I've used many things to catch fish, but a flip flop has to be the most wacky. When told about it I was a bit skeptical, but became a fast believer.

Here's one for the fly fishing and lure-tying enthusiasts out there. I decided to get back to my roots this year and found a unique way to do so. It's funny how many years can go by, but things done way back when seem so fresh.

Fishing creates lasting memories, that draw an angler back to the water year after year. As the years go by, new lures come out and your techniques tend to change. A favorite lure of the past may become nothing more than a rusty old ornament in the tackle box. Sometimes an old faithful lure gets discontinued, and there is no way to get them. For whatever reason, we sometimes abandon lures and techniques and later ask why. That is how I was feeling about popper bugs this past winter. I remembered having good luck with them, but haven't used them in many years. I made the plan to take a trip down memory lane, but with a twist. I decided for several reasons that I would learn to make my own poppers. It turns out they aren't that hard to make, and still work as well as I remembered.

I caught the fly fishing bug many years ago before I moved to New York. I was about 12 years old and living in Virginia at the time. I don't remember catching anything on a fly rod while I was there, but I enjoyed practicing how to cast one in my backyard. When I arrived in New York, I had an assortment of poppers that I had received from a buddy’s father. Likely he was over the technique, and on to something else himself. If I remember right, that's about when the Texas worm rig came out, and everybody was switching to it. Either way, I had some poppers and a fly rod, and now lived only a quarter mile from the Chenango River.

I remember heading down to the water my first time with little expectations. I had no experience, and didn't even know if the fish would like the baits. I was only a few casts in when the water surrounding my bait exploded. I jerked the rod, but missed the fish in my feeble attempt at setting a hook. A couple casts later, the water burst again, and this time I felt the weight of the fish as I set the hook. It was pulling so hard I was worried my line would break, so I played the fish for nearly five minutes before landing it. To my surprise, it was a smallmouth bass, and not a big one at that. It was probably not much over a foot, but in the current with a fly rod, put up an amazing fight. I was so hooked!

I used the lures up, and when they were gone, I looked for new ones. I searched high and low, but was never able to locate any. I gave up on them until I realized I was tying flies that were much like my old baits, but without the floating head section with legs. This realization put me on the hunt as to how to make them.