I know, I know, I got an idea and that’s usually rare and dangerous. :twisted: I’ve got some sheets of foam rubber from wally world, its in the craft dept. comes in an assortment of colors and a bunch of them. I was tying some simple pellet flies, (I can’t get deer hair to spin at all:() So, I took a brown sheet and used a hole puncher on it. I then took the little round pieces, used my bodkin to put a hole in the middle. I wrapped the thread with a few wraps, put some glue on it and slid the pieces over the hook and down the shank into place. Presto, perfect little pellet shape.
Then I really got to thinking. :twisted: I took a black and yellow sheet and did the same thing trying to make a bee. I don’t think the bee will work, however, I’m thinking tonight I’m going to tie on a maribou tail, put on a few “holes” Maybe make stripes or a solid color body with different color heads. I even thought about cutting out a piece a little larger than the “holes” to making a popper or something like that.
This may be an old idea to you guys, but it was new to me. And I know there are ALOT more talented fly tiers on here than I am, so I was interested in your opinion. And on the off chance it is a new idea, I can’t wait to see the flies you guys can come up with.
I tied up a bunch of panfish size poppers doing this. I’ve now got a tray full of foam disks in 10ish colors but I lost the box I had the finished flies in and haven’t got around to making more yet to post a picture. The idea works well though, either make them all white/yellow/any light color and draw in whatever you want to add with a fine tip marker or alternate colors for a stripped effect or a contrasting head. If they made hole punches in different sizes it would be even better but I suppose theres no real need for them and making them just for flytying means they won’t be worth the cost to me. Just be careful about blocking the hook gap with too many pieces.
I thought about a leather punch today, It’ll make differnt size holes. Any farm supply store should have them, I work at one and we have a good one for about $14 but we have had one for around $6. We quit carrying the $6 one because customers complained. It didnt make holes in leather very well, but I’ll be it would work great on foam. Lotech, if you could see how pitiful my flies looked you’d know why I’ve never posted a pic of a fly before. However, I’m going to tie some more tonight and if one turns out fair I’ll post it for you. (don’t hold your breath though:))
