Fly tying....getting back into it.

[flyfisher]

those look great.  Are those hollow flies where you use silicone  to hold the shape?  

I have tied the pig boats before and used them as swim jig type patterns.  I used those fish skulls on mine but not the weighted ones, the plastic deals and they worked really well. 

 

I got out the past two weekends but it has been so windy I have gone with conventional gear.  

[Fallser]

2 hours ago, flyfisher said:

Are those hollow flies where you use silicone  to hold the shape?

Thanks, flyfisher.  Nope, just fancy Pig Boats.  What I did with the bodies instead of wrapping the chenille and then wrapping the hackle was tie a saddle hackle on each side of the shank and then tie in, in this case one of Puglisi's brushes, on top of the shank.   I then twist them together, and wrap the material up the shank for the body.  I stroke the material back with each wrap.  I normally use long fiber Estaz for the body, but I brought the brushes at the Fly Tying Symposium in NJ last year and didn't like the way the bait fish patterns turned out with them.  A friend asked me to add a skirt to his spinner bait, so I used one of the brushes for flash.  Liked the way it looked, so I decided to use them up making various Pig Boats.  I use a full spinner bait skirt for the rest of the bodies.  The heads are wrapped thread coated with UV resin.  They're tied on 3/0 and 4/0 hooks.

The crayfish is tied using estaz and saddle hackle.  I added two small rattles tied side by side on the top of the shank to add weight so the hook will ride point up.  

  I fish them like streamers, except for the crayfish and I'll try to crawl or jig it on the bottom.

  

[flyfisher]

I am gonna tie some stuff up here soon for my dad for Father's Day, maybe do some of those pig boats, not sure yet.  

I started making brushes after liking the EP ones and they are turning out pretty good so far.

[flyfisher]

Caught these guys today.....When i snagged that catfish i thought for sure I had a monster smallie too lol  

[Fallser]

Nice.  A good mix of fish.  I've never caught a catfish with a fly.   I have snagged a couple of trout with a fly and maybe a sunfish or two.  Thought I had a monster fish on.  I snagged a few bass on lures with the same reaction.  The bass of a life time.  Not so much.

[flyfisher]

A little game changer action. Probably my best one yet. 

[Westcoast]

Nice flies guys. I’ve spent most of my fishing as a fly fisher for everything that swims. Only recently I got into the bass gear fish game which I’ve found is addictive. I still like getting coho off the beach and brown trout on tiny dries. But getting a swamp donkey to slurp a giant frog back in the pads is pretty great. 

[Fallser]

22 hours ago, flyfisher said:

A little game changer action. Probably my best one yet. 

Nice, that's one fly I haven't tried to tie yet.  Even though I've got plenty of time, it just looks like too much work.  I was planning to tie this evening.  A friend brought a couple of hard body poppers over and asked me to put a new trebles on them and dress the back one. I was sorting through my treble hooks and knocked the open storage box over, scattering them all over.  I was sitting at my tying desk barefoot.  I used a big magnet to pick them up and spent my tying time sorting them and putting them in their proper compartments... there's always tomorrow.

2 hours ago, Westcoast said:

But getting a swamp donkey to slurp a giant frog back in the pads is pretty great. 

 I've been working on some weedless top water frogs, sort of based them on the Booyah Pad Crasher.  I'll take some pictures and post them

[flyfisher]

Game changers aren't hard per se but they do take some time, depending on the materials used some take longer than others.  I made this one using a brush I made so it was relatively quick really.  I am also going to be working on a frog pattern i saw that uses synthetic floating dubbing that is supposed to be easier to use than traditional deer hair styles so we will see what happens.  I also have a few craw ideas floating around in my head i want to try as well.  

Flipping over hooks sucks!!!  been there done that and not a fun deal to clean up and sort.

[flyfisher]

Couple more...First attempts at a feather game changer.  

[flyfisher]

A buddy named this fly the heap moss frog so I think I will stick with that name....got to test it out on a local swampy creek area that was up probably 2 feet....fish seemed to like it whatever it is  

 

[Fallser]

That is a cool looking fly.  I'm trying to figure out the materials.  I can see marabou, feathers, silicone or rubber legs.  Can't figure the head out.  Maybe some deer hair in there.  It looked like a big fly, but seeing it with the sunfish it's not that big.  I always have "discussions" with other fly tyers about the size of pan fish flies.  Most seem to think size 10 and 12 is what you have to fish to catch bluegills, pumpkinseeds, etc.   I tie mine on size 6 and 8 hooks.  They seem to like them.

 

 

 

[flyfisher]

On 6/25/2020 at 2:17 PM, Fallser said:

That is a cool looking fly.  I'm trying to figure out the materials.  I can see marabou, feathers, silicone or rubber legs.  Can't figure the head out.  Maybe some deer hair in there.  It looked like a big fly, but seeing it with the sunfish it's not that big.  I always have "discussions" with other fly tyers about the size of pan fish flies.  Most seem to think size 10 and 12 is what you have to fish to catch bluegills, pumpkinseeds, etc.   I tie mine on size 6 and 8 hooks.  They seem to like them.

