Hi JZ,

Just a couple of thoughts on your Crease Flies. The first thought is that pike are hell on flies. With a soft craft foam fly and no or little epoxy, a single fish is likely to ruin your fly. Why go to a lot of trouble making them pretty and complicated? If they look good to the fish, that's all that matters.

Second thought, what Buddy said! Sticky-backed foam and mylar or foil wrapping looks really nice and is really cheap. Hint here: after you carefully match the sticky back foam and the mylar, roll it a couple of times with a rubber craft roller to get a good bond between the two materials. Three or four colored Sharpie markers can also add some nice blended color on white or light green craft foam.

Third thought, the Winter 2006 issue of Fly Tyer magazine has an article titled "Souped-Up Crease Flies" that answers a lot of your questions. Best tip in the magazine is to give your flies a dip in Minwax Polycrylic after you're done painting but I believe the pike will win out over the polycrylic? Hope this helps. I love Crease Flies and use them all the time for LMB, hybrids and stripers. I also get a real thrill out of making them since they sell for 5-6 bucks apiece in most catalogs and stores. And yes, I do understand why you want to make them pretty; I do too (but not for pike). Good luck with your pike. 8T