All the discussion of the Predator http://www.flyfishohio.com/Predator.htm that we are having, brings up another question. I tend to try to work down to bass and panfish. By that I mean that I use a floating line and a weighted fly. When the bass go deep and hug the bottom on me my, reflex is to think texas rigged worm. That is a tough presentation on a fly rod.
:idea: Now sinking the line and floating the lure as we do with the Predator seems to achieve the same result or better. So, besides the Predator, what other floating patterns can I use with my sinking line? Our spinning and casting friends have floating worms, tubes, flukes, grubs, and lizards. Do we have something like that in flies?
Mike, the two others that Skip Morris referenced in the article I mentioned in the other thread were …the Booby Nymph and Randall Kaufmann’s Floating Dragon …Philip Rowley’s Draggin is another…
I think you could come up with many others by substituting foam for other materials but apparently they need to be of fairly good size to be buoyant enough.
We do have a fly in our warm water arsenal that will do the same job and catch the same fish as the Texas rigged worms our spin and casting tackle brethren use.
Try tying few Clouser Minnows in ‘worm’ colors. If you’ll fish them just like a worm, that is retrieve it by lifting or gliding with the rod, it will behave in the water just like the worm.
As far as using floating flies on sinking lines, try just folding a piece of foam over the head of a simple bucktail and securing it with CA glue. You can just use colored foam, or get as fancy with eyes and finishes as you want. Works great over rocks and vegetation for smallmouth bass.
If you want to ‘match’ a ‘fluke’ or soft jerk bait retrieve with a fly rod, try tying some ‘wiglebugs’ or ‘wigglefish’. These use foam to form sort of a diving lip that causes them to dive and wiggle through the water. Tie them with a longer bucktail tail, fish them with short hard rod tip jerks, and they will catch the same fish that the fluke does.
If you like to try them, drop me an E-mail, and I’ll send you some to play with.
I fish like that quite a bit for smallmouth on the St. Croix. This is the first I have seen the Predator though, I’ll have to try a couple.
What I was doing was using muddlers and other deer hair flies for bouyancy.
They work well but get saturated fast.
Then I tied up a couple of Jim Hatch’s Jelly Beans
and have been using those (or variations of) ever since. The foam would float them up and dive on the strip.
Another good producer is just lash a black zonker to a
hook and pull that along the bottom. Simple but the smallies like them.
I’ve always used a floating line, so I apologize for my ignorance…
If you used an extremely buoyant fly (like the predator), and a sink tip line, could you achieve a near snag-free sub-surface presentation? I’m imaginging the sinking line lying over the structure, and if you don’t strip in too quickly, the lure itself will always ride above the structure and won’t get hung up.
I think when you use a sink tip it’s somewhat harder to keep the fly down at the level you want as long…but if you want it more rapidly ascending… the sink tip would be a better choice.
I am going to try using some of my Minnow Crease Flies with the sinking line sometime. Some anglers are already doing that in saltwater using wider profile baitfish Crease Flies with good results on Snook. I just haven’t been able to get the sinking line to drag the Predator fly under unless there is current or wave action. The line sinks and Predator fly stays up on the surface even with a fluorocarbon tippet in calm water.
Robert, In that other thread I believe you used the term “slow sink” line. What rate line are you using? If it’s an intermediate that may be the problem. I’d use a Type III or maybe even faster sink.
Robert, In that other thread I believe you used the term “slow sink” line. What rate line are you using? If it’s an intermediate that may be the problem. I’d use a Type III or maybe even faster sink.
Yeah Phil, that’s most likely my problem. I need a faster full sink line or a fast sink tip for use with the floating flies.
Bear, I suppose (actually, I’m certain) all the purists will groan when they read this, but have you ever tried tiny (1/124th oz.) microjigs inserted in small 1-1/4" or 1-1/2" skirted hollow tubes? I primarily fish for bluegill, but that rig this year has accounted for LMB, three kinds of sunfish, rock bass, crappie, perch, channel cats, a carp, and last Sunday, just to see if it would work, a stocker rainbow. Other than the crappie, which usually seem to prefer solid chartreuse, the most consistent color combinations for me have been black bodies with either chartreuse or hot pink “skirts.” Everything was caught on either a 3- or 5-wt. rod.
Bear, I suppose (actually, I’m certain) all the purists will groan when they read this, but have you ever tried tiny (1/124th oz.) microjigs inserted in small 1-1/4" or 1-1/2" skirted hollow tubes? I primarily fish for bluegill, but that rig this year has accounted for LMB, three kinds of sunfish, rock bass, crappie, perch, channel cats, a carp, and last Sunday, just to see if it would work, a stocker rainbow. Other than the crappie, which usually seem to prefer solid chartreuse, the most consistent color combinations for me have been black bodies with either chartreuse or hot pink “skirts.” Everything was caught on either a 3- or 5-wt. rod.[/quote]
OBG,
I am groaning in delight. The tube is one that I especially wanted to imitate-“match the hatch.” It was right under my nose. Using some Fun Foam to form an underbody should give me the floatation I need. In the past I have had trouble with the leader slicing up soft plastics. I have two choices here. I can go with the relatively inexpensive tubes as is. I can build some tube foam flies with hare tails.
Others,
There seems to be an issue with sinking the fly. How important is a fast sinking line? How important is a short leader, say 3-4 feet?
I fish a Crease style fly off of either an intermediate or sinking line in fresh and salt water.
As someone already mentioned the length of the leader impacts how the fly works. For example, if you’re fishing a sinking line in 6 feet of water and using a 4 foot leader when the line is on the bottom, the fly is suspended 4 feet off the bottom. When you retrieve, the fly will head for the bottom, the faster the retrieve, the closer it will be to the bottom. Pause it and the fly rises. This does not guarantee a snag free retrieve, as I’ve found out, the line can get hung up.
One reason an intermediate line is popular in salt water is because it gives you the option of fishing either top water or subsurface fly with the one line. By knowing the sink rate, you can control the depth where the line runs by the speed of your retrieve. So a Crease Fly can be fished as a top water, or at different levels in the water column.
I fish other floating minnow patterns, along with sliders like Sneaky Petes, some Booby flies, and Siliclones.
The pike/musky guys have been using deer hair bugs, particulary divers on sinking lines for quite a while. Works really well for bass, too. I like to use froggy type patterns The diving and rising action is just as enticing below the surface as it is up top. Floating flies on sinking lines is also a good way to keep a fly suspended just above submerged weed beds, chunk rock, or other structure that otherwise eats flies faster than fish do.