Fly tying....getting back into it.

[Fallser]

Just finished this one up the other day.   More for pike but should work on bass.

 

 

 

 

[flyfisher]

A few ties all using the double barrel popper foam heads.  First time using them and they work pretty well.  I got to fish them this weekend and they did well but i am going to change up some stuff on the next round.

[Fallser]

Nice ties.  It's good to hear they work. They're very popular.  It's hard for me to find the soft foam popper bodies that I normally use, anymore, in a lot of the fly fishing catalogs.  I've got some in various sizes in my tying room.  I did use some of the smaller ones to make sliders for pan fish.  I know I took some pictures just have to find them.

My main problem with them, at least the ones I have, is they don't have a through the body hole to insert the hook and it appears it's going to be tough to get legs through the body.  Also they don't take colors well, so much for fire tiger poppers.

[flyfisher]

22 minutes ago, Fallser said:

Nice ties.  It's good to hear they work. They're very popular.  It's hard for me to find the soft foam popper bodies that I normally use, anymore, in a lot of the fly fishing catalogs.  I've got some in various sizes in my tying room.  I did use some of the smaller ones to make sliders for pan fish.  I know I took some pictures just have to find them.

My main problem with them, at least the ones I have, is they don't have a through the body hole to insert the hook and it appears it's going to be tough to get legs through the body.  Also they don't take colors well, so much for fire tiger poppers.

These don't have holes for the hook either so i had to burn them through.  First few were kind of off but i got the technique down and can have them in the same spots consistently.  As far as the legs go, i sprung for a leg threader even though none of these have legs on them.  

[12poundbass]

I haven’t checked this thread out in a while apparently. Nice work fellas! I’m not a fly fishing guy, but I enjoy seeing the creativity from those who tie flies. 

[bigbassin']

9 hours ago, flyfisher said:

A few ties all using the double barrel popper foam heads.  First time using them and they work pretty well.  I got to fish them this weekend and they did well but i am going to change up some stuff on the next round.

What size fly rod are you throwing on that top fly?

 

I’d think any wind and throwing a popper with that much behind it would be a chore on anything less than an 8. It does look pretty nice though.

[flyfisher]

59 minutes ago, bigbassin' said:

What size fly rod are you throwing on that top fly?

 

I’d think any wind and throwing a popper with that much behind it would be a chore on anything less than an 8. It does look pretty nice though.

it isn't as bad as you think.  It is wind resistant but light as it is primarily feathers.  I was throwing it pretty easily on my Sage XP 7wt.  I do have a line that has an aggressive front taper to help turn these types of flies over though.

 

[bigbassin']

34 minutes ago, flyfisher said:

it isn't as bad as you think.  It is wind resistant but light as it is primarily feathers.  I was throwing it pretty easily on my Sage XP 7wt.  I do have a line that has an aggressive front taper to help turn these types of flies over though.

 

I do have the cheapest straight taper 6wt line money can buy on my floating line spool, so that may be half of my problem throwing poppers on it.

 

Of course I’ve got really nice 6wt fast sink line which I rarely use in comparison.

[flyfisher]

1 minute ago, bigbassin' said:

I do have the cheapest straight taper 6wt line money can buy on my floating line spool, so that may be half of my problem throwing poppers on it.

 

Of course I’ve got really nice 6wt fast sink line which I rarely use in comparison.

Straight tapers should be outlawed lol  Get yourself a good "streamer" line and you will see a world of difference.  They are more of a shooting style line but it works once you get the hang of it.  

[bigbassin']

28 minutes ago, flyfisher said:

Straight tapers should be outlawed lol  Get yourself a good "streamer" line and you will see a world of difference.  They are more of a shooting style line but it works once you get the hang of it.  

There’s was about a year I only fly fished for bass, and it probably would have been worth it. These days I’m back to conventional for bass and very rarely target them on the fly (today was the first time in about 6 months).

 

If I’m fly fishing I’m either fishing for whatever will bite on small creeks or fishing mountain trout streams (unsuccessfully), which I think the 4 is perfect for both applications. Or I’m (also unsuccessfully) sight fishing in saltwater which calls for the 8. The 6 has kind of become the odd man out for me.

[flyfisher]

yeah the 5/6 weight is not really good at anything.  When i used to work at a fly shop and do a little guiding i would also steer people away from those weights.  I would be like get a 4wt or a 7wt.  you'll save money in the long run becasue if you fish for trout and smallies you will end up getting both lol  

[Fallser]

56 minutes ago, flyfisher said:

Straight tapers should be outlawed lol  Get yourself a good "streamer" line and you will see a world of difference.  They are more of a shooting style line but it works once you get the hang of it.  

I remember them.  My first couple of fly lines were straight tapers.  I don't who told me to get a WF floating line but it made casting so much easier.  It even me look like I knew what I was doing.  I'm not sure if a "streamer" line is the same as a Weight Forward line.  A basic weight forward line would work for any of your rods, bigbassin'.  No need to buy a "bass" taper or a salt water line.  

I just saw flyfisher's reply.  I own three different weight rods.  Two 5 wgts.  They're my trout and pan fish rods, though I've caught a couple of decent smallies on the 8 ft one.  Two 6 wgts, I've used them for trout, pan fish, bass, pike and salt water.  For some reason, I have three 8 wgt rods.  The first one I built was 8 1/2 foot, it was adequate but I eventually, built a 9 foot one which was better for fishing the inlets, surf and jetties.  I just put new guides on a 4 piece 8 wgt I brought from Cabela's when I needed a rod to take to Guam with me on a business trip, maybe 18 years ago.  It's 8 1/2 feet.  I always liked the way it cast.  That will be the rod I use for tossing my larger flies from now on.  Generally, the 6 wgt is the one I take with me most times.

