Attachment 6891
so far I have tied up some crawfish, murray's helgammite, strymphs, cicadas, lizzards; will do some gurglers - what else should I try?
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Attachment 6891
so far I have tied up some crawfish, murray's helgammite, strymphs, cicadas, lizzards; will do some gurglers - what else should I try?
I must say that by far the most productive fly for smallmouth on The Kankakee River my favorite fishing hole is a yellow over white bucktail nothing fancy but it out fishes everything else I throw
my favorites are muddler minnows and clouser minnows. next are poppers, both foam and deer hair. colors depend on water clarity and forage.
the streams i fish as fast-running so I use them weighted. Clousers and wolly buggers of varying colors are my go-to flies. Gray, brown and green are the colors and that changes on a regular basis depending on whatever trips their trigger at the time. Another productive clouser uses red squirrel tail.
scorpios in different colors
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...os/scorpio.jpg
Clousers, clousers and clousers!! By the way did I mention clousers??
It looks like you got it covered. I might add a few smaller Hard-Hackle Worms in purple, and maybe a smaller purple Bunny Leech. Another really good SM fly is a Clouser Minnow tied in brown and orange.
I think what he means is just to wrap a streamer hook shank with white thread, floss, or maybe tinsel, or maybe a tinsel rib over white thread, then just tie on a bit of white bucktail, then a sparse clump of yellow, whip finish, apply a drop of head cement, and go fish with it. Real easy and quick.
Probably something like this:
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n...teBucktail.jpg
OK, the eyes were my idea, just because I like them on streamers. You can leave them off. I just tied this one. It took me less than 3 minutes from start to finish. Easy tie.
Normand, your scorpio pattern, is it marabou the whole way from head to toe or is the body covered with something else? it looks like possible small larva lace, and did you use sparkle chenille for the over eye material?
o.k. what is a bub fly, have picture?
I found one here, good video, some good use of a rotary vice- I tied up one, looks like a great helgamite imitation.... I dont know if its the same as flygal's
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLJid-Ai-EY
Thanks Gigmaster the HHW looks interesting, I found it here
http://flyanglersonline.com/flytying...103105fotw.php
Purple Eh?
Tim,
In reference to your post :"I must say that by far the most productive fly for smallmouth on The Kankakee River my favorite fishing hole is a yellow over white bucktail nothing fancy but it out fishes everything else I throw"
Are you referring to a Mickie Finn streamer in yellow over white? I have been tying up a few of these and really like them.
For small stream smallmouth I always carry a marebou muddler minnow, usually in yellow with some red:
http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q...mouthflies.jpg
Don't you love those epiphany moments in tying that make things sooo much easer?! Anywho, the bub is a great smallie fly and Lou and I have had quite a few ripped to shreds fishing Big Sugar Creek in MO. Love those "K-I-S-S" flies with 3 ingredients or less that catch fish like crazy!
Was that just regular rubber leg material? It sure had a lot of bounce to it.
heres where the scorpios come from
http://globalflyfisher.com/fishbetter/smallmouth_jump/
Yes regular leg material. Just not the fine stuff.
Great looking flies in that box!
Don't forget a Deciever or 3. I have had a few days where a they really saved the day. I like chart/white and gray/white best.
I also like a generic deer hair popper in white and chartruese when it gets hot. A bullet head hopper can be a beautiful thing to slap down as hard as you can then hang on.
http://www.derekspace.net/Photos/bassflies/fly010.jpghttp://www.derekspace.net/Photos/bassflies/fly005.jpghttp://www.derekspace.net/Photos/bassflies/fly013.jpg
thank you Normand, appreciate the link.
boyscout, those are some nice ties. what are you using for your weedguard?
Foxy Red Clouser
http://www.flyfishohio.com/Foxee_Red_Clouser.htm
Twisted Little Fox
http://www.flyfishohio.com/Twisted_Fox.htm
The cheapest 30lb mono I find in Walmart. That works great for size 2 to 1 hooks. However, on my 1/0s, I sometimes use 50lb. There are a few places I fish that have lots of thick cover and I found the 50lb is the only way to retain my sanity.Quote:
what are you using for your weedguard?
One thing tho, keep your hooks razor sharp or you will start missing too many fish!
BTW, in the early part of the season, I refuse to hit the water without leadeyed woolybuggers and Clousers in chart/white when in smallie water.
