so i finally got kinda tired of making Kelly Galloup’s articulated flies… here is a link to his site if u are not familiar: http://flyfishingtheozarks.com/ awesome flies… just big, and heavy…
here are a few i tied for fun, to give you a better perspective, the 1st and 3rd pic, (the big guys) are tied using 2/0 hooks…
most of the other ones i made my buddies got a hold of, i ran out of flip flop to make poppers for the back end of the articulated bottoms up, however im still not completely out of my articulated body obsession.
with all this in mind…
anybody have and really good articulated flies in mind?
suggestions on assuring the rear hook stays in line with the front hook? (and/or proper leader tie in)
suggestions on keeping weight down?
any ever use a zoo cougar?
or anything else related to articulated flies.
always learning,
spoof
PS. sorry i haven’t been on in a while guys, work has been insane.
Although not an articulated streamer, Sculpzillas do have a stinger hook/extended body that provides some wiggle. I’m not a great streamer fisherman, but I had some real pig cutts interested in it fishing on the Snake a few years ago. Charlie Craven has a nice SBS:
On small ones I leave a monofilament loop, as pictured. I have also been experimenting (recently) with dacron line instead of mono, because it has more flex. Anyway, on the small ones with a loop I still use my normal knots: improved clinch knot if I’m in a hurry. Or I use another loop at the end. I don’t know the name. It’s a loopdeloop thing I learned from the bonefish guides in the Bahamas. They claim (rightly so) it results in more action on the fly. On bigger Sockeyes I use a small barrel swivel up front, as per the Slinkie. I tie them on a horizontal needle, or for the giant ones on a stainless steel wire stretched between two vises. That’s a bit extreme. But that’s how I am. :=))
Before Kelly was tying articulated patterns (Please understand, I mean no disrespect to Kelly.), many others had paved the way. One of the best of these tyers was the late, great, innovative tyer and instructor, Michael Verduin. Amongst Micheal’s original patterns was the “Ball Joint Popper”, which is an extremely effective articulated bass fly.
Terry and Roxanne Wilson have written about a number of Micheal’s patterns in their warm water oriented books and articles: Bluegill Fly Fishing & Flies, Largemouth Bass Fly-Fishing: Beyond the Basics, Smallmouth Bass Fly Fishing: A Practical Guide. (I have all three books and they are all great!).
One of the Wilson’s articles concerning this fly is quoted below:
“An alternative to conventional poppers came to us through the creative mind of the late Michael Verduin. A master tyer and well known to Federation conclave attendees, Michael created the “Ball-Joint Popper” to deal with those difficult mossed-in ponds of his native Texas in summer. First, he clipped a deer hair ball then attached splayed feathers to a shank of .014 stainless wire leader. He created a 3/16-inch diameter oval by putting both tag ends in the vice, and used a small Phillips screwdriver to form a loop in the wire. The feathered tail section is attached to the ball by a loop of 20-pound test mono. With very little manipulation the fly rocks and rolls within the weed pocket with the slightest rod tip twitch providing action to the feathered trailer even after action to the ball is suspended. That tantalizing action within the confines of a small weed pocket is a powerful inducement for big bass to attack the writhing mixture of feathers and deer hair.” http://thebluegillpond.com/archived-articles/BigmouthBuffet.pdf
Here is a short piece of video showing a Ball Joint Popper:
The roadkill streamer you can tie in your hands. Snell a hook. Skewer the hook into a fur strip (not a fresh one from the side of the road…that would be deeply sinful). Throw a surgeon’s knot around the front end of the fur strip. Crimp on a split shot. The Roadkill Streamer is one of the best big fish flies there is. Seriously. OK. Serious is an oxymoron coming from me. But I mean it this time. This is no BS. http://montana-riverboats.com/index.php?fpage=Fly-Tying/Sandy-Pittendrigh/Roadkill-streamer.htm
The Sockeye Shiner takes a little more moxy. Put a thin #12 beading needle in the vise horizontally. You can get beading needles at a sewing store. Snell a hook, with a small model perfect loop up front. Learning how to snell a hook takes practice and determination (really, it’s not easy to learn how to make a small loop and a fixed-length snell). But once you’ve got it you’ve got it. Lash the snell to the horizontal needle, just in front of the loop knot lump. Lash on some Crystal Flash and Pearl Ice Dub. Whip finish. Slide it off the needle. Crimp on a split shot, with a drop of CA glue in the crimp. Flatten the split shot with smooth face needle nose. Press on some stick on eyes (to the flattened split shot). Surround the eyes with CA glue, or epoxy.
RE> The Slinkie and Pig Sticker require mild Asperger’s madness on the part of the fly tier. The photos show the Slinkie and Pig Sticker tied on a monofilament snell. The photos are old. I use woven dacron now, which is a lot more flexible. I made the following photos several years ago. Can’t remember what it says. When I wind the end-to-end hackle I wind the thread with it. Tie off the hackle. And then wind the thread all the way back and all the way forward again, in order to lock the hackle down securely. Then I whip finish one last time and slide the whole works off the wire. A large hen hackle tail creates a fair amount of swim to the fly. On slow early season days on the Yellowstone, when the water is cold and the fish aren’t actively looking and moving for midges, trolling a Pig Sticker behind a drift boat is one of the few things that will still dredge up a good brown trout. http://montana-riverboats.com/index.php?fpage=Fly-Tying/Sandy-Pittendrigh/Lathe/The-Lathe.jpg
i understand the lathe, but i have to say i never thought a fly tied on one would look anything like that… (read many topics on lathe’s, never saw a finished product) thanks, as for snelling a hook… thats considered the strongest knot to tie a hook, (according to “knot wars”) and the only way i tie my hooks for spin fishing anymore:D and the perfection loop, not a problem… i was one of those weird kids growing up, spent my time making and de-tangling knots for fun, with that in mind, knotting different lengths is never a problem… its amazing how useful it is knowing over 100 knots…
thanks, and as if u couldn’t tell, i like your flies…
The Haymaker by Mark Hieronymus is a very effective leech pattern with a furled schlappen body, a wrap or two of marabou, a little Flashabou, and barbell eyes. Just spent the last week fishing them almost exclusively on the Kvichak River (outlet of Lake Iliamna) for large rainbows… Fished no more than four or five of them the entire week and only the straightening of two Daichii hooks retired them (not fond of Daichii right now)…
To do a proper how-to on the Haymaker is tough, though the fly is far easier to tie than it looks. Will see if I can put something together…
The articulated body schlappen is tied to the trailer hook and spun with one side of the loop prior to attaching it to the sacrificial hook. After spinning the hook is brought to the side and the two ends of the articulation loop are brought together. When the hook is released the loop spins with the schlappen (simple furling) and creates a durable, deadly leech body…
I like to tie Crystal Rattlesnake Streamers; favorite is Mottled Olive/Amber Crystal Rattlesnake, and Black/Red Crystal Rattlesnake (tied with Swarovski Crystals. Black/Blue Crystal for Bass; White/Clear Crystal for Steelhead. This is a variation off the Original Rattlesnake in Modern Streamers for Trophy Trout. I just added the Color/Light refraction factor. It has turned into a pattern that is beyond deadly for Trophy size fish. You can polay with all types of variations (Flo-Pink/Red Crystal…etc.).
