Sleazy Steve

[lastchance]

Frank. I just bought the ones from Harbor Freight. Are you saying they won't work for me? I won't be cutting any 4 inches long.

Where can I by the foam to cut? I know sandals are an option.

[Kaboom1]

Frank. I just bought the ones from Harbor Freight. Are you saying they won't work for me? I won't be cutting any 4 inches long.

Where can I by the foam to cut? I know sandals are an option.

Since Frank answered the question to me, I will answer for him...try craft stores for the foam. I buy the children's play blocks. Come in several colors and can be sawed for the thickness that you want.

Brad

[ducksterman]

Brad,
What do you use to "saw" for thickness?

[lastchance]

Yes, he is still in business, as of a month or so ago. My understanding is that he is a long-haul truck driver, and he may be on a "haul".

With respect to your last question, it is not the kind of fish (trout vs panfish/bass) that is important; it is the size of the mouth, and the typical feeding behavior of the species.

IMHO, it is criminal that such a profound "artificial" line has been unintentionally created between panfish/bass flies and trout flies. Those of us who live in the South have the same groups, and in some cases actual species (e.g., we have the large mayfly Hexagenia limbata in the freshwaters around Houston Texas), of aquatic insects that inhabit "trout" waters, and our fish feed on them too. Thus, any "Trout" fly you have in your boxes will catch our panfish! One can have a blast catching sunfish using a #12 Adams, or a #14 Mosquito pattern.

Thanks, Sage. I do know that trout flies will catch panfish and it's the size of the mouth that matters. I just wondered on what size hooks would you tie foam flies for panfish. I was thinking gills when I posted the question, but I guess I could tie crappie flies larger.
Thanks,
Bruce

[aged_sage]

First, to answer the question posed to me by lastchance: NO, that is not what I was saying. The Harbor Freight punches are more than adequate to cut cylindrical bodies for foam bugs. The just won't work for my balsa bodies. Brad did a great job of answering the part about the foam

To his excellent answer, I will add the following: for foam 6mm, or more, thick, look for the foam 'door hangers' in the craft stores. You can also buy the thickest sheets available in the colors you want and glue them together to give you the desired thickness (use your imagination and create your own palette of colors for your bodies . Use a 'contact' glue for this, and place a heavy weight (bricks, etc.) on the stack for a couple of hours to serve as 'gluing camps'. You can also get sheets 6mm thick from: craftsuppliesforless.com.

Now to the question posed by Bruce. This is a very tough one to answer as the answer depends to a great extent upon the area where you live and the size attained by the panfish in your area. However, for a short answer, I tie most of mine on both #10 and #8 hooks. I have tied them down to #12, and have caught numerous 2-4 lb. large mouth bass on them. I have also caught bluegills on bugs tied on #1 hooks. Perhaps this will give you some insight into the uncertainties in my answer.

At least in my part of the world, crappie are, by-and-large, only rare surface feeders. Thus, I do not tie foamflies for them.

Frank

[lastchance]

Thanks, Aged-Sage. When you drill the foam do you drill down on a piece of wood? What contact glue do you use? I have a 3M spray can collecting dust, will that work? Do you sand your foam cylinders to change it's appearance? Your're right crappies eat below the surface. It's been so long since I've fished for panfish I've forgotten that.

[aged_sage]

Lastchance...

Let me clarify; I do not make cylindrical foam bugs. I do make pencil poppers out of balsa, which start out as balsa cylinders.

The majority of my foam poppers are made from essentially square blocks of foam, as I want a flat bottom! I sand them using a Dremel tool and their sanding drums. An aside is mandatory at this point: The grit on their sanding drums is way yonder too coarse to do a good job. They come in 120 and 180 grits. As the drums are 1/2" tall, I cut 1/2" wide strips of 400 up to 1000 grit sandpaper, and glue these over the grit on the new drums. I also save all drums (original) where the grit has been worn off to also cover.

I use any one of the following contact cements for gluing the sandpaper to the drums, and for gluing foam sheets together. The oldest, and perhaps both the best and the most widely known, is Barge. Back in the old days when automobile tires had inner tubes, Barge was the standard glue for attaching cold patches. It was, and still is, widely used by cobblers when putting new soles on shoes. Other equally good ones are Pliobond, and DAP's Weldwood Contact Cement. The latter now comes in a water-clean-up formulation; but, I have not used it yet, as I still have an ample supply of the original. I have, however,heard good things about it.

One word of caution! When you use a contact cement, you best have the two parts in perfect alignment BEFORE you touch any part of them together! You are more apt to damage the surrounding material than you are to separate the glued portions.

As the to-be-glued sides of both pieces are coated with the cement, and it is supposed to be given some time to dry, I always allow 20 minutes drying time BEFORE I join the parts. Just read and follow the instructions.

I would post photos; but, unfortunately, this site is the most user UNfriendly of all that I belong to with respect to posting photos.

Frank

[Waders]

I have a full set I would be willing to sell if you don't hear back from Steve.