Blue and Purple

Hollow Flatwings.

Playing around on the vise.

I have been playing around with foam, transfer foils and articulated flies.  I like to vary patterns from others.  At least I'm honest, We see a lot of people making a slight variation and claiming a new idea!

 

 

Kelly Gallup

 

 Vladan Milenkovic

 

 

Michael Decoteau

 

Ulf Hagstrom

 

Curtis Fry

Crease and Foam Fly Coatings

 

To start off I am or have copied saltyh20fly's (Stripers Online member) version of a "School Bus Crease fly for use here.

 I wanted to test a few products for coating Crease and foam flies that would;

1. 1) be flexible
2. 2) dry quickly
3. 3) not be too heavy.

I will only mention one product name here, Delta Ceramcoat Sealer and Exterior Varnish!  It did by far better than UV coatings (too heavy), water based fly varnishes (heavy coats took up to a day and a half to harden!), and last rubber/plastic dip products (too many solvents and did not dry clear).  I learned about the Delta products from someone coating foam popper heads with them.  First the sealer is applied then after 30 minutes the exterior varnish can be applied.  The exterior varnish must be applied 3 times each with 30 minute intervals.  The Delta fly is the one lower right.

  



The hooks I used?  You just don't find them like this anymore.  No one makes a fine wire hook with the strength of these!  They won't bend and it take a lot to break one (more than the strength of your leader!).  I got lucky when I found them and bought a few hundred.  If you can find them, buy them!

 

Bigger Baits for Pike and Wels

After making the Morrish mice it brought back some ideas I had a few years back.  I wanted to make some imitations for "larger prey" such as ducklings and muskrats (bisam).  I have seen so many exact life-like imitations that 1) I am not that talented with deer hair, and 2) an exact imitation of the bird or animal to man does not mean it gives a good imitation of life to fish.  I for the most part especially with nymphs like impressionistic flies.  Notice that the tips of the deer hair are tied in to proper length allowing them to move naturally and are not trimmed.  A stiff lifeless imitation is much less effective in provoking a strike from a fish as one that breathes and behaves as the natural.

My first attempts (shown here) at a duckling were good at imitating but poor at casting due to a strong wind resistance.

 

I slimmed the foam in the new version down similar to the Morrish Mouse and this cut back the wind resistance.  The first is tied on an Ad Swier #8/0 Pike hook, my second version is tied on a 55mm articulated shank (self made) with a #2 double tube fly hook attached.  This rides nearly weedless behind the deer hair.  I eliminated the bucktail beak to cut down on spinning, also a few coats of Exterior Delta Ceramcoat were added to strengthen the foam.

 

 

With the Muskrats I simply coated the foam with Furry Foam and used beaver instead of deer hair for a nearly indestuctable body.  There is a little more weight here when it is wet that helps reduce the wind resistance.  It is tied on a #8/0 Ad Swier Pike hook, I want to make some more with the articulated shanks and tie the tail on the hook itself to keep from tangling.

 

 

If the weather is good in the next few days I'll make some videos of them swimming from above and below the water surface.

 

Morrish Mouse (Mice)

Hopefully cool weather will be coming soon as I have no interest in fishing with 32-36 degrees C!  I did go twice last week and got 3 small perch on the river with the Mickey Finn lipped Clouser I tied in rehab.  I also got a single larger perch on the pond using a big crayfish imitation.

The river is looking real good now and if it cools down a little I want to swing some mouse flies not only for pike, but wels and big brown trout!

I made a few variations, the deer hair version has 3mm foam covered on top with matching "Furry Foam".  The fur versions using rabbit and muskrat zonkers wrapped over a chenille base, the foam is 6mm and treated with Exterior Delta Ceramcoat.

  

A few more from rehab

Again a few more Clouser variations.  On 30 degree jig hooks, a rabbit tail and crayfish version, and a Hollow Fleye tied on a "Clouser frame".

Bored in Rehab

Three weeks are over and one more to go.  I did want to get more flies done than I did but it's been a little more hard work here than I imagined.  Anyways I made some Clouser Minnow-Half  & Half variations including "lipped", "rattle", and "flatwing" versions,  Tested them in the whirlpool here (LOL) and they came to life, it was a miracle!

Battle Scores?

Well it lasted a little more than two weeks.  And no it wasn't a battle with a fish.  In the begining of May I was diagnosed with Non Small Cell Lung Cancer.  On the 24th of May my lower lobe on the left lung was removed.  Stage 1b, tumor classification pT2a pN0 cM0, cancer Adenocarcinoma.  I've been out of the hospital a week now.  Time to tie some flies!

Into Battle

See ja in two weeks.

New Visitors

I set the camera out again at the same place where the recent boar photos were taken.  To my surprise the boar stayed away but a fox and a Roe Deer came through.