  The one thing about tying your own flies, like making your own lures, is you can tailor them to fit the rod you're using.  I have some 6 inch flies I can toss with my 6 wgt but they're made up of mostly feathers and buck tail.

[Fallser]

7 hours ago, flyfisher said:

These don't have holes for the hook either so i had to burn them through.  First few were kind of off but i got the technique down and can have them in the same spots consistently.  As far as the legs go, i sprung for a leg threader even though none of these have legs on them.  

After I read your post I went up to my tying room and looked through the boxes I have my foam materials in.  I found two X-Large ones, size 1/0 or 2/0 hooks, a few medium, size 1 or 2 hooks, and a bunch of tiny ones, size 6 or 8 hooks.

Since the large ones are white, I found a couple of hooks to fit them and heated up a large needle to push it through the popper.  I got lucky and they came through the front in the center.  I'll probably use the same method to create holes for the legs and use a floss threader to pull the legs through.

You know can make your own leg threader.  Go to your local craft store to the sewing section and pick up some big eye needles.  Push the needle point into a cork, coat the point with some super glue before you push the point into the cork.  Instant leg threader.   A lot cheaper, but not as fancy, as the ones you see in the fly fishing catalogs.

[flyfisher]

12 hours ago, Fallser said:

After I read your post I went up to my tying room and looked through the boxes I have my foam materials in.  I found two X-Large ones, size 1/0 or 2/0 hooks, a few medium, size 1 or 2 hooks, and a bunch of tiny ones, size 6 or 8 hooks.

Since the large ones are white, I found a couple of hooks to fit them and heated up a large needle to push it through the popper.  I got lucky and they came through the front in the center.  I'll probably use the same method to create holes for the legs and use a floss threader to pull the legs through.

You know can make your own leg threader.  Go to your local craft store to the sewing section and pick up some big eye needles.  Push the needle point into a cork, coat the point with some super glue before you push the point into the cork.  Instant leg threader.   A lot cheaper, but not as fancy, as the ones you see in the fly fishing catalogs.

I thought about making one but honestly I didn't feel like stopping at another store on my way home so I jsut picked up the overpriced fly version lol

 

[king fisher]

A trick you can use in an emergency for a popper is one I came up with while guiding some anglers for Silver Salmon in 
Alaska.  I forgot to bring poppers with me one day, and the silvers were very aggressive.  After catching many on streamers the guests wanted to try top water.  I got some yellow and pink foam earplugs out of the plane and strung one on the leader in front of a pink bunny bug.  They worked as well as the foam poppers I usually used.

[Fallser]

10 hours ago, king fisher said:

I got some yellow and pink foam earplugs out of the plane and strung one on the leader in front of a pink bunny bug.  They worked as well as the foam poppers I usually used.

I've used earplugs.  Usually the ones I use when I go to the range...  The problem I had with them is that they're to soft to get them on a hook.  Stringing them on the line in front of the hook makes sense.  A poor man's tube fly.

I've been taking a fly tying class called "Fun with Foam" offered by the IFF on ZOOM and Facebook.  The last fly we did was a foam dragon fly.  Here's a couple that I tied up.  Any resemblance to the fly taught in the class is purely coincidental.

 

 

[flyfisher]

You can definitely do a lot with foam and while i love a pretty deer hair fly and I can do them reasonably well, the trade off in time isn't usually worth it for me.  I have been messing with the double barrel popper heads and they have done well for me and are pretty easy to tie.  I can tie all the tails on a bunch of hooks and then glue al the heads on in very little time.  

those are some good looking dragon flies as well. 

[Fallser]

Finally got around to using the large double barrel poppers and a couple of "standard" body ones.  

[Fallser]

Figured I bump this topic up.  Easier for me to find.  These are "revised" flies.  Years ago I came up with a streamer I really liked by modifying Bob Popovic's "Semper Fleye".  I tied up a bunch to take up to Ontario, mainly for pike, but also for smallmouth.  Looking back at pictures, it looks like I only fished the all white ones.  When I got  back and unpacked the wallet I had them I stuck it in some dark corner until I found them last week.  They needed a bit of work to make them fishable.  I plan to fish them for largemouth and smallmouth, chain pickerel and possibly muskie.  Not sure where they fit into the lure category, soft plastics maybe.  Subsurface, 6 to 8 inches long, lot of movement and flash. 

 

[MickD]

On 3/1/2020 at 6:46 PM, Scott F said:

Do those hold a lot of water making them hard to cast?

No, Puglosi stuff is just the opposite, clears of water easily.   

 

[Fallser]

Add a few more.  This is a mix of salt water and bass/pike patterns.  They can be fished as top water, or a subsurface fly. 

[Guitarfish]

Nice.  I can smell the fish hanging off that last one. Next year at the lake for stripers......

[flyfisher]

Looks great.  I am getting ready to start doing some more tying to fill up the fly box for next year.  I went through some game changers last year for sure.  I had a few get snagged and a few get tore up after catching a bunch of fish and a few get bitten off by bowfin or pickerel.  I have a couple other patterns i want to add to the arsenal next season too.

[Fallser]

10 hours ago, flyfisher said:

Looks great.  I am getting ready to start doing some more tying to fill up the fly box for next year.  I went through some game changers last year for sure.  I had a few get snagged and a few get tore up after catching a bunch of fish and a few get bitten off by bowfin or pickerel.  I have a couple other patterns i want to add to the arsenal next season too.

Looking forward to seeing them.  I can always use new ideas.  It's going to be a long winter with the virus and recovering from knee surgery.  Plan on tying a lot of flies.

[bigbassin']

How do y’all post multiple pictures on the same post?

 

I’ve got a handful of flies I figured I’d share here, but it will only allow one picture.