Fun with Foam
Hi guys and gals,
I put a couple foam bodied warm water flies on my blog today.
The first one is essentially the FAOL gurgle pop and the second one is something I'm playing around with. It's not there yet but I'm going to keep working on it.
Anyway, if anyone's interested, the link to my blog is in my signature line.
Jeff
Lotech,Originally Posted by Lotech
I haven't fished it yet but have tested it in a bowl of water. At first, as I feared, it floated on its side because the weight of the hook point didn't offset the floating of the foam lip.
So, I superglued some lead wire to the foam lip and it floated as intended.
Now, I need to figure out a way to make it float right because all the gluing and piecing together isn't going to make it.
On my blog, a fellow suggested making the lip out of plastic. That may work but I have to figure a way to shape the stuff and get it tied onto the hook. I'm thinking plastic from a water bottle may be the right thicknesss. I suppose I could cut it with a little "tip" to tie onto the hook and then use thread to force it into the right angle.
After seeing the prototype in the water and twitching it in the bowl, it does what I wanted it to do which is go slightly under water and then float back to the top.
If I can figure out a way to tie this fly without as much gluing pieces together I think I may be onto something.
The next step is to put some flash on it and i'm thinking silver or gold tinsel to cover the foam.
I also need to make it a little thicker. I may tie it on a 1/0 stinger hook, use a couple more thickness of foam wrap and put a strip of lead wire on the bottom of the hook for some counter weight to keep it floating point down.
I like to play around and make up stuff that isn't necessarily in the fly tying books. Some of my experiments (like the tinsel streamers I tie) end up working great and being real fish catchers, others just end up being an ugly mess of stuff tied to a hook. I prefer not to talk about those much.
Jeff
Jeff,
Neat idea thanks for the link, I'm sure you'll get the kinks worked out of it. For a flashier fly, have you considered any of the metallic craft-store foams (silver or gold) or stuff like Loco-foam which comes in a wide variety of metallic colors?
For the lip, you may want to consider Clear Cure Goo; I haven't used it yet, but it's supposed to be a cheaper alternative to Tuffleye, and easier to work with than epoxy. Here's an example of someone using it to put a lip on a fly:
http://www.stripersonline.com/surfta...d.php?t=710975
Also, here's another fly to consider, Blaine Chocklett's Disco Fever:
http://flytyingworld.com/article-det...iscoFever.html
I've had good luck with them for bass; if you turn the disk around on the bottom front, it acks as a lip and imparts some crazy action to the fly, although I never got it balanced well enough to act like a pure diver.
Regards,
Scott
Scott,
I have some "sparkle" foam I'll try. I haven't seen metalic foam but will look for it. I think that would be a good idea.
I like the look of those clear goo lips.
The lip thing is the part that I'm trying to figure out.
I think this fly, if I get it figured out, will be a good fish producer.
Jeff
pics
Jeff,
I left a comment on your blog. Here are some pics of what I was talking about.
[IMG]www.photobucket.com[/IMG]
[IMG]www.photobucket.com[/IMG]
Please notice the clear plastic lip, it was cut from packaging. It's about 3/8'' long by 1/4'' wide , then is shaped after the rest of the fly is finished. Hope this is helpful.
greenlantern,
Wow, that's what I was thinking about.
How did you attach it to the hook? Did you cut a tab on the plastic that would be tied to the hook?
How does the fly work?
By the way, thank you for leaving the message on the blog.
Jeff
Yes, I did leave a tab on the plastic. It looks like a tiny shovel. Tie in a good thread base and kind of fold the ''handle'' along the hook . Then wrap it in really tight and superglue it. you will have to experiment to see what proportions work best for you. Leave the ''blade oversized and trim it when the rest of the fly is done. I have no idea how it works I only tied it last night.
Ok, I tried it in the sink and it floated but didn't dive very well. I,m thinking the bill needs to be larger something like a micro crank bait. Some of those have very large bills. It also may need to be tied on with a loop knot instead of a trilene knot, and use an extremely limp tippet to get the action we want.
If you are looking for a crankbait type action, a fly that will wiggle and dive and remain under the surface if you work it fast enough, something designed like the first fly pictured might work for you.
If you want a fly that wil dive and then pop back up after a twitch or pull, designs like the second two are worth a look.
To keep the bait from rolling on you when worked, you want to keep as much of the floatation, whether foam, cork, or wood, above the hook shank as possible. If you put a diving lip on a bait constructed with the foam wrapped around the hook, it will always roll on you unless you add quite a bit of bottom weight to it.
Using the shape of the foam to form the diving lip is usually preferable to adding some type of external tied on lip. You'll have more control over the action and the bait will be less likely to twist in the air when you cast it.
Good Luck!
Buddy
It Just Doesn't Matter....
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