early creations were better suited as Christmas tree ornaments than
serious top water offerings. I tried glitter and tinsel of every color
and texture. Now I am convinced that there is no need for heavy
adornment. The simplest of poppers will perform as well as the
most elaborate. Flytiers should be concerned about ease of casting
and the popper’s action instead of glitter and gaudy dressing. It is
the disturbance in the surface film that draws the bass’s attention
and the silhouette centered in that disturbance that elicits an attack.
If you are fortunate, you will have a fly shop nearby that carries
the materials needed to tie bass flies. If, on the other hand, you live
in an area where trout is the predominant sport fish, you may have
to depend on catalog or internet suppliers for many of the items
you need. You can find suppliers by browsing advertisements in
fly-fishing or fly-tying magazines or by searching the internet. It is
always advantageous if you can inspect items before you purchase
them, especially hooks and hackle capes.

2. 2 Chapter 2
POPPER BODIES
I have experimented with a number of materials attempting
to find a readily available, cheap source of material for popper
bodies. I have used pipe insulation, foam ear plugs, boat bum-
pers, and beach sandals just to name a few. Nothing I have come
across rivals the commercial products marketed specifically for
this purpose. The body materials available today are so cheap that
there is little need to look for alternatives. Most fisherman will tie
only a small number of poppers once they have built their initial
arsenal. Rarely will you need to tie more than a half-dozen pop-
pers each year to keep your fly box fully stocked. The weed guard
demonstrated in this book is so effective that you will seldom lose
a fly, even in the thickest of weeds. You are more likely to have the
problem of tying more poppers than you can ever use or lose or
give away, simply because you enjoy the hobby so much.
Balsa, cork, high-density foam, and soft foam are the most com-
monly used materials for making poppers. The density of all these
materials is about 10 pounds per cubic foot except high-density
foam which is substantially heavier. They are so similar in density,
however, that buoyancy is not a consideration in choosing one over
the other. I now use only balsa and soft foam, because they are
readily available and so easy to work.
There are some nice shaped bodies on the market, but I prefer
to shape my own bodies. I enjoy working the materials and cre-
ating shapes and sizes that match my particular needs. It is hard
to choose the proper size when ordering shaped bodies from a
catalog. I have often ordered bodies that turned out to be larger
or smaller than I intended. I never order shaped bodies that have
hooks molded in them. I simply do not like the long-shank hook
styles that are used. The hooks recommended in this book have
significantly more gap and hooking potential than those I have seen
molded into shaped bodies.

3. Materials 3
Balsa
Of all the materials available for making popper bodies, balsa
is my favorite. It is very easy to shape, relatively durable, paints
well, inexpensive, and a supply of balsa is no farther away than the
nearest craft shop. I prefer it over cork because it is easier to shape,
doesn’t have pits that must be filled, and withstands more abuse. I
prefer it over high-density foam because high-density foam is like
plastic and cannot be shaped. You are restricted to the body styles
and sizes your supplier has available.
Balsa is available in boards and square or rectangular sticks. I
prefer 5/8- x 5/8-inch sticks for bodies shaped on a lathe and 1/2- x
3/4-inch sticks for bodies that will be hand shaped. These sizes will
produce bodies suitable for size 1, 1/0, and 2/0 hooks.
Balsa is somewhat variable in density, so select your stock care-
fully. Always choose aircraft-grade balsa. I have measured den-
sities ranging from 6 to 13 pounds per cubic foot. Like any other
wood, the density varies with the environment in which the tree
was grown. Optimum conditions result in fast-growing trees with
wide growth rings. This produces the lightest, most desirable balsa.
Inspect the end of the stick. The growth rings should be about 1/8
to 3/16 inches wide. The larger the growth rings, the lighter the
wood. The piece should feel as if it is about to float away.
Cork
Cork is the material historically identified with bass poppers.
When I started tying firm-bodied poppers instead of hair bugs, I
used cork exclusively. It is available at most hardware and craft
stores. Many suppliers carry cork cylinders and bullet-shaped
popper bodies. Cork is easy to shape but is full of pits which must
be filled and sanded smooth before priming. If you set your fresh-
ly painted cork bodies next to a heat source to dry, you may come
back to find your poppers covered with bumps. The air in the inter-
nal pores of the cork expands and bubbles the fresh paint
Cork is not as durable as balsa or foam. A poor backcast that
brings the popper crashing into your rod will sometimes shear a

