Best Lures To Use Under Popping Corks [DOA, Gulp, Z-Man, Chasebaits]
- By: Tony Acevedo
- on
Rigging soft plastics under a popping cork is a great way to catch fish on the flats.
Many people debate which brands are best, but here’s something that is actually more important:
What the lure is made of.
Some lures are made of buoyant material while some lures sink, and you’ll be surprised at how much more natural one looks over the other underwater.
So in this video, I’m going to show you some underwater footage of several different lures so you can see what they really look like in action and use that knowledge to catch more fish.
Check it out below.
Best Lures To Use Under A Popping Cork [VIDEO]
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Jerk shads, paddletails, and shrimp lures all catch fish when rigged under a popping cork, but one thing that matters more than you might think is the material that these lures are made of.
In the image below, the lure on the right is made of buoyant material, and you can see how much more natural it looks sitting in the water than the lure on the left, which is made of non-buoyant material.
Here are some lure companies that use buoyant material:
- Z-Man
- Savage Gear
- Vudu Shrimp
- Chasebaits
Z-Man uses their ElaZtech material and the other companies use TPE (Thermoplastic Elastomer).
Two examples of companies that use material that is not buoyant are:
- DOA
- Gulp
However, Gulp’s scent usually outweighs it’s poor action, so you can still catch a lot of fish with it.
Now here’s the final question: how much does the lure’s buoyancy actually matter?
That depends on the conditions you’re fishing.
If you’re retrieving your lure slowly (and giving the fish plenty of time to see the lure sitting still), or if you’re fishing in clear water, then it matters a lot.
If you’re fishing in really dark water and retrieving your lure quickly, it doesn’t matter as much.
Conclusion
Buoyant lures have much better action and presentation than non-buoyant lures when fished under a popping cork.
Have any questions about which lures work best under a popping cork?
Let us know down in the comments.
And if you know someone who likes to use artificial shrimp under a popping cork, please TAG or SHARE this with them!
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Would the gulp shrimp be better on a Carolina rig
Hey George! I like to just use gulp shrimp on a jig head, haven’t really tried it out on a carolina rig yet but i’m sure it should work just fine!
Marcos and Luana Baldo SAID There is Something About Those Ball Jig Heads
The round Jig Heads May Also stay more horizontal, when the knot is tight to eye
Seems like the jig with the 90 Degree eye placement (Aug25. Tips). Picture of jig head with 90° ,The lures that are less buoyant would remain more horizontal
I was wondering if water in container is sea water or tap water
This was filmed in a saltwater pool.
Thanks for the info but how about the Salt Strong baits?
No problem Jean! I’ll be testing more baits out soon.
Very good demo. Honestly though, these baits are used primarily with tidal current, the slack tide not being a very good time to fish typically. I think it would be very interesting in seeing how the various baits present under a popping cork with current and also how they suspend with current. Thanks
Thank you for the great feedback!
Good to see the action on these baits. The DOA shrimp, the original popping cork lure, doesn’t seem to be that enticing. This info helps. Thanks. It would have been interesting to see the shrimp hard lures by Yo Zuri and others to see if they suspend horizontally.
Thank you for the great feedback! We can definitely do some filming of hard baits as well and see how it looks.
Very good, Tony. Thanks for the info.
No problem Mark!
I’m a huge fan of the DOA in early spring or fall but I’d never fish them under a cork. Slap a dab of pro cure on it and free line casts to the mangroves usually pay off when retrieved slowly. Overall great review of each of those lures under a cork. I think the most eye opening was the Gulp presentation (or lack there of). But as you mentioned the stink catches the fish with those! Nice job Tony
Great feedback Joe! Thanks!