Best Popper Rod
Omnia collects thousands of detailed fishing reports from anglers across the country to power our local recommendations. Here are the top Rods recommendations for using the Hard Topwater (Popping) technique mentioned in fishing reports from anglers near you.
St. Croix Victory Casting Rods
$200.00 – $275.00
Reported by
KC
Lake Ann (MN)
Reported by
Kail’s Fishing Reports
Kabetogama Lake (MN)
Kail’s Fishing Reports reported catching Smallmouth Bass using the Hard Topwater (Popping) technique and St. Croix Victory Casting Rods on Kabetogama Lake. Additional comments from this report: "Love the Top Water! Use your electronics or a lake map to find a shallow humps. Start casting the deeper edge and then work your way up that way you won't spook the fish as much. I like to use a braid mainline but you could use mono for a mainline as well, if you use braid tie a mono leader direct to the mainline about 6' to 8'. When the Smally hits wait 5 seconds for it to be able to get the bait into is mouth, don't set the hook immediately. Use a moderate action if you have one. You can use a snap or tie direct to the bait, most of the time I tie direct. The bigger the rocks the better! Good Luck"
Reported by
Chad Lehr
Lake Rooty (VA)
Chad Lehr reported catching Largemouth Bass using the Hard Topwater (Popping) technique and St. Croix Victory Casting Rods on Lake Rooty. Additional comments from this report: "Spent a couple of hours at Lake Rooty this morning throwing a Storm Arashi Cover Pop in Bluegill color. Caught a total of 2 LMB between 1 and 2 pounds. Both were shallow and along the edge of the weedline. "
St. Croix Mojo Bass Casting Rods - EOL
$150.00
Reported by
Mark Ripp
Black Hawk Lake (WI)
Mark Ripp reported catching Largemouth Bass using the Hard Topwater (Popping) technique and St. Croix Mojo Bass Casting Rods - EOL on Black Hawk Lake. Additional comments from this report: "Water temps have cooled down to the low 70’s and stained clarity. Switched between a Jackhammer and a Spro E pop 80. Most of my fish came walking the popper at a brisk pace. "
Reported by
Nonstop Panic Outdoors
Lake Erie
Nonstop Panic Outdoors reported catching Largemouth Bass using the Hard Topwater (Popping) technique and St. Croix Mojo Bass Casting Rods - EOL on Lake Erie. Additional comments from this report: "This day was an absolute hammer fest with the Megabass Popper! Started off the day targeting shallow smallmouth on a rip-rap bank, then went on to target some green fish down the river. Both fish came up and absolutely smoked this thing about 5 docks apart from each other. Both of these fish were over 4.25lbs, a true giant for the Upper Niagara River!"
Reported by
Chad Lehr
Lake Rooty (VA)
Chad Lehr reported catching Largemouth Bass using the Hard Topwater (Popping) technique and St. Croix Mojo Bass Casting Rods - EOL on Lake Rooty. Additional comments from this report: "Overcast today and cooler temps after 3 hot days in a row. Walked the popper and then would pause for a few seconds. Ended up catching 4 today and each bass hit on the pause."
Shimano Expride B Casting Rods
$279.99 – $309.99
Reported by
Dupree
Lake Michigan (IL, IN, MI, WI)
Dupree reported catching Smallmouth Bass using the Hard Topwater (Popping) technique and Shimano Expride B Casting Rods on Lake Michigan. Additional comments from this report: "It was a great day to be a patriot! This 4th of July in Chicago the lake was glass calm in the morning, allowing me to fish some topwater. Caught two smallies on this popmax that was perfect for the occasion, and then a couple more on the crankbait listed. GREAT ‘Murica Day! "
Reported by
Phelptwan
Hutchens Lake (MI)
Phelptwan reported catching Largemouth Bass using the Hard Topwater (Popping) technique and Shimano Expride B Casting Rods on Hutchens Lake. Additional comments from this report: "Dead calm and an AMAZING amount of fog when we first got out. Water clarity was nuts as well, could easily see 15'+. Immediately got onto a top water bite and we probably caught 20-25 fish on poppers during the morning. We caught another 15 on assorted jerkbait, stickbait, and one decent one (see pic) on a chatterbait. The technique was a slow pop and sit with the top water, after 2 seconds or so they were just getting sucked down beneath the surface, barely a splash. We were targeting the deep patches of submerged vegetation for bigger fish. Casting up near the docks would get us fish as well, but they were much smaller. Lake has a no wake before 11, after 7:30 rule and at 11 it went nuts. We were getting swamped by the rec boaters and it started getting dangerous, so we got off the water."