4. 4 Chapter 2
cork body in half. When the clear coat is rubbed off the leading
edges of a popper face by woody stems of reeds or cattails, the
cork will abrade fairly quickly if not re-coated. Since cork is more
expensive, not as durable, and requires more work than balsa, I
stopped using it many years ago.
High-Density Foam
Molded, high-density foam bodies are available from most tack-
le shops. Some suppliers even sell molds that allow you to pour
your own poppers and cast the hooks right into the body. Others of-
fer bodies cast with a hook and also painted. They require nothing
but the addition of a tail. The majority, however, simply have a slot
molded into the bottom to receive a hook. Use the same procedure
described for balsa to attach hooks to these slotted versions.
High-density foams are much harder and more durable than bal-
sa. They are virtually unbreakable. Unfortunately, they are two to
three times as dense as balsa. The average density varies with the
ratio of surface area to volume, because they have a hard shell and
a softer, lighter interior. As a result, a long, thin pencil popper has a
higher average density than a short, fat popper.
High-density foam bodies obviously require less effort than bal-
sa, cork, or soft foam bodies which must be hand shaped, but you
are limited to the few shapes available from your supplier. When
you shape your own bodies, you are limited only by your imagi-
nation. I have made some very nice poppers with these bodies, but
you must bear in mind that they will be heavier, more difficult to
cast, and sit lower in the water than a popper of equal size that is
made of balsa, cork, or soft foam.
Soft Foam
There are two commercially available soft foams that I prefer
for making popper bodies. One is marketed under the name Live
Body and the other as EdgeWater Foam. They have characteristics
similar to the soles of beach sandals. Live Body comes in 2- x 2- x
6-inch blocks and in cylinders 1 3/4 inches long with diameters

5. Materials 5
ranging from 1/32 inch to 3/4 inch. It is available in nine colors.
EdgeWater Foam is available as shaped popper bodies, 1 3/4-inch
long cylinders, cones, and 2- x 4- x 6-inch blocks. It comes in nine,
shaped body styles and six colors. The shaped bodies have a hole
cast in them to receive the hook shank, but I find it too large to be
useful. I prefer to shape the foam myself rather than use shaped
bodies. I use a high-speed rotary tool as a lathe to shape the bodies
and it is impracticable to use any raw stock except foam cylinders.
Diameters of 5/8- and 1/2-inch are suitable for most bass poppers.
Soft foams are easily shaped with high-speed grinding tools.
Hand sanding is not effective because the material is so tough and
resilient. Soft foams can be painted, but the more surface area
that is covered with paint the more they lose their soft, fleshy feel.
You can use permanent marking pens to color them, but the colors
fade after limited use and must be retouched. I suggest purchasing
foams that are colored during manufacture. Factory colored foam
will not fade and the color will not abrade. If you want to add a
few dots, blotches, or eyes, use acrylic paint.
The toughness and resiliency that makes hand sanding these
foams an impossible process are just the characteristics that make
them ideal for fishing in woody-stemmed vegetation like reeds,
cattails, and bulrushes. Their durability and ease of shaping and the
fact that they don’t require priming and painting make soft foams
a superior material. I can produce foam popper bodies much faster
that balsa bodies.
There are many products that are made from buoyant foam,
and chemists have come up with scores of recipes for foams with
different properties. For a relatively small price, you can purchase
enough Live Body or Edgewater foam to keep you supplied with
poppers for many years. Nevertheless, many of you will be scru-
tinizing every foam item you come across as a potential source
of popper body material. If you insist on this pursuit, keep a few
things in mind. If you pinch the foam and leave the slightest
impression, or if you can tear off a piece with your fingers, then it
is not durable enough to withstand the abuses of fly fishing. If it

