Experimenting with the Weenie Balls

[Eight Thumbs]

Last night was the first chance that I've had to experiment with the Weenie Balls/Koosh Balls that I bought over a week ago. I tried some designs that are a little different than the now classic "Hairy Weenie." I believe that the classic weenie design wastes this material's best attribute which is a wonderful flexibility that becomes almost alive in the water. Instead of using the weenie spikes to wrap the body, I tried to leave the spikes free to work in the water as they descend in the water column. What I ended up with were several "flies" with between four and six worm-like appendages sticking out from the hook shank. The flies look like a glob of small worms threaded on a hook. Because of the soft nature of the weenie ball material, I believe that fish will hold the fly for a much longer period of time. Those spikes are really soft and pliable. We may actually have the equivalent of the plastic worm here when it comes to a life-like feel.

The bad news about the weenie ball spikes is that they are absolute h*ll to tie down securely on the hook shank. Even with several preliminary soft wraps, they torque almost completely around the shank. The spikes might as well be greased and the hook shank might as well be Teflon coated. It's the fly tying equivalent of a greased pole climb. Anyway, I spent five bucks on these things and I'm not quitting . I'll try my creations out in the next couple of days. 8T

[ducksterman]

I haven't tried tying this material yet....but wonder...

Did you lay down a bed of thread on the hook shank first?

If that doesn't work I wonder if a layer of crazy glue first and holding the material in place somehow..[soft wrap]...for a short time would work????

I'm with you... the motion quality should be utilized.

[Ken Y]

How about actually hooking the stuff on the hook like you would with real bait, then adding a drop of super glue on the end? If that isn't secure enough, maybe use some bait hooks? I like the Idea of using this material, although its expensive. please post more pictures of the flies you tie with it. Bass and trout will love it.

[ducksterman]

Expensive?????????????

[FishnDave]

Right on, E.T.! I also had troubles with the "tying it to the hook" part. I tried a drop of some type of glue I had (probably Flexament), and the rubber started to deteriorate, so I didn't try that again.

I haven't tried to use it as "legs" yet, or using more than one on the hook. All I've tried so far is just threading a single "leg" on the hook, so about a 1/4" sticks out beyond the hook bend, and the rest of the hook shank between the eye and bend is covered smoothly. Its surprisingly durable material!!

[Skip48]

Would love to see any pics you may have.

I am looking forward to getting some of these balls when I can find them. My town is very small and this area is in the sticks so hard to find some things.

Looking forward to pics please,

Skip

[Eight Thumbs]

I'm really pleased to see that there is still interest in the Weenie Balls. I really believe that this material has great potential for non-traditional flies. It has great movement and flexibility coupled with a wonderful, life-like feel.

Duckster

Your comments demonstrate that great minds think alike. The first thing that I did when I started tying was to lay down a good thread base from the hook eye to the hook bend. This was the only body material that I used on the fly. I haven't used glue because the spikes stay firmly attached to the hook shank once they're tied down. I soft-wrap a pair of spikes at the hook bend using three thread wraps and then tighten, letting the spikes spin. You can't prevent the spin anyway, so I let them roll. I then lift the front-pointing end of the spikes and lay in five or six wraps of thread right against the tie-in point to lock the spikes in just the way you do with the hair on an EHC. The problem isn't keeping the spikes on the hook, it's controlling where they end up. The spikes on the large weenie balls are about an inch long, so I tie them in with 3/4 of an inch facing backward and 1/4 of an inch of the fat end facing the eye.

Ken

I haven't tried threading the spikes on the hook but I may try a combination of threading and tying thread on my next tying sessions. BTW, the balls are very cheap. Only a dollar at Dollar Tree and similar stores. You get close to half a million spikes on each ball. I agree that this stuff should drive the fish crazy. I might even think about adding a little scent like garlic.

FishinDave

I feel your pain. It is a real challenge to get the spikes on the hook. See my comments to Duckster. It can be done and I really think the leg/wing/appendage thing is the way to use this material.

Skip

The Weenie Balls can be found in most Dollar stores. I got mine at the Dollar Tree for one hundred pennies each. They had a great selection of colors. You can also squeeze the balls to relieve tension when your thread breaks, you knock over your hook hotel or your bodkin rolls off your table and sticks in your foot.

Let me experiment a little bit more before I consider photos. I am a bit photo challenged when it comes to posting pictures on FAOL. I've got a pretty good camera but I don't really understand the whole process of uploading pictures.


Everyone:

We have a really good thing going with the Weenie Balls. If we can control the problem of torquing/rolling, we might even get some pretty decent looking flies. 8T

[WarrenP]

You all keep this up and I will have to go out and get some material to try for my self! Just a thought....what happens if you take the material and come up under the hook shank and bring the ends up on each side and tie one overhand knot in it on top of the hook shank? Will that help with holding it in place until you can tie it down with tying thread?

I am just going to have to go buy some material.

[Skip48]

I'm really pleased to see that there is still interest in the Weenie Balls. I really believe that this material has great potential for non-traditional flies. It has great movement and flexibility coupled with a wonderful, life-like feel.

Skip

The Weenie Balls can be found in most Dollar stores. I got mine at the Dollar Tree for one hundred pennies each. They had a great selection of colors. You can also squeeze the balls to relieve tension when your thread breaks, you knock over your hook hotel or your bodkin rolls off your table and sticks in your foot.

Let me experiment a little bit more before I consider photos. I am a bit photo challenged when it comes to posting pictures on FAOL. I've got a pretty good camera but I don't really understand the whole process of uploading pictures.


Everyone:

We have a really good thing going with the Weenie Balls. If we can control the problem of torquing/rolling, we might even get some pretty decent looking flies. 8T

Thanks, but we have 2 dollar stored in Hemphill and neither has any. I got my daughter-in-law to pick up a couple yesterday in a town she works in and should be able to get me a few more today. However I am not so lucky as to the price, but not really bad.

Thanks,

Skip

[Ray Kunz]

Gee, and all along I thought Weenie balls were an anatomical part of a Weenie.