Three Times in a Week

Hi Joe,

I just finally got the time to read your feature, and the one by Rick. Those two are must reads for me each week, and usually Monday at noon at work is a favorite time, but I have too many irons in the fire lately.

At any rate nice articles from both of you.

Joe, the picture of that red ear is really nicely done, it really catches the eye when you first pull up the feature.

Since you asked in the feature, the spider could be one that I tied. It is the style that I tie, and chartreuse is my favorite color. The pattern is simple to tie, and a lot of tiers tie it though, so it could be one that one of the others guys may have tied.

By the way, late this fall I finally bought a long time wish item, and now have a small jon boat. The current project it to make it fishable, and so cleats, oar locks, and a "Joe Hyde" anchor set up are being worked on. Hope to have the anchors set up made by early next week, and hope to fish it within a couple of weeks.

Glad to see you back in Kansas. Glad you had a good week of fishing.

Regards,

Gandolf

Hi Gandolf,


Yes, I also think those foam spiders are ones you tied and sent to me.

My problem is that I'll be given a fly by someone and I'll stick it in my box, then forget who sent it to me. I can sometimes remember who tied it until the fish start biting, then poof! their name is gone. Usually by then the name of the fly escapes me, too. Throw in three moves in the last ten months (gear scattered everywhere) and it's a miracle I can find anything anymore, much less identify where it came from.

By any chance were you the guy who tied those Maribou Misses, too?

That was a lucky photo of that red ear sunfish. Isn't it great how low-angle morning and afternoon sunlight makes colors stand out? Shoot a photo of that same fish in the same pose at noon and it won't look anywhere near as pretty.

Any problems with your anchor rig, let me know; maybe we can brain storm a solution.


Joe

Hi Joe,

Yes, I did tie a few of the "Maribou Miss" in the fly set, as I have been tying them since first reading about them in Rick's features on his favorite flies.

That was a really helpful set of articles you wrote on the anchor systems. I have a plan in mind as to how to put your system on the jon boat, but may end up with questions and need advise, so I appreciate the offer of help.

Man, it's a wonder you can find anything. I can't even imagine moving 3 times in ten months.

When the latest feature came up I looked at the picture of the red ear, and with the colors the way they are and all at first was thinking "what kind of fish is that", but then noticed the red stripe around the "ear" of the fish and though "oh." At any rate the picture turned out to be spectacular in my humble opinion.

One of my two closest friends lives up in your country. The summer before last, we fished a week up there. If I can get up in the next summer or two it would be great to get together. Last time up there I got to meet Bluegill 222, and that was a great pleasure for me. He showed me an HMH vise at the fly shop, and the vise looked great. Don't know how much time I will have next summer though, as our older daughter and husband had our first grandchild a couple of months back.

Regards,

Gandolf

Joe,

That spongy spider looks a lot like the one I tie. I can't be sure its one of mine from the photo though. I do tie the double rubber legs on each side like that and the foam head and underside of the fly look like mine (I stick the hook through the back portion but not the front portion of the fly. I tie the front portion or head area down.). I tie them in lots of different colors and with different colored legs. Just not 100 percent sure. Maybe 80 percent though:p

Hi Robert,

I tie mine with double legs too. I don't run the hook through the rubber though. I start mine at the front, using a piece of foam strip, the first half of which is about 1/8" wide and wrap it down to the bend of the hook.

The half of the foam strip for the front is about 1/4 inch wide. I wrap the tread to the middle of the hook, bring the foam forward and tie it down in the center of the hook and tie in the sets of double legs on each side. I then bring the thread forward to just behind the eye and tie down the head.

The spider could very well be yours, Robert, as I think a lot of us tie similar spiders. Those spiders have a lot going for them: simple and quick to tie, very tough and they hold well to catch a lot of fish before giving up the ghost, float well without waterlogging, cheap to tie, and they work great.

I used to tie a lot of colors, but now tie mostly charteuse, yellow, peach, and tie a few with some other colors such as brown and black. Mine are all tied on Mustad 9672s and are all #10 and #12s.

What colors work best for you?

Regards,

Gandolf

Hi there,

Great article and although I don't know what a panfish is and I am glad we don't have venomous snakes here, I would like to know the pattern for the spider due to it hanging out of that nice basses' mouth. Even a picture would be great. Does anyone have these? I see it is chartreuse and yellow legs, very nice.

Thanks in advance,

Dwight

Hey Joe, I enjoyed the article as well as the pic too, nicely done...:)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Gandolf

I used to tie a lot of colors, but now tie mostly charteuse, yellow, peach, and tie a few with some other colors such as brown and black. Mine are all tied on Mustad 9672s and are all #10 and #12s. What colors work best for you?

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White is the best color for me but chartreuse and yellow do well at times also. I tie mine on Aberdeen hooks, usually size 8.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DBenner

I don't know what a panfish is Even a picture would be great. Does anyone have these?

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I think Jack Ellis said it better than I ever could in his book The Sunfishes:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jack Ellis, p. one & two

I still find a great deal of misunderstanding, even among native Southerners, about sunfish and their place in the ichthyological scheme of things. Adding to the confusion is the use of the vague, nondescriptive, often offensive term of "panfish" among fly fishers. I am afraid that we are forever stuck with that unfortunate appellation for these fine game fish ---I studiously avoid its use in my writings, but editors invariably insist on putting it back in the text or title. To lump all these diverse species together under the "panfish" umbrella makes little sense, since they vary widely not only in size and appearance, but in dietary and habitat preferences. I prefer the colloquial "bream", a corruption of the French breme, a type of European carp (Abramis brama). We probably owe the origin of the term to the early Cajun settlers in Louisiana. Even the misnomer "perch" is better than "panfish."

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Sorry, I don't have a photo of my spongy spiders.

Hi Dwight,

If you go to Ebay and type in "Brookside Foam Spider" a spider will come up that is something similar to mine. I think it must be similar to Robert's as well, from his post.

Mine differs in that it is tied with fun foam of the type from craft stores or Walmart. Mine also has the body divided with the thread nearer the center of the foam, but it does have the abdomen somewhat longer than the thorax. My spider is also a bit more of a block shape, whereas the one on Ebay has a longer narrower shape with an abdomen that tapers toward the rear.

If you do a search for "bluegill foam spider" you will find a lot of hits. You will find that there are a bunch of spiders that all vary a bit, but are all somewhat similar.

A lot of the ones you see used premade foam bodies that you can buy at fly shops. I don't think the ones made from the commercially available foam bodies are a bit better than the ones made from fun foam that folks like Robert and I tie. In fact, my experience is that the fun foam spiders hold up better than the ones made from the commercial bodies. Also, the fun foam is so cheap that the body of the foam spider is so cheap to tie that $3 of fun foam will tie virtually a lifetime supply of the spiders.

There are a lot of good patterns that are similar to the spiders. Peter Frailey's girgle pop, Jack Gartside's Gartside gurglers, and lots of others are out there. In bigger sizes they are good for bass, and a friend has caught bass up to 4 or 5 pounds on the same exact spider, in the same size and colors, that I tie (he showed me the one I now tie.)

Regards,

Gandolf