6. 6 Chapter 2
soaks up water, even slowly, then it is not a good body material. If
it is too dense, then it will sit low in the water and may be difficult
to see. I quit using spun-deer-hair bugs for exactly these reasons.
Hair bugs start looking shabby after a relatively short time. They
lose their buoyancy, even when floatant is applied, and can be dif-
ficult to see among emergent vegetation. No matter how much glue
you work into the face of a hair bug, you’re not going to match the
action or noise that can be obtained with firm-bodied poppers.
TAILS, SKIRTS, AND EXTENDED BODIES
Neck Hackle
Feathers from rooster neck capes are used to make popper tails
and hackle skirts. The selection and purchase of a hackle cape is
one of the most important choices you will have to make when
purchasing materials for tying bass poppers. Most fly shops cater
to trout fly fishers, so your purchase of a rooster neck cape suitable
for bass poppers will probably be made from a catalog supplier.
Fortunately, demand for saltwater and bass flies has increased to
a level that good-quality necks in a myriad of colors are readily
available from most large retailers. It is imperative that you do
not purchase a trout dry-fly cape or saddle patch. Dry-fly hackle
will have long, narrow feathers with little or no webbing between
the stiff barbs. Bass-fly hackle will have much wider feathers
with rounded tips. Webbing, which binds adjacent barbs together,
should cover the middle third of the feather for most of its length.
The hackle must be advertised as appropriate for bass flies.
Currently most bass-fly hackle is produced from white or
grizzly rooster capes. Natural grizzly capes have barred black and
white feathers. When dyed, the color becomes black bars over the
dyed background color. I like the mottled effect this gives finished
poppers. Grizzly hackle from a rooster neck generally has stiff
barbs and good webbing. The webbing binds adjacent barbs and
helps the feather, when used as a popper tail, maintain a full, open
shape in the water. Too much webbing and the feather cannot be

7. Materials 7
Shown above are a dyed grizzly cape, a Chinese cape, and, at
bottom, strung hackle.
wound properly around the hook shank to form a hackle skirt. The
barbs will not separate and stand erect.
A popular dyed cape is the Chinese neck. Chinese hackle is a
solid color; it is not barred. It tends to be a soft feather, and after a
couple of uses, the barbs lay down against the stem and the profile
narrows. I use more feathers when making tails of Chinese hackle
to compensate for this narrowing effect. Grizzly hackle is a better
hackle for tails because it maintains a full, rounded shape longer
than Chinese hackle, though Chinese hackle is certainly adequate
for both tails and skirts. Chinese hackle is available not only as full
necks but also as strung hackle. Strung hackle is uniformly sized,
individual feathers sewn together in short bands. Chinese necks,
strung hackle, and grizzly hackle are available in a variety of bright
or subdued colors.
If you can afford only one cape, a grizzly rooster neck dyed

8. 8 Chapter 2
Shown at top are dyed bucktails and at bottom strung marabou
black should be your first choice. It will make full, rounded tails,
stiff skirts, and will match many different body colors. Do not pur-
chase a hen neck, saddle hackle or any specialty neck.
Marabou
Marabou was originally obtained from storks, but now it is
produced from the fluffy underfeathers of turkeys, known as blood
feathers. Marabou makes excellent wings and tails because the
long, downy barbs wave and undulate in the slightest current. The
action of the marabou when the popper is twitched or stripped
mimics the body and fin movement of bait fish. It is very easy to
work with and comes in a variety of colors. Marabou is available
in packages of loose, 3- to 5-inch plumes or in strings of smaller,
uniformly sized plumes stitched together at the base of their stems.
This strung marabou is very convenient to use and eliminates the

9. Materials 9
mess of picking through a bag of fluff to find suitable feathers.
Animal Hair
Popper tails are sometimes made of the hair from elk, deer, or
fox tails. Hair tails do not have the animation of hackle or marabou
tails but simulate the slim silhouette of a minnow. Elk and deer
tails have very coarse, stiff hair. The hair near the base of the tail
tends to be hollow or spongy like body hair. It flares when cinched
tightly to the hook and should be avoided. Fox tails have very fine
and dense underfur. The underfur must be removed before the fur
is tied to the hook Fox tail has a tendency to puff up like marabou
because of the underfur. Clean it well and use it sparingly to pre-
vent it from billowing in the water.
Dubbing, Yarns, and Chenille
Dubbing is a natural fur or synthetic wool that can be soft and
fuzzy like cotton or coarse and hairy like steel wool. It is twisted
sparsely onto the tying thread and wrapped on the hook shank or
extended shank. Dubbing marketed as Lite BriteTM
produces a
body of coarse, sparkly fibers while another called Fine & DryTM
has the texture of wool. Dubbing is not as efficient as yarn or che-
nille for building thick, bulky bodies. However, you can roughly
form the body with yarn and then finish it with dubbing.
Similar bodies can be formed by wrapping the hook shank with
yarns or chenille. Chenille is simply a pipe cleaner with a thread
core instead of a wire core. Yarns and chenilles can be purchased
from fabric stores as well as from fly shops and catalog suppliers.
They are available in several diameters and a multitude of colors.
Avoid wool yarns because wool absorbs water.
DRESSING
Dressing refers to items that give the popper flash, action, or a
realistic appearance but are not essential to the basic structure of