Boyscout
Great discussion and links folks. I'd add a few bend backs to the mix: http://www.ehow.com/how_4421272_tie-bendback-fly.html here's a simple one in Yellow and Tan a great color combo most anywhere fresh or salt. He's bent that hook a bit too much so take it easy on the outward bend. I like to use a stiffer deer hair for the hook barb side of the fly as this aids in this being an amost snagless fly immensely. A buggier body can be had by adding a wooley worm, palmered feather body and with or without rubber legs. This is my go to Carp Fly also in areas where lots of snagging rocks abound such as the Columbia Basin lakes. Two favorite color combos are the yellow and tan and the Grizzly with a Peacock body, and red tail tag, bendback, wooley worm with a deer hair weed guard of grey stiff hair. I tie them weighted and unweighted to match water depth and flow. I like the fly to land soft and the wooley body aids that but the lead wrap is sometimes needed for getting the fly down quickly to feeding Carp or in swifter water for Smallies.
pillcaster,
Didn't read all the posts to your thread, so sorry if I repeat someones suggestion. I have posted a number of times here about the Black Ghost streamer. I have had tremendous luck on smallies with it. I like it with the maribou wing and about 4 strands of Krystal flash for a topping. Very easy pattern to tie. Had a ball fishing the East branch of the Ausable River in Upstate N.Y. with it. The smallies were in the slower water with the rainbows in the riffles. Was tossing a #6 or #4 BGS with my glass 6' 5wt.Fenwick (FF605) and Pflueger 1492 reel, Cortland 333 DT Peach (my favorite line). It was work to toss that streamer with that short rod, but what fun, when you hooked one of those smallies. That was back in 1981, and I still remember the details. That was some good fishing on some beautiful water!!!
Best regards, Dave S.
Ok Pillcaster...If noone else is gonna go full out on it.. I will!..lol The box!..Where n who makes it? Looks like a sweet n packable deal... Not that i really need another box mind ya... but I may just want one!
Yo Bass_Bug, thanks for the Foxy Red Clouser link. That looks great and the twisted one ain't bad either!
Thanks Bill,
Nothing fancy, it's an old cigar box "customized" with thick foam http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/s...-under-5-bucks
The box was deep enough I could put in a false bottom/shelf of 1/4" plyboard. Using the above link technique, the flies will hold upside down nicely so you can get a lot of flies in a small space. I dont think it's water worthy, but great for storage.
Interesting fly Dave, the mother of modern streamers? http://business.virgin.net/fly.fishi...lackghost.html
Simple bead chain eyed wooley bugger. As always this fly gets me the most fish. Simple and easy to tie. Holds up well. Caught pretty much all 'regular species' of fish with it.Trout, Bass, blue gill, crappie, catfish.
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q...s/DSC02473.jpg
Great discussion of this fly by lefty here http://books.google.com/books?id=j8c...%20Fly&f=false
I might have to try this, last August there was a lot of grass in the river, this might be the ticket...
http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o...2/DSCF0055.jpg
Don't leave home without...
These would be my top 4 for both Smallmouth and Largemouth Bass. The sponge spider in white and black is a panfish fly but performs well when bass get off on a hatch or hoppers since bass don't seem to need an exact match much of the time. My version of Edmonds' Stealth Bomber gives me a diver that will pop on a hard twitch. The Whodat Fodder was designed to celebrate the Saints' Superbowl win last year but turned out to be a good fish producer. It is a variation on Craig Riendeau's Hairy Fodder. Finally they are still hitting Lefty's Red and White.
Keep it simple, bottom bouncers, smimmers, top water. If you're just starting out take a look at Tim Holschlags book, probably the best book written on fly fishing for SMB.
See if you can copy this one:
http://www.booglebug.com/html/bugs.html
The Solar Flare, Yella Fella, and Power Pumpkin Boogle Poppers are wonderfully effective and very durable hard-bodied flies, especially on river smallmouths. Good luck tying them yourself. BTW, is the plural of a trout fly flies or flys?
Here's my balsa bream popper bodies. Carved balsa epoxied to a #8 Mustad 33903 and a top coat of epoxy.
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f3...reambodies.jpg
And here's a completed version I did for a swap a couple years ago (without a printed logo on top) . This was the worst paint job, so I kept this one for myself. The others had a better scale pattern painted on them. Stick on eyes after painting then sprayed with clear lacquered. Splayed hackle tail and hackle skirt. Bigger bodies get rubber legs and sometimes a little Krystal flash on the tail.
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f3...reampopper.jpg
Technique-wise speaking, these are as easy to tie as the average simple dry fly. But with shaping the balsa and the epoxy, paint and lacquer dry time, they just take longer. But when you do the steps in batches it's not that bad. If you buy the Perfect Popper foam bodies, you can cut the time down a bit further.
I have good results with a Couser type fly I tie that has a willow leaf blade attached to a swivel that is JB welded near the eye of the hook. Favorite color pattern includes using orange, chartreuse & green (i.e. fire tiger) bucktail.