Hi. Anybody ever use these for foam dremel bugs?
Those would be great I think. I would get maybe a green and a yellow for instance, cut or punch out one of each then cut each one in half. Take the yellow for the bottom, put on glue, place hook and then put on the green. You could also place your legs at the same time.
I have not but not reason not to, I’m still working on my supply of flip flops. It’s pretty much the same stuff. Be sure to buy good colors, you are going to be using it for a long time.
Guys, you’re killing me.
It’s all in the coming article.
Yes, those work great but they are 14c more per sq foot than softtiles.com
Bob
Last chance,
I have some of those mats in my fly tying closet. If you want to give it a try, I’ll send you one half of a yellow one and one half of a green one. you just pay postage. Let me know.
Jim Smith
I’ve been using those same mats for a number of years for making #10 beetle style poppers for panfish. The nice thing about them is that like flip flops, they are a denser foam with a little more weight than craft foam(s). This means that your bugs sit a little deeper into the water not just lightly floating on the surface film.
I’ve found that bugs made of heavier foams that sit “in” the water tend to have better hooking properties over the lighter (craft) foam bugs.
Just my 2 cents.
Bowfin47
P.S.
If ya’ use black, you can put small dot of “White Out” or a dot from a white paint pen on top of the bug, so ya’ can see the bug better when it sits in the shadows…
We bought a set of those at Sam’s for the grandgirls to play on. You could make a couple million flies from one of those.
On a 2’x2’ mat you will get 500 or so bass size plugs.
Are they too thick for panfish bugs?
You can cut a cylinder out and then trim it to the length you want it to be. My daughter gave me some 2" thick wedge flip flops, I get 3 or 4 bodies from a cylinder depending on the side of the hook and the design of the fly.
You use a smaller diameter punch and decide on the length you want for your foam head. The mats are 5/8" thick. That’s a bit long for a panfish fly, but you can cut the cylinder you punched out to any size you want. Cutting it in half to 5/16" will make for a small head appropriate for size 10-12 hooks. I generally use 1/4" for #8 hooks, which means I cut and throw away (or glue to another cylinder to add color) the remainder. Remember that the Harbor Freight hollow punch hand turn set (9 punches) includes 3/32" - 1/2" punches. The drill turn set (6 punches) includes 3/16" - 1/2". The smallest punches are great for ants.
INSTANT ANT PATTERN RECIPE (actually takes about a minute after materials prepared)
- Punch out a 3/32" piece of 5/8" foam.
- Trim the cylinder to 1/4" length.
- Cover hook shank with thread and stop in the middle of the shank then glue cylinder to thread with CA glue.
- Make 2-3 snug wraps of thread in center of foam cylinder.
- Tie in and wrap dry hackle (twice) around center of cylinder, tie down and trim.
- Whip finish at center.
Hey Coach. The shipping on an order from Softtiles is $14.
I always try to tell folks to order for their whole fly club to split the shipping. Ordering 1’x1’ mats can save some money, so I’m told. I order so much at one time I don’t notice. Sorry.
Maybe we can get a group order going and split the shipping?