The new Storm Arashi Cover Pop popper topwater bass fishing bait had a lot of anglers excited at the recent ICAST show. Many folks saw the 9-pound bass Ott Defoe caught on one at the Bassmaster Classic this year, so there was already some buzz around it. And we’ve spent a lot of time with the topwater baits since early this year as well so we already knew it was going to be a good one. Now that I’ve fished it a good bit, I’m very happy to share my experiences with this latest topwater bait from Storm.
Oversized cupped mouth
Very good new colors
The colors prove that the look of the Cover Pop was a key component in the design. I personally love the bluegill and shad patterns they came up with on these baits. I have fished 3 of the 9 colors, but I haven’t seen a color that a bass will not bite. Good accents, good detailing, large eyes, bright and iridescent coatings all make for an attractive topwater that attracts bass.
Swept back and tail
The swept back and slightly upturned tail allow the bait to walk hard side to side without moving forward too much. That one aspect separates a lot of good poppers from the rest. A popper honestly is designed to be fished in small strike zones, generally around targets like flooded wood, bushes, grass, man-made docks, etc. The bait is so easy to walk and cut really hard without pulling it two feet forward on every chug.
Proof is in the strike
Here are some awesome bites on one overcast morning throwing the Cover Pop recently.
Holds and keeps fish hooked with big hooks
One of the aspects I liked on the Cover Pop was that it had larger fish holding hooks on it. I think some of the poppers on the market have hooks that are too small and also not very good quality out of the package. These VMC hooks are large, strong and hold fish extremely well. The profile of the bait mean the fish swallow the bait a lot and you are going to have to get good hook penetration on the harder insides of the mouth.
Throws well on variety of combinations
The Cover Pop has fished well for me on 40-pound braid and 65-pound braid alike. I’ve fished it on both a small topwater rod and a bit beefier topwater rod like the Randy Howell Tatula Elite Topwater rod from Daiwa. The bait has the weight to roll cast and even pitch it like a flipping bait in and around brush with very pinpoint accuracy. It’s made to make very precise casts because of its size and weight and stay there with short sharp downward snaps of the rod tip.
Very good landing ratio
The Storm Arashi Cover Pop fishes like a big popper, gets swallowed like a small popper and holds fish like a gaff. That’s a winning combination for me. I’ve mostly fished it on 40-pound braid thus far. You can do that in part because of the stronger, larger hooks that are on this bait and not worry about fish pulling off as easily as some others.
You can find the Storm Arashi Cover Pop now at TackleWarehouse.com and other retailers carrying Rapala hard baits now.
VIDEO
Our video production team was tasked with creating the promotional videos for Storm on the new Cover Pop. There is some pretty incredible footage of the Arashi Cover Pop in this video. You should see Jacob Wheeler work the bait casting it back over his shoulder and working it backwards without even looking at the lure. Or Ott Defoe’s catch from the Classic of a 9-9 largemouth bass on the Cover Pop. We have seen the Cover Pop in action since back in February and just kept it under wraps. Hard to deny how good a fish catcher this new topwater can be first hand on a variety of fisheries. The Cover Pop is a legit bass catching topwater!
