Gary Edmonds
A colour that has worked well for us in the Rattlin' Pop range is Green Gill
Over the last few years, Sam and I have really been getting in to our bass fishing, especially with topwater lures. Watching a bass chase and smash a surface lure is breathtaking, and in our opinion, the ultimate way to target them. There was one occasion on a fishing trip last year where a bass exploded on my Rattlin’ Pop, and it was so loud that Sam heard it from around 100 metres further down the beach, so it’s easy to understand why it’s so addictive.
The take from this bass was so loud that Sam heard it whilst fishing around 100 metres away!
The Salmo Rattlin’ Pop evolved from the ‘Pop’, which is still available but in a limited range of colours. The Fury Pop was next in line, and a couple of years later, the Rattlin’ Pop was born. When Salmo first launched the lure, we took them out during the late spring to target pike on shallow gravel pits, which was great fun, but it’s along the coast where the lure has really come in to it’s own. It’s quite small at only 7cm, but is a great all-round size for schoolies up to the very biggest bass.
The 'Rattlin' Pop' evolved from the 'Pop' which is still available in a limited run of colours.
In the late spring and autumn, poppers can be great lures to use to target pike on rivers and in shallow gravel pits!
Some great colours to try if you're targeting pike.
Most of the venues we fish for bass are shallow estuaries, which are sometimes very weedy, and a surface lure is a great way to get around the problem. The Rattlin’ Pop is especially effective as it’s quite heavy for its size, weighing 12.5g. This, combined with the ball bearings (which also serve as a rattle) inside, combine to create a very long casting lure, so it’s great for covering lots of water and reaching fishy looking areas.
The Rattlin' Pop is a very long casting lure, so it’s great for covering lots of water and reaching fishy looking areas.
It casts even further when fished on the right outfit. The rods that we’ve been using are either the Fox Rage Ti Pro Sea Trout Spin, which is three metres (9’10) and casts lures between 10g - 30g, or the slightly shorter and lighter Ti Pro Jigger Finesse 270cm (8ft 10in) 7-28g, coupled with a 4000 sized Salmo S reel. This is rigged with 0.12mm braid.
For our bass fishing, we've been using the Fox Rage Ti Pro Sea Trout Spin 9'10" 10g-30g and a Salmo S 4000 sized reel.
Salmo Brand Manager Matt Rand recently joined us on an outing popping for bass!
The Rattlin’ Pop is a very easy lure to fish. It can be cast out, and simply twitching the rod tip will help the Rattlin’ Pop swim in a zig-zag action, also known as ‘walking the dog’. When the lure is a long way out, I tend to hold the rod tip up, then as the lure gets closer to you, I lower the rod tip so that the concave face of the lure is slightly more submerged. If you’d like to create a larger splash, twitch the rod tip downwards but with a slightly longer stroke and a bit more power - this is especially effective for attracting more attention, but is also a good way of shaking off any weed that could be tangled around the lure.
A calm evening with a bit of a ripple - perfect popper fishing conditions.
Bass are often up for a chase, but the larger fish, which tend to be a bit more solitary, are generally lazier than schoolies and in our experience prefer a lure fished slightly slower. The flat face on the Rattlin’ Pop helps slow down the speed it drifts from side to side, and tiny taps of the rod tip may not create much of a splash, but the wake can often be enough to tempt a bigger bass to nail it.
Three new colours in Rattlin' Pop range - Clear Golden Prey, Clear Holo Smelt and Clear Ayu.
A recent schoolie caught on the new Clear Ayu colour.
The Rattlin’ Pop is available in 11 colours, three of which are very recent additions. Some of my favourite colours for bass are Clear Blue Shiner and Green Gill, although Mamba is very effective when you want a strong silhouette. Turning away from saltwater fishing i.e. for pike, Firetiger, Hot Toad and Red Hot Bluegill are great colours that also resemble a frog swimming across the surface.
A selection of some of our favourite colours we use for targeting bass.
One of our favourite colours in the range is Clear Blue Shiner.
Mamba is a great colour to use in low light levels, as it creates a strong silhouette.
The bass fishing on the east coast has taken a while to get going this year, but we’re looking forward to getting a few trips in over the coming months, and I’m sure the Rattlin’ Pop will play a big part.