10. 10 Chapter 2
Shown here is chenille in the top row and dubbing in the bottom
the fly. The popper would still be productive without dressing, but
it would seem bland and unfinished. Boring poppers tend to remain
in the fly box. However, I have seen too many fish caught on pop-
pers lacking eyes or legs or flash to believe they are essential
Eyes
Eyes are the least beneficial dressing for surface poppers. Eyes
give poppers a realistic appearance, at least to the fisherman,
but I doubt they are even visible to fish at the instant they de-
cide to strike. Many styles of commercial eyes are available, but
hand-painted eyes are my favorite. I prefer them for balsa poppers.
These eyes are formed by applying several coats of craft paints to
form the sclera, iris, and pupil. Water-based enamels are the most
convenient to use because they are water soluble. Fingernail polish
is also acceptable, though more expensive. Coats of water-based

11. Materials 11
and petroleum-based enamels may be layered, but do not mix coats
of vinyl and enamel paints, or the surface may wrinkle.
There are a couple of solid, hemispherical, plastic eyes available
that give the popper realistic bulging eyes. My favorite type has
a small stem that anchors the eye to the popper body. This style is
very rugged. A prismatic version has a reflective adhesive backing
that glues the eye to the body surface. These stick-on eyes invari-
ably get knocked off and are not recommended. Glue will mar the
finish on plastic eyes, and the glossy finish dulls with age and use.
Doll eyes have a moveable black iris encased in a clear plastic
bubble with a white adhesive backing. These eyes are often used
on spun-deer-hair bugs. They are easily damaged or knocked off
balsa or foam poppers, and I quit using them long ago.
Self-adhesive, plastic film decal eyes are available in a vari-
ety of colors and sizes. Simply peel them off the card and stick
them on the popper. These eyes are appropriate only for balsa or
Shown here are plastic stem eyes, doll eyes with moveable pupils,
and self-adhesive prismatic eyes.

12. 12 Chapter 2
high-density foam bodies, and they are not very durable. The black
iris centered in the round sclera makes a pretty boring eye. You can
do much better with paint and a steady hand.
Rubber Legs
Rubber legs add lifelike animation to poppers. They quiver at
the slightest disturbance and resemble the motion of bait fish fins
or insect legs. I include rubber legs on poppers whenever possible.
Rubber legs sometimes act like tiny outriggers and prohibit certain
patterns from righting themselves when they land upside down on
the water. In this event, trim the legs 1/8 inch until the problem is
corrected. Sometimes they must be completely removed.
There are several styles of rubber legs. Silli Legs are sili-
cone-based rubber strands that are produced in a variety of speck-
led colors. They come in 5 1/2-inch long bands of individual
strands joined only at the ends of the band. Silli Legs are very
flexible and can be used as rubber skirts. Round Rubber Legs and
Living Rubber Legs are sold as long 1-inch-wide ribbons. The
individual strands are stripped off the ribbon as needed. Round
Rubber Legs, as their name implies, are round in cross section,
while Living Rubber Legs are square. I have found no particular
advantage to the round cross section. Both are available in several
sizes and a variety of solid colors. Use the medium size on all but
the tiniest of poppers. I prefer the Living Rubber Legs, because I
can strip off the strands in pairs. Leaving the pair joined produces
legs two strands wide that are very flexible and highly visible.
Flash
A few reflective strands included in the popper tail add a little
sparkle and flash that will increase visibility of the popper. The fly
shops and catalogs have a variety of flashy materials. The items I
most often use are flat Mylar tinsel, Flashabou®
, Flashabou®
Ac-
centTM
, and Krystal Flash.
Mylar tinsel and Flashabou®
are flat, narrow strands of reflec-
tive ribbon. They resemble the tinsel used to decorate Christmas

13. Materials 13
From top left to bottom center are Living Rubber Legs, Braided
MylarTubing, Silli Legs, Flashabou®
, and Krystal Flash.
trees. Flashabou®
AccentTM
and Krystal Flash are coarse, reflective
threads with a curly, crinkled finish. Mylar tinsel and Flashabou®
produce subtle flash while Flashabou®
AccentTM
and Krystal Flash
appear as threads of glitter. Unfortunately they tend to wind to-
gether into one large strand.
Mylar tinsel is available in several different widths and colors. It
is sold in bundles and braided tubes.. Flashabou®
, Flashabou®
Ac-
centTM
and Krystal Flash are packaged in bundles of 8-inch strands
and are available in at least a dozen colors. Only a few strands are
used on each popper, so a bundle is a lifetime supply.
GLUES
When constructing poppers, wood, foam, feathers, hair, and syn-
thetic fibers must be bonded to thread-wrapped hook shanks. This

