I've been playing with foam for a while now. I punch cylinders
out of flip-flop type sandals, kids foam puzzles, and any other
source of closed cell foam I can find. They are basically
Clousers with the foam head added in lieu of the weighted eyes.
I've found that the bigger the eye, the better they like it.
You can make minnows, frogs, or just about any other fish fodder
you can think of out of the foam.
I normally tie the larger ones with wire hooks as I fish them on
a 6 wt. and like to keep them light. I normally let the fly/lure
rest until the ripples disappear. Then I strip it about a foot
or two and rest it. I give it a few twitches and then I strip
again. The tail will hang vertical at rest and swim on top when
stripping. The bass and pickerel here seem to like that action.
I also use them with good results for stripers when they are
feeding on the surface. White heads with green and white buck
tail has been my best color here. For whatever reason, the
little red yarn beard seems to add to the number of strikes.
You can punch the foam out with a small drill press or even a
hand drill by chucking a piece of sharpened copper tube or
antennae sections in the size your want. It glues together
instantly with CA type glue from the model shops. You can
make smaller cylinders of contrasting colors and slice eyes
off and glue them on or you can use whatever suits your fancy.
You can also tie monofilament type weed guards on these things
and drag them through the lily pads and structure. Hope this
provided some food for thought in your query for bass/pike
type flies/lures. ~ Jim Hatch
Please check out the Fly Tying Section, on the Bulletin Board, here at FAOL too.
If you have any questions, tips, or techniques; send them to
publisher@flyanglersonline.com
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