Difficulty removing popper from a Bluegills mouth

[Tim Roberts]

I love catching gills on poppers but sometimes its really difficult to remove it from their mouth without damaging the popper body. I use forceps and sometimes have to perform minor surgery to remove them. Its amazing to me how a bluegill can open its mouth to inhale a decent size popper. Anyone else have this problem? I've been experimenting with making my own poppers and tying them a little further back on the hook shank so I can grab it with my needle nose pliers.

[klrbaer]

Great idea, about tying them a little futher back. I do the same, just remember to retie the fly to the line. I didn't the first few times and I lost a few.

[Tobias Jackson Jr.]

make sure that if you didn't take the barb off, take it of, because the popper of fly will slip out more easily as well.