"Experimenting with the weenie balls" is the name of a long thread dealing with this type of toy.
We made several patterns using the tentacles and one proved very successful for bluegill and bass (see picture of my father-in-laws bass today).
Thread base on the hook shank and super glue is absolutely the way to go. The fly in this shot has a tentacle tail and crystal chenile (motor oil/purple) body.
JW bass.jpg
Last edited by CoachBob; 10-25-2012 at 12:45 AM.
THE PUFFER WORM FLY
adapted from several other folks patterns under the names "weenie" "green weenie" "plastic worm" and others.
INGREDIENTS:
Tail: rubber strand from koosh ball (toy store) or puffer ball (Dollar Tree or Michael’s)
Body: (1) none, or (2) crystal chenile, or (3) palmered hackle
Eyes/head: bead chain or bead or conehead
Thread: color matching tail or body
Hook: Mustad 3261 size 8 or equivalent
TYING INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Cut one strand from the ball.
2. Heat a bodkin and pierce the end of the strand making a lengthwise hole at least 1/4 inch long
3. Thread the strand on the hook and put the hook the vise. Move the strand to the bend of the hook.
3a. If you want a beadhead or conehead, thread on the bead/cone before you put the hook in the vise.
4. Lay a thread wrap along the hook shank
5. Tie on bead chain eyes.
6. Put a drop of CA glue on the thread where you want the tail to stop and push the tail over the glue. (It is now permanently adhered at that point.)
[If you want a simple worm, put the glue directly behind the bead/cone and push the worm all the way to contact with the bead/cone. That ends that fly. Note: to do so and have a smooth fly, you have to push the heated bodkin farther down the strand.]
6. Tie on chenile or hackle and wind until you reach the bead chain eyes. Trim.
7. Whip finish and apply head cement.
FISHING TECHNIQUE:
Fish very slowly as a dropper on a popper, or
Fish alone very slowly letting the fly settle to the bottom then lifting the rod tip about a foot and waiting for the fly to settle back down. Repeat.
Bluegill/bream usually take with a hard tap, but may run with the fly instead. Bass take with a more subtle tap-tap as they suck in the fly.
Note: a bead chain, bead or cone head is necessary to make the fly sink.
For anyone interested, these toys can be found at the 'Dollar Tree' store. And, as the name implies, the toy is $1.00. It comes in several colors. Because of its price you can experiment with 'glueing it' with various types of glue, wrapping the base first or not, attaching it with a glue gun, melting it with a match and attaching it to hook, etc, etc., etc. and when you're finally satisfied that you've found the right way - you'll still have an abundance of material left.
Allan
Check out this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_X9OC1Fdq40
Last edited by Zipp; 10-25-2012 at 12:31 PM.
Nice tie.
Interesting choice for the hook.
I suppose it's got enough uniqueness to call it his design.
The crystal flash seems kind of a waste.
I've found it's as easy to run the hot bodkin down the inside middle of the tentacle lengthwise. You're going to mess up a few either way.
After many efforts to improve a design using the tentacles, the method shown in the video (relative to melting the tentacle for placement on the hook) is clearly the best approach.
A little crystal chenille between the tentacle and the bead/cone head makes a lot of difference in appearance. Not sure the fish will notice.
I just finished a couple with fine rubber legs tied in directly behind the head. Looks really good, but again, may not make a difference.
BTW, fine rubber legs are cheapest at jannsnetcraft.com but colors are limited.
Oh, and there are two sizes of tentacles. The larger ones I bought are on puffer ball ghosts from Michaels. Other puffer ball tentacles are much smaller, but probably better for some applications.
I use these guys as a tail on some crappie jigs. It makes a nice "stinger" tail..... look and feel of using plastics with the durability of a hand-tied jig. Crappie and gills love em!
The Green Hornet strikes again!!!
Stopped at the Dollar Tree last night and got me a green wiggly thingy, I have not idea what to call it. I cut off one of the legs and simply stuck the point of the hook (Eagle Claw size 14 scud hook) into the center of the severed end and pushed it in. I added a drop of CA and made a head of peacock. I know I will have to fish this one with something weighted but did I miss something.
Green wiggly worm.jpg
Want to hear God laugh? Tell him Your plans!!!
That's the general idea. Here's a quick shot of some I've been working on. These are, to say the least, rough, but they are all experiments. I really like the cone head look.puffer fly.jpg
"So many people are out there doing things they call environmentalism, but only because it's politically correct or has a lot of cache."
Here is my take on it. I was thinking of a large worm. Only fished the "fly" once. It could be cast with my 4/5 wt rod and 5 wt DT line. Had a nice brook come up and take a look at it. My method was to add one tentical, then a thread base, and finally the second tentical with some goop to hold it all together.
Last edited by Wingsdlc; 10-31-2012 at 08:24 PM.
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