As the summer rolled on, that stellar jig bite out east transitioned into a stellar topwater bite! There’s nothing quite like seeing a 100lb+ destroying a topwater popper just a few yards away from the boat. We shared this epic day of Cape Cod tuna action using the 7″ Charter Grade Popper with Capt. Rob Lowell (Cape Cod Offshore Charters). In this video, he covers multiple retrieve styles for fishing the popper for tuna holding down deep, and his favorite spinning setups.
Outfit
Rod: 7′ 6″ MH Spinning Rod
Reel: Shimano Stella 18k
Line: 80lb Braid
Leader: 100lb Fluoro
Lure: Hogy Lures 7″ Charter Grade Popper
APPROACH:
1. Once the surface activity has been located, slowly motor to the outside edge of the feeding area, making sure to quietly approach the school.
2. Make a long cast towards the outside edge of the surface activity.
3. Use a slow, sharp twitching motion for surface popping action. Utilize occasional 5-10 second pauses for finicky fish.
TIPS:
1. When tuna are spread out and holding deep working poppers on the surface can bring them up from the depths.
2. Use a variety of retrieves from a slow pop and stop, to a fast “scoot” and walk the dog style retrieve.
3. Heavy 7” 3.5oz Charter Poppers offer excellent long range casting distance that allows the angler to cover a lot of ground quickly.
