Sometimes the old adage “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it” doesn’t apply, especially to fly fishing. I primarily fish warmwater for bass and bream in the lake I live on. For the past few years, I’ve relied almost exclusively on leech patterns simply because they have been so productive for me. I still tie other patterns, but when I’m out in my kayak, I always seem to go with my go-to pattern; a black leech. I went out for a couple of hours last evening, and the for some reason the leech patterns weren’t doing the trick. I was using my 3wt outfit, targeting the big bream in the lake and picking up the odd fish here, but nothing like I should be getting. Finally, after an hour or so with only 5 or 6 fish, I switched over to a floating minnow pattern that I tie. I had almost forgotten how much fun it is to fish topwater for bass and bream. The action picked up the minute I tied on the minnow pattern, and the takes varied from a nice splash from bass to a quiet sip from the big bream; almost like a big trout taking in a mayfly. I actually beat my personal best record with a 14 1/2 inch long redear that barely made a ripple as she sucked in the fly. Now I’m psyched to get out there again this evening, maybe with my 5wt to make casting a bit easier.
Sorry about that. This is sort of one of those made-up patterns.
Hook: Size 6 2XL hook Thread: You can use any size or color of thread that works for you. I like to use very thin monofilament thread as it tends to disappear when I add head cement. Tail: Small clump of appropriate color fur. This is fox fur, but you can use whatever you have available Underbody: Thin sheet foam found on electronics equipment. I cut it into 1/4 wide strips, tie it in at the eye of the hook, then wrap it back to the tail and back up to the eye and tie it off. Don’t wrap too tightly as you’ll squeeze out the air. Outer Body: Plastic canvas yarn found at Michaels or Hobby Lobby. I use white because I color the way I want it to look with markers. I make these and color them with permanent markers depending on the look I’m going for. Eyes: 3D stick-on eyes. I use Marine Good to stick these on as it seems to work the best for me. Protective Coating: I’ve coated this one with five-minute Epoxy. This protects the canvas yarn from snagging on fish teeth.
Steps: Tie in the tail material, then tie in the white plastic canvas yarn at the base of the tail. Wrap the thread to the eye of the hook and tie in the thin sheet closed cell foam wrapping material. Wrap the foam sheet down to the tail and back to the eye of the hook, tapering it a bit at the tail and the head of the pattern. Tie off the foam and clip the excess. Wrap the plastic canvas yarn to the eye of the hook being careful to keep a smooth non-overlapping pattern. Tie it off at the eye and add a couple of half-hitches or whip finish. Color with a marker however you want, glue on the eyes and give it a thin coat of epoxy. If you add too much epoxy, the fly will loose buoyancy, but that is actually not a problem. I vary the amount of epoxy depending if I want the pattern to float, have neutral buoyancy or sink. I use all three depending on the fishing conditions and what I’m fishing for. These “flies” are virtually indestructible and usually last until you lose it in a submerged branch or on a fish. I simply use fast six in strips with 2-3 second pauses between strips. Great fly for big gills, bass and crappie.
appalachian angler, Yes you are correct, stump knockers is one of the common names for Red Ear Sunfish. They are the largest of the bream hat I know of at least in Georgia. That said, I read an article earlier this year where a man in Arizona caught a 5 lb 2 oz Blue gill which is a new world record. I can’t even imagine how that fish would fight on a 3 wt.
That is a GREAT-looking fly! Obviously different materials, but rather similar in finished looks to the Myakka Minnow, in a floating version. I’ll have to give this a shot, as I’m hoping to target Redears here in Iowa in a couple weeks.
14 1/2"!!! WOW!! I’d LOVE to see the picture of that one, if you took one?
I have enjoyed using this fly. The pond I most often fish, in July starts to have heavy aquatic plants, preventing submerged fishing. So, it leaves me with foam or poppers. Which is ok, but this fly has added a nice new dimension to my fishing there.
After a little experimenting I was able to make them so they float about 3" below the surface, which is above the aquatic plants. It is a fun fly to fish. The BG and Bass eat it up. Great fun with my CGR 466!
