Going fly fishing on Independance Creek in West Texas. We have the State’s native fish there, the Gaudalupe Bass. These critters hit green tube worms or just tubes like crazy. What would be the closest fly to this type plastic bait I could cast?
Thanks and Gig’em
Mark Fairchild
MarkF - Type in the Keword Search here to the left, type in “San Juan Worm”. You will get several pages on “how to” which should match your plastic hatch. Good luck, Jonezee
Mark:
There was a pattern called the Fly Fur Minnow in the Autumn 2001 issue of Fly Tyer Magazine tied by Will Ryan that specifically was supposed to imitate a plastic tube bait. It was basically a dumbbell-eyed marabou & and fur creation that was very bulky in the body area.
I also fish conventionally for bass and use tubes a lot with great success. IMHO, any bulky bodied fly in an medium olive color should come close to what you are looking for. A simple big & bulky Woolly Bugger streamer tied with several layers of chenille on a wide gap straight shank worm hook may be all you need.
One of the things that make tubes work so well on bass is their softness, slow rate of fall and ability to trap and release air bubbles on decent. With that in mind you may want to experiment with making a marabou tailed streamer with an under body of foam. That would lighten the fly, add some buoyancy and you could fish it Carolina style with a sink-tip line.
Have fun!
Bamboozle - I’m not from Carolina nor fished there. Are you referring to a double fly set up? I suppose your right about the wooly bugger as compared to a San Juan worm. I often fish the SJW double on the lakes, works pretty good. I will use two different colors. Since most tube worms have a spinner or attractor attached a piece of mylar on the fly would probably help with the bass also?
I find the Hard Hackle Worm works great for LMB where ever I fish. I was FOTW #289. It is in the Fly Tying Archive. Just type Hard Hackle Worm in the Search Box. Hope this will help. John
I wish you all everlasting flies and tight lines.
Jonezee:
A Carolina Rig is a soft plastic rig used on baitcasting or spinning tackle where a worm/lizard/tube is attached to a leader which is attached to a swivel. Ahead of the swivel is a weight and sometimes glass beads to make noise. The swivel keeps the weight from sliding all the way down to the bait.
When fished, the weight precedes the bait by the length of the leader and the bait suspends above the bottom. It can be a deadly technique and can be replicated with a semi-buoyant fly on a sink tip line or a leader with a butt section of lead core line. I’ve done it and it works!
If I understand MarkF correctly, the tubes he is referring to look like this:
[This message has been edited by Bamboozle (edited 26 June 2006).]
Boozle: You got that straight! The exact thing! (and the Watermelon is killer at this creek) I have never seen fish so tied to one form of lure and w/in that catagory, plastic, the tube. But, no matter what I think they LOVE IT!
Bam is also correct on the Carolina setup, and failed to mention my favorite, the TEXAS RIGGED WORM never guess what state I am native of.
I am gonna try and find as close to the Fly Fur Minnow as I can (not tried tying yet).
Thanks for the Help!
Thanks and Gig’em
Mark Fairchild
When my pop pulls out his tubes for smallmouth. I pull out a fly that uses two marabou feathers as a tail and a body wrapped with a few layers of yarn. I coat the yarn with silicone. Silicone coated yarn is the closest material that I have come across to mimic a rubber bait and it makes the fly whicked durable.
Who has time for stress when there are fish to catch.
Nick
Bam, thanks for info and claification. I guess thats why Bass Pro Shops catalog is so thick and heavy with items to catch the poor ole bass. I learn something new every time I log on here. Jonezee
Bassman’s right. The Hark-Hackle Worm is one of the dealiest flies there is for large fish (or ones that think they are). I just tied up a few in white last week and used them in S. Ga. in salt-water and WOW, did the specks ever tear them up! This color is also deadly on stripers in both salt and freshwater. Kudos to Mr. Richard Komar for inventing this pattern. He is also the inventor of a few more of my favorite (and lethal) patterns, the Black Widow, and the Texas Bullfrog.
Imitating Tube Baits is easy. Just tie on another of the “Deadly-Dozen”…the Wooly Bugger in the appropriate size and color. It will imitate one just fine in the water. If you tie, you might make the marabou tail just a bit longer than normal, say about 1/2 the shank length. You’ll never go wrong with a Wooly Bugger. Toss one out and HANG ON!!
Semper Fi!