DIY Broom handle poppers

How to make easy and cheap popper lures?

1. Cut the handle about 3-4 inch pieces and saw the groove for the metal wire

2. Heads should be as "a flat" or "a spoon style" (left) or as "a big mouth" (right)

3. If you like to make the big mouth heads, first drill a small hole as a guide for the bigger drill pit.

4. then cut the broom handle by the bigger drill bit

5. then sandpaper it

6. "The spoon style" head you can make by a ball blade of drill. Carve first a small hole by a knife and then drill it enough big.

7. and then sandpaper it

8. Also you can variate tails of poppers



9. bend the stainless metal wire or hard enough copper wire as loops for hooks and line. You can also add a small sinkers into the groove. If you like to set one fixedly mounted single hook, you may have to drill small hole to the groove for the loop of the hook.

10. Glue the metal wire and sinker(s) (and the hook) into the groove and fulfill the groove with epoxy. When it is dry, sandpaper all of the popper's body

11. Then you can paint the lure. You can first dip it in hard varnish and allow to dry. But also you can dip it directly in to normal water-resistant oil paint and allow to dry. Dip the first colour (normally white) two or three times. You can also use spray paints. If you have not many of colours, use just white and red or just only yellow or white and blue etc. Before a new lavyer of colour allow to dry . End of all dip it in water-resistant varnish. Before that use a small piece of wood and test if varnish and paints are reacting together. Painting and drying should need couple of days.

12. Eyes can be made with two round sticks. Make the head of one stic a bit smaller than the other.

13. Paint the firts colour by the bigger stick and allow to dry.

14. Make the pupil with the smaller stick

15. If you like the popper makes bigger "pop", you can use a cap of a bottle. You don't have to glue it, only slit a small hole for the loop and set it when you need it.

16. Or maybe you like the popper makes a very big "POP"...

17. There are many possibilities to set hooks to the popper. If you like to use a big single hook (top) set it with the metal wire and glue (see again pictures 9 and 10). The tradidional style of lures (middle) is also fine. If you have problems to get treble hooks, use big enough sinle hooks. If you have to use poppers in grassy place, you can use one single hook and set one or two thin metal wires to be as grass protectors (down). In grassy place take off the treble hook.

18. This is one of my favorite colour of lures. I made the first lure with this colour about in 1998. In the first test trip of the lure it gave me 14 pike from one of the quiet waters of the beautiful stream in Sulkava in Finland.