Hi all,
I have a very hard time tying flies that include spinning deer hair so i thought to my self foam floats like a cork and my favorite salmon fly the bommer need to float like a cork so i tried foam for the body and it looks just like the real thing in my eyes. Any thoughts on this.
Thanks,
Salmon man 
im not familliar with salmon patterns, so i dont kno what the bomber looks like. it depends where and how the spun hair is being used. if its just for a body, it MIGHT work. if its for a head, like on the muddler, it will be very difficult.
i really dont think it will workâŚsorry.
well how do you plan on doing this? do you want to like wrap the hook in sheet foam, cuz that would definitley not workâŚbut if you take a chunk of foam, such as from a flipflop, stuck a hole in it, and slid it on the hook, that would work greatâŚi guessâŚnever tried it, but i know of patterns that use that method.
hope that helped.
Of course it will workâŚseveral ways you could do it too.
I know what the bomber is and thereâs no head but as far as a muddler head thereâs ways to do that tooâŚjust look at this weekâs fly of the week.
Salmon Man,
One of my most productive flies for stream smallmouth is a âbomberâ type fly tied with a yellow foam body and a grizzly hackle.
I just cut a strip of foam about 3/16-1/4 inch wide and wrap it to shape on the hook, add the palmered hackle, and itâs ready to fish. Absolutly unsinkable.
Never even seen a salmon outside of a fish market, but if theyâll hit a deer hair bomber, theyâll hit this one too.
Now that I think about it, this would be a perfect fly to use the Dremel Lathe onâŚhmmmâŚ
Good Luck!
Buddy
Buddy, my thoughts exactly.
SalmonMan, the foam should work for you just fine. Deer hair will begin to sink after a while and the foam should last alot longer. I believe Iâll cut some yellow foam plugs and shape them with my Dremel. Bomber flies are awesome!
A foam cylinder or shaped body should work. I like the idea of using a Dremel Tool to shape the body might even consider cutting shallow slits in the foam to wrap the hackle in. I can tie with deer hair but my attempts at Bombers have failed miserably.
I think youâll find that wrapping a foam strip on a hook shank really wonât float the hook, for a bomber the hackle will help a bit.
Iâve found that even foam flies will sink eventually, I treat any that arenât getting a coat of varnish or epoxy with a liquid floatant like Water Shed.
Philly,
You can float a hook by wrapping a foam strip onto it.
For a âbomberâ wrap the first layer tightly with some CA glue under it to lock it to the shank. Snug, but not tightly, wrap the additional layers until you have the shape you desire. For a bomber, itâs usually three for âshapeâ and a final layer to even it out some. Floats a hook without any hackle at all (I use the same âbodyâ for a slider type topwater, without hackle but including a rubber skirt tail).
I will admit that these arenât âsmallâ flies. I use a long shank hook, 6s and 4s for these.
I am going to âswitchâ to a turned body, however, as it will be smoother and the color options are inspiring. Faster, too.
Good Luck!
Buddy
Yes you are all correct, foam is great stuff to use on flies, Iâve used it myself, but spun and neatly trimmed deerhair looks fantastic and I do realise that fish have no artistic or aesthetic senses. 
The more times foam is cut, the less air pockets remain. So if you want it to float its better to shape a whole body than form it with thin strips for example.
As far as a foam bomber, its the most successful âpayback fly for those annoying trout that smack my indicatorâ I have.
Hi all,
Thanks for the suggestions, i was going to post a picture of the two flys to contrast them but was unable to get a good close picture . Any sugestions on this.
thanks,
Salmon Man 
If youâre not set up to cut foam plugs, and want to experiment along those lines, try something like these for starters:
http://www.michaels.com/art/online/disp ⌠Num=kd0769
Those are the large sized âfoam marshmallowsâ sold at craft stores. Thereâs a smaller size as well but I didnât see it listed online when I looked just now.
hi all,
I got a couple pictures that arenât very good but i was wondering how to post them. How do you do this. Any help greatly accepted.
salmon man.
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Buddy:
Iâll have to give it a try. I was just wrapping one strip on the pattern Iâm playing with.
Thwack:
Iâve picked up both sizes at Michaelâs. Iâm not sure how well theyâll take to shaping with a Dremel Tool. They are a different foam than the cylinders you see sold for fly tying. They do make great Bobâs Bangers though.
Youâll have to post your pictures on a web-site such as the following http://www.myfishingpictures.com/
It is a free web-site and they will give you instructions how to go about it. Have a look around and familiarise yourself, it is not as complicated as it seems.
If you want to do it right away on FAOL, send them by E-mail to me and Iâll do it for you.
Philly,
Somewhere around here, I have both sizes of the foam marshmallows alsoâŚhavenât tried turning them yet but intend to. Jim Hatch seems to use a variety of foams when he turns (including sandal foam) so I figure these are at least worth tryingâŚ
Also, the small ones could be tied on as-is then colored with fine point permanent markers to quickly create a frog, bumble bee, etc