These are simple patterns which are easy and inexpensive to tie.
Where I fish, I lose a lot of flies, so 'fast and cheap' are my
mottos.
The smaller ones are used in faster current. The medium ones
(shown above) are the real workhorses for me, and have come
through many times for both me and friends. It's my personal
favorite. The largest ones (below) are great also. I love to tie
and fish crawdads.
These patterns have caught all kinds of fish ranging from Smallmouth,
Largemouth, panfish, whitefish, pike and finally trout. This spring
I will be trying them out on carp - which should be a blast.
They are made of a inexpensive material called furry foam, it has been
on the fly tying market for quite a while now. It can be purchased from
almost any fly shop, and it comes in a multitude of colors.
These flies are a quick/economocal tie; I can lose a couple in the days
fishing and not have to spend hours at the bench retying with expensive
materials, (more flies for the buck).
Method:
First cut a stip of furry foam, the width that
you need for your fly.
Then split the end where the pincers are.
Tie your antennas on the hook, I like to use
ostrich because it moves even when your fly is not.
On the smaller versions I do not use any because they
are fished in faster moving water, where the larger
versions are used in lakes.
Lash down your foam with the pincers spread apart,
at this point you can add some hackle to create legs if
you wish.
Then simply fold over the furry foam on top
of the hackles and lash down once more. (I like to
add a drop of head cement every time I tie down;
makes it more durable).
Then add a little head cement to the rest of
the hook and wind the furry foam on, tie off near the
eye of the hook, and simply trim the tail.
On the smaller flies, (above) just split the foam tie
it down and wind it on the hook.
Green and black are my favorite colors.
The interesting thing about furry foam is that you can
experiment with it to change your patterns, I have even
tied in a rattle (Abdomen section), which gives it a
potbelly. I call it the potbelly dad (direct reflection
on me!)
At first the furry foam will want to float, just
dip it in the water and give it a couple of seconds
to absorb some water, and then you can cast it all
you like and it will continue to sink.
Go fish them, because they work!
~ Chris
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