Soft Foam Popper Bodies

I haven't needed to try it with larger TCS sizes, but the #8 small size bodies bond well to non hump shank hooks. I use a 4x long #10 Daiichi 1750 or 1850 on the small size #8 body (instead of a #8 Mustad hump shank hook) to get better hook-ups on sunfish small mouths. Very durable popper.
Use a little Zap A Gap on the hook and then wind several layers of heavy thread over it where the body will be added. It is important to bond the thread to the hook. Let it set. Brush a little water on the hook and spread a drop of gorilla glue. Open the popper body gap and insert the hook. Lightly clamp the popper body gap shut for several hours. It will distort the body, but it will recover its shape after clamp is removed. Scrape off the excess glue that oozes out, before it hardens.

I was using the hard popper bodies and decided to give these a try. While these are "soft" they are by no means squishy. I've found they take color well and are much easier on patterns where the legs go through the body. Really enjoy these so far.

I have been using cork bodies for my poppers for years now. I have to say that I love them. Nowadays it seems as though the cork is getting harder to find and at times the quality is very poor. I am a traditional fly tyer guy so these really appeal to me. When you are working with the cork, you are going to have to pretreat it, paint it and then seal it. I use a Delta Ceramcoat all purpose sealer found at craft stores to prepare the cork for painting. I then use any acrylic paint for the color of the popper. Last I use the Delta Ceramcoat Gloss Exterior/Interior varnish to finish it off. Each step gets a minimum of three coats of either sealer or paint. Afterwards I let it dry for a few days. Tie in your tail and legs and off you go for the gills and bass.