Fun with Foam

[white43]

Oh, never mind. JGW

[jeffnles1]

Thanks for the responses guys. I like what I'm seeing here.

Buddy and gang, with the lead eyes, is the foam boyuant enough to get the fly to float back to the surface?

What I'm thinking is a fly that would act something like a rapala where it floats, you twitch it, it goes a foot or so under the surface and then floats back to the top.

I'm going to attempt to tie some of the wiggle bugs Buddy has suggested.

Jeff

[Buddy Sanders]

Uncle Jesse,

Lots of smallmouth in Roosevelt Lake and Apache Lake, both on the salt river upstream from Phoenix. First smallie I caught on this pattern was on Roosevelt.

I now spend all summer in Colorado, just outside of Durango, at Vallecito Lake. It has a solid population of smallmouth, as well as some world class pike. That's where I do most of my fishing now.

Jeff,

Mine float back just fine, but not with the quick bobbing action of a Rapala. If you want that kind of action, you want a fly like the other ones posted or something like the one I'm posting here. This one is done with Balsa, and works pretty much like a Rapala when you give it a good jerk or strip.

Buddy

[Flyfish Dog]

I really like that. Nice ties Buddy! it has to be much improved version of the original. Will give it another try.

[jeffnles1]

Buddy,
Thanks.

I know what I'm going to be doing this weekend

Jeff

[bluefish]

Jeff, you may also want to look into the wiggle minnow. It's a pattern that is very, very effective and popular on the smallmouth and trout rivers of North Carolina and Tenn. It basically will act like a rapala and is very simple to tie once you have the technique mastered. Darrin on the CFF forum has made a tutorial of it. I've fished it for trout, smallies and stripers in the salt, and it worked on all.

Charlie

[BlueDun]

Bluefish: could you please post the link to the CFF tutorial for the Wiggle Minnow? I am currently working on those and could use the help!

[Uncle Jesse]

Thanks Buddy, I try to get out to AZ as often as I can in the summer. Gemrod's neighborhood is a favorite place of mine. I have a friend who lives in Mesa I like to fish with. We haven't been to Apache or Roosevelt either, just trout fish on Ft. Apache Reservation and at Big Lake. That's a nice look bug you have there, is that around a No. 6 hook or larger. Smallmouth on a flyrod has been on my to do list for while, pike are pretty scarce down south.

[Buddy Sanders]

Uncle Jesse,

That diver is built on a #2 33903 Mustad popper hook. The whole bait is around 5 inches, give or take a bit, nose to tail. But with the streamlined bucktail tailing and the lightweight balsa tial, I can still throw it just fine with my 6 wt., even with my 3 wt. if it's calm.

Buddy