14. 14 Chapter 2
requires an adhesive that forms strong bonds, is waterproof, conve-
nient to use, easy to clean up, compatible with the materials to be
bonded, and one that allows ample time to position the pieces. No
single glue is ideal for all the different materials and situations you
will encounter. I will discuss a number of glues, other than com-
mercial head cement, I have found useful in bonding balsa, high
density-foam, soft foam, and other tying materials. Although these
glues have been subjected to very aggressive tests and years of
use in hundreds of poppers, I urge you not to abuse your poppers.
If a hook cannot be extracted easily from the fish, do not twist the
popper body. Use long-nose pliers or forceps to remove it. Neither
should you tug on the weed guard or popper tail.
Cyanoacrylate Glue
Cyanoacrylate bonding agents are commonly referred to as “CA
glues” or “super glues.” CA glues form very strong bonds with
practically every solid they contact. I recommend the use of only
the medium-viscosity, slow-setting CA glues. The “wetter than
water,” instant-setting super glues are very troublesome to use. If
these low-viscosity glues get near feathers, hackle, or hair, they
will wick into the material and ruin it. It is extremely frustrating
when you are attaching a popper head to a painstakingly dressed
hook shank, and the super glue is wicked up by the hackle, turning
it into a collar of quills. It is also disheartening to glue your fingers
to a primed or painted balsa head, marring the finish. After a few
experiences like these, I switched to a cyanoacrylate product by
PACER called SLO-ZAP®
CA. It is a medium-viscosity, no-run
gel with a two-minute setting time. This allows ample opportunity
for positioning materials once the glue has been applied. I prefer
SLO-ZAP®
CA for bonding all materials except soft foams. When
applied to soft foams, like Live Body, it sets practically on contact
like regular CA glues.

15. Materials 15
Some common glues that are excellent for popper construction.
Wood Glue
Carpenter’s wood glue is good for attaching cork, balsa, or
high-density foam to prepared hook shanks or gluing thread wraps.
It has a thirty-minute setting time and forms very strong bonds.
Wood glue is easy to work with and can be cleaned up with a damp
cloth. It is available at any hardware store and is inexpensive. Make
sure you get the weather resistant type.
Rubber Glue
There are several rubber glues that are well suited for attaching
soft foam popper heads to hooks, cementing thread wraps, attach-
ing bead eyes and general-purpose fly-tying uses. Aqua Seal®
is
marketed as a urethane repair cement for neoprene and rubber
waders. Goop®
and Shoe Goo®
also have general-purpose uses and
are readily available. In their original state, these cements are too

16. 16 Chapter 2
viscous and must be thinned with toluene or xylene to a usable
consistency. They form tenacious bonds with wood, foam, thread,
hooks, and all other tying materials. These glues, diluted with tolu-
ene to a thin, syrupy viscosity, are quite satisfactory for all routine
tying needs. Use xylene or toluene to clean up mistakes.
HOOKS
No part of the popper is as important as the hook. Manufacturers
have developed several hook styles specifically for tying hair-body
bugs and poppers. Some, like the Mustad®
33903, have an “S”-
shaped kink in their shank to keep the shank from twisting in the
popper body. Others, such as the Mustad®
37187 or the Tiemco®
8089, have wide bends, giving a large gap between the hook point
and shank. These bass-fly hooks have long shanks which position
the hook point well behind the bug or popper body. This ensures
that the bulky body does not interfere with hook setting. Unfortu-
nately, these specialty hooks have certain drawbacks. Their ex-
tra-long shanks add unwanted weight and position the hook points
too far to the rear of the fly. Specialty hooks are generally available
only through catalog supply houses. Ordering hooks from pictures
and descriptions in catalogs is tricky and often disappointing. You
can never be sure about the wire diameter, gap-to-shank ratio or
quality of the hook until you receive it. I prefer to see hooks before
purchasing them, and even then, I occasionally purchase styles that
do not work as intended. Although I have tied many productive
bass flies and poppers using specialty hooks, I now use more con-
ventional, locally-available hook styles.
The ideal hook must have a very wide gap between the point
and shank and a shank no longer than necessary to attach the body,
hackle, and tail of the popper. The shank length should be such that
the hook point is positioned under the rear of the popper body, the
place where bass will instinctively direct their strikes. However,
there must be adequate clearance between the hook point and the
belly of the popper, or it will be difficult to get a good hook set.