Reported by
Jackie Au
Honeoye Lake (NY)
Jackie Au reported catching Largemouth Bass using the Hard Topwater (Popping) technique and Shimano Expride B Casting Rods on Honeoye Lake. Additional comments from this report: "Saw a few blowups late morning so I tied on a popper and got a few of them to bite."
Explore More Rods
We curated this list of the most popular Rods for using Hard Topwater (Popping). Browse from these best selling Rods products below or explore the full catalog of Rods here.
Gear Up for Hard Topwater (Popping)
Find the perfect gear to pair with one of our recommended Casting Rods for the Rods technique. Explore our full catalog to find the perfect gear for your next fishing outing.
Hard Baits for Hard Topwater (Popping)
Shop for Hard BaitsReels for Hard Topwater (Popping)
Shop for ReelsLine for Hard Topwater (Popping)
Shop for Line
Get Expert Recommendations personalized for you
Not sure if Hard Topwater (Popping) is the right technique for you when fishing on your lake? Tell us which species you are trying to catch and where you are planning to fish for your next outing and we’ll make a customized, local recommendation based upon the most successful techniques reported by anglers near you.
Get StartedNeed hands-on help finding the right products?
Talk to an Expert
Explore More Techniques
- Best Blade Bait Rod
- Best Bobber Fishing Rod
- Best Buzz Bait Rod
- Best Carolina Rig Rod
- Best Chatterbait Rod
- Best Deep Diving Crankbait Rod
- Best Medium Diving Crankbait Rod
- Best Shallow Crankbait Rod
- Best Dropshot Rod
- Best Hair Jig Rod
- Best Finesse Jig Rod
- Best Football Jig Rod
- Best Frog Rod
- Best Grass Jig Rod
- Best Swimbait Rod
- Best Prop Bait Rod
- Best Walking Bait Rod
- Best Ice Jig Rod
- Best Ice Spoon Rod
- Best Inline Spinner Rod
- Best Jerk Bait Rod
- Best Large Hair Jig Rod
- Best Lipless Crankbait Rod
- Best Live Bait Rig Rod
- Best Ned Rig Rod
- Best Neko Rig Rod
- Best Shaky Head Rod
- Best Large Soft Body Swimbait Rod
- Best Paddle Tail Swimbait Rod
- Best Spinnerbait Rod
- Best Spoon Fishing Rod
- Best Spybait Rod
- Best Structure Jig Rod
- Best Swim Jig Rod
- Best Texas Rig Rod
- Best Texas Rig Worm Rod
- Best Deep Trolling Rod
- Best Mid Depth Trolling Rod
- Best Shallow Trolling Rod
- Best Tube Fishing Rod
- Best Umbrella Rig Rod
- Best Deep Vertical Jigging Rod
- Best Mid Depth Vertical Jigging Rod
- Best Shallow Vertical Jigging Rod
- Best Wacky Rig Rod
About Omnia Fishing
Omnia Fishing helps anglers find the right gear from our massive inventory of 18,000+ items. We provide personalized tackle recommendations based on the relationships between species, style, lake characteristics, season, community fishing reports, patterns, and products. We make sure you only see the products that make sense for you, on the lakes you fish, at the right time of year.
Omnia is the most personalized tackle shopping on earth!
KC reported catching Largemouth Bass using the Hard Topwater (Popping) technique and St. Croix Victory Casting Rods on Lake Ann. Additional comments from this report: "Had a great early morning bite. Was able to hook up 2 times but sadly was only able to land one 18.5 inch bass on the hula popper and lost one after he wrapped me up in some Lilly pads and spit the hook. You can’t win them all but it sure is fun trying!!! Over all a pretty good 4 hours of fishing "