troutslayer:

poppers fish pretty much the same as any other popper use your imagination, i like to use streamers for bass also, they can be stripped or fished slowly more like a plastic worm.

Sagefisher:

Poppers can be effective when used in a variety of ways. The fish will be the ones who establish how it should be used.

If you are talking Largemouth Bass:

Make your cast towards some cover, like lily pads, logs, docks, boats, anything that gives them some protection. On your first cast let it hit and do nothing for a count of 10 or so. Then give it a twitch, just once. Let it sit for another count of 10 or so. Strip in a foot of line. Let it sit. Make a couple more short strips. Try that a few times.

If the bass don’t like that then make your cast and immediately start stripping in the line in short 6 inch strips. Do that for 5 or 6 feet.

Just vary your strip and your pauses until you find the combination that the bass want that day. The next day it may be totally different.

For Smallmouth in a river, cast it towards shore (right up to the edge) or under an overhanging bush or low lying tree and start giving it short jerks or strips.

Something else you could try it they seem not to be very interested, is to tie on a large Woolly Bugger (black or olive or brown or white) about 2 feet behind the popper. It can’t weigh so much that it sinks the popper. The popper sound may attract the bass then they will see the ‘for sure’ meal of the Woolly Bugger and take it.

Just remember to open up your cast a bit with a larger loop when you are casting a dropper fly off of your main fly. Fluorocarbon tippet would be good to use for the dropper, just make it heavy enough to take on a bass. Expect a few messes as the leader and tippet wrap around each other every so often.

Good luck.

Larry