17. Materials 17
Shown in the top row are several specialty bass-fly hooks. From
left to right are the Mustad®
33903 hump-shank hook, the TMC®
8089, the Mustad®
37187 “Stinger” hook. I prefer the commonly
available hooks in the bottom row.
The eye should be in line with the shank and neither turned up nor
down. This is referred to as a “ringed eye.” The problem with many
hook styles is that once you select the proper gap, the shank ends
up being either too short or too long or the hook too heavy.
Avoid saltwater hooks because they are made from heavy-gage
wire. Weight is your enemy. Poppers made with these extra-strong
wires may be difficult to cast, or they may cause the popper to sit
too low in the water or list improperly. At the other extreme are
fine-wire hooks. Fighting fish through heavy weeds puts consider-
able stress on a hook and the bends of fine-wire hooks may open
up. If you can’t trust the hook, the popper is worthless.
I have accumulated many boxes of hooks that have proven
unsatisfactory as popper hooks. I currently tie most patterns using

18. 18 Chapter 2
three hook styles demonstrated by the Mustad®
92671, 3366, and
Gamakatsu®
48111. Major manufacturers have styles nearly iden-
tical to these hooks, and you should have no trouble finding one
brand or another at local stores. These styles in sizes 2, 1, 1/0 and
2/0 will accommodate any popper body appropriate for bass.
The Mustad®
92671 is a straight-shank, forged hook with a
ringed eye and an offset point. The sproat bend is parabolic instead
of circular. Eagle Claw®
’s matching style is the readily available
084 series. This hook style is used in tying short-shank poppers
that will be described later.
The Mustad®
3366 is a sproat hook with a ringed eye and a
plain, straight shank. The point is not offset. The 3366 is a very
versatile hook, and similar styles with barbed shanks, like the Mus-
tad®
33637, are sold as straight-shank rubber worm hooks. Size 2
and 1 hooks are appropriate for short-shank poppers, wihle sizes
1/0 and 2/0 are good for long-shank poppers.
The Gamakatsu®
48111 has a ringed eye, wide gap, and round
bend. The shank is straight and barbed. This style is designed for
plastic baits like rubber worms and grubs. This hook is excellent
for making long-shank poppers that will be described later. Prac-
tically the entire length of the hook is usable for attaching the tail,
hackle, and popper body. This is due to the wide, round bend. It
adds little to the overall length of the hook, yet gives the large gap
necessary to separate the hook point from the popper body. Several
companies, such as Owner®
and Bass Pro Shops®,
market this style
hook. These wide-gap, round-bend rubber worm hooks should not
be confused with the Aberdeen style hook which also has a round
bend but lacks the wide gap.
With the confusing myriads of hooks hanging in your local
sporting goods store or pictured in your favorite catalog, it will
be difficult not to experiment. I suggest you stick to the specific
hook styles I have described. They are common hooks that can be
purchased at your favorite sports store in small quantities. If you
try a different style, purchase only a few to test. Hooks displayed in
a catalog may appear identical to your favorite style, but there may
be indiscernible differences that make them poor substitutes. Hook

19. Materials 19
styles change from year to year depending on market demand. The
hooks I have described have proven themselves to be great hooks
and will always be available.
THREAD
Flytiers have an array of thread types, sizes, and colors from
which to choose. Though silk is still available, synthetics are the
most popular choice. Their higher tensile strength makes it possi-
ble to use smaller diameters. Monochord is a thread that has a flat
cross section similar to floss. It does not bulk up on the fly like
round thread and produces smoother bodies. This is a good thread
for beginners, since they have a tendency to over wrap as they
struggle to attach materials. Some threads, like Kevlar®
and Spec-
tra®
, are extremely tough and strong. They are difficult to cut and
should be avoided. Many threads are waxed to help them adhere to
tying materials, but wax is not useful for many of our tasks.
Tying threads range in size from the very tiny 14/0 up to the
larger 1/0. Size 3/0 tying thread is the best choice for bass pop-
pers. If you have a problem breaking 3/0 fly tying thread, you are
applying far more tension than necessary or else you purchased a
cheap bobbin that is cutting the thread. The thread will seldom be
visible on the majority of patterns, so thread color has little conse-
quence. Black thread blends and hides well, and I use it for the ma-
jority of popper colors. However, dubbed bodies require a thread
that blends with the color of the dubbing.
I recommend a supply of black, 3/0, unwaxed thread. This
will suffice for the majority of your poppers. If you will be tying
patterns with dubbed bodies, you should purchase thread to match
your dubbing, but the majority of your thread should be black.