Swisher's Foam PMX SBS

[ScottP]

Manwich on a hook; with that much foam it's gotta be a winner (at the very least an indicator for anything up to a downrigger ball). Golden stone colors here; adjust to suit your needs. Again, a dearth of info on the pattern, just some interweb pics; my apologies to Mr. Swisher if I got it wrong.


hook - Mustad 9671 #6
thread - UTC 140 tan
body - 2mm foam (3 layer sandwich)
underwing - Krystal Flash pearl
wing - elk hair
thorax - Ice Dub golden brown
post - Congo Hair white
hackle - grizzly
legs - medium rubber cornsnake



Part 1

mash barb and wrap shank with thread back to point above barb





in the pics it looked like the body was a 6mm piece of foam; since I don't have any, 3 layers and Super Glue will have to do; taper the butt end







a little Super Glue on the shank to help hold things in place





I slit the bottom layer of foam with a razor (not shown), to help seat the foam; let the butt extend hook gap width past the bend and tie in





over the top and create the 1st body segment





repeat





bind foam down on front half of hook shank





tie in some Krystal Flash and fold back

[ScottP]

Part 2

clean, stack a clump of elk hair; measure for length (let it extend a bit past the butt)





tie elk in and trim butts





bind wing with non-tox wire; tie in Congo Hair, post it up and tie in hackle (shiny side out)









dub thread, dub thorax; tie in legs, finish with thread at post position

[ScottP]

Part 3

grab hackle and start wrapping post from top down





cram as many wraps of hackle as you can; let it hang down, take 2 horizontal turns of thread at base of post





half hitch x 2, SHHAN, trim KF, post, legs, head and you're done



dorsal



ventral




Regards,
Scott

[fritz]

nice work ScottP

[Allan]

Scott,

Nice work and SBS. Question: Do you really think this pattern is worth the effort? Will it outfish similar ones or even very simple patterns that have a similar shape, coloring, action and floatation? Yes, I realize we probably tye for ourselves as much as or more than the fish we chase, but I'm asking about effectiveness. Your honest opinion.

Allan

[ScottP]

Allan,

I've never fished this fly so I can't vouch for it's effectiveness; looking at it's shape/profile/footprint I'd guess it would do pretty well, maybe better than some and not as well as other patterns.

If I was basing my tying on effort vs effectiveness, I'd cut down to just a few patterns and speed up my tying. There are times when I do this (especially when I'm tying in the front seat of my car, waiting for the hatch to start), e.g. I can fish a CDC & Elk through a good portion of the day as an attractor and a lot of the cycle of a caddis hatch and stay on top, which is where I prefer to fish.

Tying the same flies over and over, though, is not something I care to do, so I start playing around, poking at this and that just to see how it's done and, hopefully, learning something in the process. This fly's a prime example; I doubt I'll tie too many of them (unless it really does prove to be THE FLY), but it is fun to stretch things out, put a few in the box and see what the fish think.

Regards,
Scott

[Allan]

Hi Scott,

I tend to agree with your concept of inventiveness and boredo0m in tying the same fly(ies) over and over. However, there does come a time when you do need to actually fish the flies you've come up with if only to learn if they perform, not necessarily catch fish.
Several years ago FAOL published a fly I tyed for FOTW. I claimed it was somewhat of an original and that I had not fished it yet. I asked that if anyone tyed and fished it to let me know about the results. Well, no one responded but I did fish it and quite successfully I might add. However, it seems the posting of that article kind of stired up a hornets nest because some people posted that I had 'copied' the pattern from another tyer. I had not and in fact, the first time I had tyed that fly had been over 20 years prior and before that other tyer even tyed. His and my patterns were 'somewhat' similar, but aren't they all? There were a few major differences. Anyway, I responded to those claims and actually described the article and book that influenced my tying of the pattern. Just goes to show you, LOL.


Oh, if the saying, "Necessity is the mother of invention", is accurate in fly tying/fishing, I believe that the 'necessity' is for our own benefit. Not for the fish.

Anyway, nice fly.

[Arnie]

Scott,
You're killing me!! I'm trying to stock up on my usual patterns for this Summer, and you keep coming up with this stuff that I simply HAVE to try! LOL!! Beautiful job as always. I'm a little in Allan's camp on this one. I think I will simplify it a little. To me it begs the question, "If all that foam and elk hair won't keep it on top, will the parachute hackle make any difference?" I hope we have a chance to compare notes after the Summer is over. I know some of these are going along to Wyoming and Montana.
Thanks for a great tutorial.
Arnie

[James Smith]

Scott, What a great series of photos showing all the steps to tie this pattern. Thanks for sharing. Jim Smith

[Allan]

Scott,

Just following up after I thought about the above pattern. It appears to be somewhat difficult to cast especially on large water and if there's wind. What size tippet do you think you'd need in order to cast it?
Also, and this would be heretical, the fly looks like it could be and possibly should be used with spinning gear? Just a thought, LOL.

Allan