1st attempt at hard bait

That lure looks great. You can add some more weight by taking out the tail hook, drilling it out to accept a mojo-type cylindrical sinker, and then put a longer screw eye in back through the sinker.

You can figure out how much weight to add by hanging lead split shot on the tines of the rear treble until it hangs almost vertical, but still floats. That way it will cast well, and pop well, too.

If you want to see how it should hang, check out a commercial popper of the same size, and see how it hangs in the water. Then match that. That will give you a good starting point.

Don't be afraid to redo things. I have a garage full of failures, and a boat load full of successful rescues.

And don't be discouraged.

You'll learn from every mistake, and get better results because of them.

I think we all learn more from our mistakes than our successes. That's probably why we make more of them.

@ Ric670

The bait looks pretty nice , ....and as far as I'm concerned , you don't have to do any further tinkering on it ?

It appears to have a popper face , and due to the tapered tail it should already float up a little tail-down or at least level on the surface .

Weight in the rear is essential for a gliding topwater action(walk-the-dog) , but a popper face would slow down such action , almost render it impossible , anyway .

The only possible option for a tail weight , that I can figure out by the picture , is that you might have used less buoyant wood , thus the lure hangs too deep , so that the popper face cannot work to its full potential ,........in this case I'd really try putting some tailweight or at least a heavier hook to lift up the face a bit for better function .

Fish your popper with small flicks or jerks from the wrist , probably pausing inbetween a series of jerks ,... the more quiet the surface is , the more subtle you work it(fish may be spooked of too much noise under smooth conditions) , on rough water you jerk it harder for more noise and commotion to still draw attention of the fish !

good luck:),......keep on carvin' ,........greetz, diemai

Thanks for the tip. .I am sure to follow your advice. I think I am afraid of tinkering too much for fear of just ruining it altogether.

Rick