 

 

 

It is frog dubbing from fly tyers dungeon which is kind of a replacement for deer hair.  You got the tail section dead on...Most of my poppers for sunnies are in the 6 or 4 range.  I kind of get tired of catching small ones so this helps weed them out a bit.  

Here is a fly that i literally sat down and had no idea what I was gonna do and this is what i came up with.  Front is a fish shank 1.5" long attached to a 2/0 hook.   Below is the untrimmed and trimmed version.  Super bulky but it is what it is.  I actually tried it out in front of the pool jet and it swims better than i thought it would.  Now if i could get a fish to hook up will be a different story.

[Fallser]

Looks like a good sunfish pattern to me.  I know in the fall, at least in some of the lakes around here, it looks like the bass herd the small sunfish, 2 to 3 inches long,  into the shallows.   A couple of years ago, it's a clear lake, I could see a line of decent largemouth in front of me and every so often one of the bass would dash in and blow up one of the schools.   We were acting as lake guides for a Casting for Recovery retreat, and I wasn't fishing.  The woman I was guiding caught a small sunfish.  I asked her for her rod and rather than unhooking it I flipped the sunfish back out about 15 ft and handed her the rod back.  No sooner had it hit the water than there was a huge swirl as a bass tried to grab it.  Last year in the same area on the lake.  Another woman hooked a sunfish and a 3 or 4 lb bass grabbed it and hung on to it for a few minutes before finally letting go.  What was driving us nuts, we were fishing off a small pier was the biggest largemouth I'd ever seen.  It had to be a 10 lb fish, kept cruising the area, occasionally following hooked sunfish or even the flies.

  Both times it was late September, so that should be a good pattern for in the fall.
 

[flyfisher]

I think if i tie another one i will thin it up some and extend the back hook more.  I just hooked the eye through the fish shank rather than using wire like i usually do.  but it did look pretty cool in the water 

[flyfisher]

Hit a local river/swampy area that was way high.  Up probably two feet from "normal" and lots of CFS plus silt.  I figured i wouldn't catch much but I ended up catching a couple bass and a few sunnies.  This guy was fat as can be which might explain why he went after a game changer that was almost half as long as he was.

[Fallser]

That's a nice, healthy looking bass.  Here's a few patterns I've been working on.  I'm almost finished my frog project.  The first picture is of all the ones I've finished.  I still have 5 of the large ones that I need to add legs to and coat with UV Flex resin.  A large and small frog floating in some water.   A bass slider, just my favorite pan fish fly on steroids.  The last is the basic bait fish pattern.  Not happy with how it came out or might be just how I took the picture.  I use them in fresh and salt water.

  

 

 

[flyfisher]

Those frogs are awesome!!!  I need to tie some Of those frogs and the baitfish looks good what UV flex do you use and what are those frog hooks?

 

[Fallser]

  I used Solarez Tack Free Flex resin for the large ones and possibly the small ones.  If I didn't use the Solarez on the small ones I used Deer Creek Fine Flex resin. I know I used it on the slider.  I was using an old bottle and it was thicker than I liked.  Just got a new bottle I'm going to finish the remaining ones with that, should be easier to coat them.  The reason I coat them with the resin is that craft foam will absorb water and the flies eventually ride lower in the water.   The Solarez comes in a larger bottle than the Deer Creek.  It's not cheap, but you can coat quite a few flies with it.

The hooks are double hooks.  I used 3/0 for the large frogs and 1/0 for the smaller ones.  I had to use articulated shanks with the double hooks so I had an eye that I could tie the line off on.  

  My fishing is going to be limited this year.  I've been hobbling around on a cane for a few months.  I had a lot of pain in my lower left leg and at my age the immediate thought was I had blood clots or blockage in the arteries and/or veins.  The virus screwed up the time line of the final diagnosis and I got the results a couple of weeks ago.  No blood clots or blockage.  Next stop was the orthopedic specialist.  So I'm having the knee replacement that I had 11 years ago replaced.  Surgery is Sept 4th.  I'll be doing a lot of tying in the fall.

  When I see a fly I want to tie, I try and get hold of the original pattern.  If you send me your address, I'll send you a couple to use as templates and to see if they work.

[flyfisher]

Man, I am sorry to hear about your medical stuff but hopefully it will get taken care of and you can get back to it pretty quick.  I just started using the UV curing stuff and I should have done it sooner...that stuff is pretty amazing and a major time saver.  

I will send you a PM with my address and if you send me yours, I will send a few flies your way as well.

[flyfisher]

Had no idea what I was going to tie last night but this is what i ended up tying.  Articulated with an 1.5" shank in the back.

[flyfisher]

A couple more flies that will hopefully get me some big brown bass this weekend....

[flyfisher]

Trying my hand at some feather game changers.  They are getting better but still trying to find that sweet spot on the proportions.  

[flyfisher]

Just a little sunny imitation that i think will do well on the local smallmouth rivers.  Keel weighted to ride hook up and and stay more weedless.

 

[flyfisher]

I was starting to tie and my 4 year old decided to help guide my decisions and what to put where.....has the traditional clown pattern that I know I have caught fish on with jerk baits in this color.