I find the smaller poppers are better, they seem to be a tad tentative to the bigger ones, I’ve had good success with tiny one's that weigh less than 5g and can only be used with a slight back wind, but they are dynamite for herring and even pike, they were out fishing twisties. I’ve used a small pink Roosta around Perth for tailor but haven’t had any success on it yet but I would use a twisty over a popper around metro, however up north where the tailor are slightly bigger they might be more aggressive towards bigger poppers.

Mix it up! it depends on what the fish are interested in on the day,

 i'll normally start out with a bloop and then wait a second or so then do another one and continue all the way back to the shore. If that doesnt seem to have many takers ill retrieve it at a moderate pace and let the popper splash itself and make some disturbance. Sometimes it pays to give it a varied retrieve, like a bloop then bring it in a bit, pause, bloop and retrieve a bit faster.

as for colours, everyone has their own personal favourites but i prefer natural colours like pilchard,blues and whites for tailor and just about anything for salmon they dont seem to care.

size- just try and match whatever fish size they may be targeting out there,  but dont think they wont take something big because we have got herring on fairly large rooster poppers before.

And the more white wash and reef the better :) just imagine where the fish would sit and wait for a meal to come past and try there.

I'm no popping pro by all means but i hope this helps

Poppers are usually best retrieved hard and fast when chasing agressive feeders (macks, queenies, trevally, salmon) or when fish are feeding well, and slower when after less aggressive species (say like spangled emperor) or when things are a bit quieter.  But best to experiment as a fast retrive in slow conditions can often prompt a strike. Poppers need to be made to 'bloop" or splash, so an erratic retrieve, using the rod tip to make the popper bite into the water surface, is required. 

As for what water poopers can be used in - any basically.  You have to work harder to get a popper to work properly when using them where there is a lot of white water, but then that is where many fish actively hunt, especially the tailor you are after.  Ideal water for tailor is white water over or around a reef.  Poppers are ideal in shallow reefy water too because they float and so are less likely to get snagged.  

I have caught heaps of different species on poppers - tailor, salmon, trevally, sharks, spangled emperor, coral trout, barracuda, spanish macks, barramundi, threadfin, giant herring, mangrove jack, even flathead - and the strike is always fun as it all happens right on the surface.

Experiment with different sizes and different colour poppers too if the action is slow.

One other benefit of poppers is that are probably the easiest lures to make yourself, and my homemade ones have accounted for sharks to around 50kg and GT's to 25kg from the shore and boat.

One of my favourite pastimes is walking the Ningaloo beaches with a light baitcaster and small poppers in the early morning or late afternoon, catching and releasing trevally, threadfin and spanglies. Just as much fun from a dinghy around the coral bombies, but upscale poppers and gear!

Enjoy learning to use them, and good luck.

i been using the red/white roosta for a while now on tailor with great success. caught alot on a windy day, and also when its been dead flat. if ther around they whil nail it. i just mix up my retrieve rate, bring it in fast for couple casts working hard, then nice and slow. find ther easyer to use whens thers a bit of chop on the water.

Thanks everyone that has informed me heaps. Looks like i might have to head North to get some really good action on poppers though. Appreciate all the help.

When I lived in mandurah and killed a pig in the cut. The skitter does not seem to work well up in karratha and I think its because the face gives up to much of a bloob. This is desirable for GT but for this you need to speak to Pilbara Brad or Jay_Burgess. I like the Fat Rs and Cotton Cordell Pencil poppers flat out for Queenies etc up here. For Trout and Spanglies and other oooglies nothing so far beats a good old black and gold Roosta.

With the Roosta I bloob, wait, bloob, wait and often its the wait that gets the hit. I dont wind them flat out in as they sink and leave a poor smoke trail.

Hope it helps but best to just try. Cheap poppers like Smiling Jacks are great and easy to learn on.

Tailor like it fast!!!

I've caught plenty of tailor on surface as it is my most preferred style of shore based fishing.

I disagree on the smaller lures for them, they are very aggressive feeders!

Lures like Richter Plugs, Kingfisher Fat R's, Cotton Cordells, Yo-zuri surface cruisers are by far my fav's.

Small fish will hit big poppers and if there is big greenbacks in the area then your in with a good chance.

Just remember keep your rod tip high and wind flat out and your lure will splash and bounce all over the joint.

Up there with one of my fav styles of fishing!!!

Looks like i'm going to be spending quite a few hours experimenting on different methods plus spending a few bucks on different poppers have to try a surface cruiser as well. Cheers!

i have done a lot of tailor popping over shallow reef with white water. the best popper i have used on them was called a timber wolf but i lost that to a big one and now use halco roosta poppers for them which work almost as well. on some days the low tide forces me to high stick the rod and crank as fast as possible to stopp snaggin up on the rocks and its amazing to see just how shallow the big tailor will swim to hit the popper when its like this. on a higher tide i leave the popper in one spot and give big strikes of the rod to create as much splash as possible, (its called blooping apparently) i find this only works with some poppers as some dont work against the water and will fly out the water and towards you when you crank. i use poppers of about 10 to 15 cm but i reccon u could go even bigger when there realy aggressive. by the way i forgot to mention the white water is good but try work the popper NEAR but not exactly THROUGH the white water as it will lose its splashing effect in the white. its an awsome style of fishing so hope u have some luck with it.

More good advice, much appreciated!