weight of dumbbell eyes

[cbyak]

I am a relative newbie to flyfishing with less than a year experience in smallie river fishing.

I am tying flies to get to the bottom in some of the small and medium size rivers and want to know how heavy a dumbbell I can put on a woolly bugger when casting a six weight rod and line. I did it with some of the lightest dumbbells last year but I don't think they got to the bottom. So I sized up to a 'small 6/32 1/36' dumbbell. There are no labels on these numbers. Do I have a chance of casting this weight? I am expecting to have to have more of a slower casting technique with more weight. If there is a table somewhere that would be appreciated but I am not sure it's that simple. Any advise would be appreciated. Thanks!

[Bill Blake]

I think you could cast a pretty hefty dumbell with a six weight, but I'm not familiar enough with the different sizes to help you out much.

I know I tie my buggers with a lot of wraps of lead (substitute) wire and can cast them fine on a four weight.

[bonedog]

I fish a pond for Largemouths with a 6wt. I normally use the x-tra small (not sure the number delineation) for Clousers. It is a bit aggravating to cast even those but it can be done. Started tying most of mine with small bead chain eyes. They sure are more fun to cast but they may not work for what you are trying to do. Not sure if they will put you on the bottom in a river. Just giving a little heads up on the casting part of it.
My 2 centavos,
bd

Dear cbyak,

You should be able to cast flies with dumbbell eyes up to at least 1/24 ounce with a 6 weight. Those would be the second largest size.

What you cannot do, no one can even though they often try, is consistently cast those flies on 9 foot 6X leaders. Stick with 4X or larger diameter tippet and the flies will turn over nicely on a 6 weight.

Regards,
Tim Murphy

cbyak, One other thing you might want to try is tungsten cone heads. They sink very fast because they are so dense but don't throw your loop out of wack quite as quickly as the dumbell eyes.

[cbyak]

Folks,

I appreciate the feedback. I was trying the dumbbells because I thought they would work best on bottom by turning the hook up side down to minimize snags. I will make sure I am using the fatter leaders to turnover the fly.

Tim,

Can you tell me where you got the 1/24 oz from? I think that is exactly what I am looking for based on the type of rod and line I use. Thanks again!

Dear cbyak,

If you are looking for a source for the lead eyes just about any fly shop should have them. I found an old package with the following size information.

Size Diameter Weight

X-small 5/32" 1/50oz.
Small 6/32" 1/36oz.
Medium 7/32" 1/24oz.

This information is for painted lead eyes. You can also get 8/32 lead eyes but I have never seen them other than plain unpainted black lead. They weigh 1/18oz.

If you need a source to purchase the eyes check some of the fly shops that sponsor this site. If you don't have any luck finding them feel free to e-mail me and I can give you a couple of sources.

Regards,
Tim Murphy
jtmiv@comcast.net

Dear cbyak,

One other thing. Pay attention to the material you use for your leaders. I tie all my smallmouth leaders by hand and use nothing but Maxima Chameleon material. I also rarely use a leader longer than 7 1/2 or 8 feet for smallmouth. Longer leaders tend to collapse when tossing bulky or heavy flies.

I never use tippet smaller than 2X for smallmouth. In Maxima that tests out at 6lbs. Often when using larger flies I use 8, 10, or 12 pound test Maxima for my tippet. The Maxima is stiff and really helps turn over heavy or wind resistant flies. Don't worry about spooking the smallies, they are rarely leader shy when on the feed.

Hope this helps.

Regards,
Tim Murphy

[cctyer]

I would like to add something here that I noticed the other day. I tied up a Mcginness style wooly bugger that I saw in the orvis catalog which has a brown and yellow tail, a brown and yellow dubbed body with a v shaped medium yellow rubber strand tied on top and a small conehead. I tied it on a #10 and a #12. I noticed while fishing these flies that they tend to ride hook up because of the rubber strand on top of the hook, especially the #12 with medium rubber.
This is not a real heavy fly but got down fairly fast and was easy to cast. If you used a sinking tip or sinking line this might be something to look into for other patterns.
I agree with Tim on the leaders though, you have to shorten up and go heavier. I often use #1 leaders and #2 tippet for all warm water fishing. I never know when I might hook a sizable fish and don't want to loose him. Good luck with the Smallies, one of my favorite fish to catch. Chad

[This message has been edited by cctyer (edited 06 March 2005).]

[cbyak]

Appreciate your advise. I will check my leaders and the rest of your comments.