heres where the scorpios come from
Yes regular leg material. Just not the fine stuff.
Great looking flies in that box!
Don’t forget a Deciever or 3. I have had a few days where a they really saved the day. I like chart/white and gray/white best.
I also like a generic deer hair popper in white and chartruese when it gets hot. A bullet head hopper can be a beautiful thing to slap down as hard as you can then hang on.
thank you Normand, appreciate the link.
boyscout, those are some nice ties. what are you using for your weedguard?
Foxy Red Clouser
http://www.flyfishohio.com/Foxee_Red_Clouser.htm
Twisted Little Fox
http://www.flyfishohio.com/Twisted_Fox.htm
what are you using for your weedguard?
The cheapest 30lb mono I find in Walmart. That works great for size 2 to 1 hooks. However, on my 1/0s, I sometimes use 50lb. There are a few places I fish that have lots of thick cover and I found the 50lb is the only way to retain my sanity.
One thing tho, keep your hooks razor sharp or you will start missing too many fish!
BTW, in the early part of the season, I refuse to hit the water without leadeyed woolybuggers and Clousers in chart/white when in smallie water.
Boyscout
Great discussion and links folks. I’d add a few bend backs to the mix: http://www.ehow.com/how_4421272_tie-bendback-fly.html here’s a simple one in Yellow and Tan a great color combo most anywhere fresh or salt. He’s bent that hook a bit too much so take it easy on the outward bend. I like to use a stiffer deer hair for the hook barb side of the fly as this aids in this being an amost snagless fly immensely. A buggier body can be had by adding a wooley worm, palmered feather body and with or without rubber legs. This is my go to Carp Fly also in areas where lots of snagging rocks abound such as the Columbia Basin lakes. Two favorite color combos are the yellow and tan and the Grizzly with a Peacock body, and red tail tag, bendback, wooley worm with a deer hair weed guard of grey stiff hair. I tie them weighted and unweighted to match water depth and flow. I like the fly to land soft and the wooley body aids that but the lead wrap is sometimes needed for getting the fly down quickly to feeding Carp or in swifter water for Smallies.
pillcaster,
Didn’t read all the posts to your thread, so sorry if I repeat someones suggestion. I have posted a number of times here about the Black Ghost streamer. I have had tremendous luck on smallies with it. I like it with the maribou wing and about 4 strands of Krystal flash for a topping. Very easy pattern to tie. Had a ball fishing the East branch of the Ausable River in Upstate N.Y. with it. The smallies were in the slower water with the rainbows in the riffles. Was tossing a #6 or #4 BGS with my glass 6’ 5wt.Fenwick (FF605) and Pflueger 1492 reel, Cortland 333 DT Peach (my favorite line). It was work to toss that streamer with that short rod, but what fun, when you hooked one of those smallies. That was back in 1981, and I still remember the details. That was some good fishing on some beautiful water!!!
Best regards, Dave S.
I like to use a bass texas rig worm hook to tie a clouser type. Same reason as a kink shank, it makes it easy to place the eyes.
Ok Pillcaster…If noone else is gonna go full out on it… I will!..lol The box!..Where n who makes it? Looks like a sweet n packable deal… Not that i really need another box mind ya… but I may just want one!
Yo Bass_Bug, thanks for the Foxy Red Clouser link. That looks great and the twisted one ain’t bad either!
Thanks Bill,
Nothing fancy, it’s an old cigar box “customized” with thick foam http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/showthread.php?35022-making-a-C-F-style-fly-box-for-under-5-bucks
The box was deep enough I could put in a false bottom/shelf of 1/4" plyboard. Using the above link technique, the flies will hold upside down nicely so you can get a lot of flies in a small space. I dont think it’s water worthy, but great for storage.
Interesting fly Dave, the mother of modern streamers? http://business.virgin.net/fly.fishing/streamer-blackghost.html
Simple bead chain eyed wooley bugger. As always this fly gets me the most fish. Simple and easy to tie. Holds up well. Caught pretty much all ‘regular species’ of fish with it.Trout, Bass, blue gill, crappie, catfish.
Great discussion of this fly by lefty here http://books.google.com/books?id=j8c3Sklaz4AC&pg=PA94&lpg=PA94&dq=Bendback+Fly&source=bl&ots=QGBDbTCpjZ&sig=eVRXktqT50UiyZZGrtusZDg1wx8&hl=en&ei=_ypDTf7TK4H78Aa34uzVAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CEQQ6AEwBjgU#v=onepage&q=Bendback%20Fly&f=false
I might have to try this, last August there was a lot of grass in the river, this might be the ticket…
Don’t leave home without…
These would be my top 4 for both Smallmouth and Largemouth Bass. The sponge spider in white and black is a panfish fly but performs well when bass get off on a hatch or hoppers since bass don’t seem to need an exact match much of the time. My version of Edmonds’ Stealth Bomber gives me a diver that will pop on a hard twitch. The Whodat Fodder was designed to celebrate the Saints’ Superbowl win last year but turned out to be a good fish producer. It is a variation on Craig Riendeau’s Hairy Fodder. Finally they are still hitting Lefty’s Red and White.
Keep it simple, bottom bouncers, smimmers, top water. If you’re just starting out take a look at Tim Holschlags book, probably the best book written on fly fishing for SMB.
See if you can copy this one:
http://www.booglebug.com/html/bugs.html
The Solar Flare, Yella Fella, and Power Pumpkin Boogle Poppers are wonderfully effective and very durable hard-bodied flies, especially on river smallmouths. Good luck tying them yourself. BTW, is the plural of a trout fly flies or flys?
Here’s my balsa bream popper bodies. Carved balsa epoxied to a #8 Mustad 33903 and a top coat of epoxy.
And here’s a completed version I did for a swap a couple years ago (without a printed logo on top) . This was the worst paint job, so I kept this one for myself. The others had a better scale pattern painted on them. Stick on eyes after painting then sprayed with clear lacquered. Splayed hackle tail and hackle skirt. Bigger bodies get rubber legs and sometimes a little Krystal flash on the tail.
Technique-wise speaking, these are as easy to tie as the average simple dry fly. But with shaping the balsa and the epoxy, paint and lacquer dry time, they just take longer. But when you do the steps in batches it’s not that bad. If you buy the Perfect Popper foam bodies, you can cut the time down a bit further.
I have good results with a Couser type fly I tie that has a willow leaf blade attached to a swivel that is JB welded near the eye of the hook. Favorite color pattern includes using orange, chartreuse & green (i.e. fire tiger) bucktail.