Smallmouth Scarred Zell Pops

A few of my Zell Pops have seen their better days, having been annihilated by countless smallmouths and a few pike and admittedly having been bounced off a rock or two. They keep popping, same as they always have, though, and the smallies don't seem to mind their tattered appearance. As long as that's the case, I'll keep throwing 'em.

In truth, the warrior pictured above or one that looks a lot like it probably will be the first lure I'll tie on for next week's West Virginia smallmouth float. I have others that are shiny and new and are even the same color as those used to be. I suspect they'd work fine, but there's something about those proven performers that make we want to tie them on trip after trip.

I like the 2-inch Zell Pop, which I fish on 6- or 8-pound test for stream smallmouths. My traditional favorite color is Gold Bream, which dark on the back and gold on the sides with a bit of orange on the belly. That color is out of production, but when I look at my battle-worn baits next to what they once looked like, I'm not convinced the color is a huge factor. I sort of think that when I need to replace a few Zell Pops, my new color of choice will be Z-Shad.

I typically fish a Zell Pop slowly, pausing it far more of the time than I'm popping it. I'll cast tight to a bank, well up into an eddy or next to rock, let it dead drift or sit still initially, give it a pop or two and then let it sit some more. Pops are executed with short but sharp snaps of a low rod tip. Strikes, which usually are explosive, often occur when the bait is at rest. Once the bait is out from the bank or away from the cover, I usually reel back quickly and cast it back into the primary zone.

Really the only time I fish a Zell Pop quickly or work it all the way to the boat is when I'm fishing shallow shoal water where the river is swift all the way across and the fish are holding in scattered ambush positions behind rocks. Given that condition I start popping right away and work it in quick little series of three or four pops with short pauses between them, staying ready all the time.

Gear: Oliso Pro -- Vacuum Sealing Made Simple

No, I don't intend to cook soft-plastic lures, and I'm not looking at vacuum sealing as the new key to compact lure storage. In truth, I was just eager to try out the Oliso Pro VS97A Vacuum Sealer to see for myself it was as elementary to use as it appears in the demonstration videos. If you're like me, you've watched a few demonstrations of things that appeared effortless in the hands of experts but that weren't quite so simple at home! I also had some little people around me who were pretty eager to see just what that thing did.

Turns out the Oliso Pro really is that easy. We followed a few simple steps, and the inaugural attempt resulted a perfect seal with zero added challenges encountered, and in reality there really doesn't appear to be much more to learn. Of course, if you're someone who likes to test something a few times to gain confidence that you have it down, there's nothing to loose with this system because each bag is good for as many as a dozen uses, and the dishwater-safe bag remains full sized and fully intact. The new seal just goes in a different place.

Stand-out features of the Oliso ProVS97A are its "moist" setting, which allows you to seal fresh fish or marinated meats with no risk of ruining the machine with moisture, and extreme portability. The machine itself is compact, and it comes with a 12V adaptor, with everything packaged in a water-resistant carrying case. It also has adaptor for sealing special upright pantry bags and can even be used for canning; however, I'm guessing that I'll mostly be sealing Louisiana redfish, Santee Cooper catfish and such that's getting ready to travel back to Georgia and various jerky or fresh meat that I want to keep marinated or protected from elements on a camping, rafting or fishing trip.

Actually, my first real-life uses are probably only a couple of weeks away, which is part of why I wanted to do a test run with the plastic worms. Nathaniel and I will be camping, wading and fishing from a raft in just a couple of weeks, which means we'll have plenty of reason to have fresh food nicely sealed. Now I can feel confident that the vacuum sealing part  of the trip preparation will be quick, simple and efficient. In fact I'll most likely stick the sealer case in the back of the truck, just in case we want to prepare some more stuff while we're traveling!