I had a “duh” moment yesterday. Going through the new copy of Fly Tyer, there was article on soft foam poppers
The author likes to run rubber legs through the popper body. Rather than run the leg through the eye of a needle (which I’ve always found problematic), he runs 3x mono through the needle and the ties the mono in a loop.
Rather than run the leg through the eye, he runs it through the mono loop. Hence the duh! I’ve only been tying for about 13 years and never thought of it.
Anyway, if you’v never thought of this or didn’t see the article, consider it a tip.
Now, my question. How do you keep the legs in the body stable? Put CA on the leg and run it through? Set the leg and then place seem CA where the leg first somes out of the foam?
I have made a lot of foam bugs with rubber legs through the body and not had a problem with them coming out. Some time the may get a little longer on one side than the other. If I were going to cement the legs to the body I would put of a drop of whatever then pull that spot into the body.
I’ve found that a drop of thick CA on the leg before you run it through the foam helps keep them in place. If I use the thin CA the legs tend to soak it up a bit and get very hard and brittle. I would imagine the CA probably breaks down the rubber or plastic legs eventually, but by then, hopefully, the bug has been chewed up anyway.
I have run rubber through alot of foam flies and never used glue. The friction of the two materials holds the rubber in.
Not hard to replace if I pull it out, which happens more than any fish taking it out.
I have not had any problems once the legs are in place. It seems as though the foam body will “heal” around the legs to some extent. I use a large needle and make an initial hole where I want the legs to go. Then I remove the needle and insert a (wire) bobbin threader. Put the legs in the threader and pull them through. The wire threader is much faster than tying loops in mono or trying to thread the legs through the eye of a needle.
I have used the mono - needle method for years, without tying a knot and also bobbin threaders, pretty much 6 of one, half dozen of the other. If you use a long enough piece of mono it may be a little easier and makes a small hole in the body.
I pull the legs through with a threader, and I do not use super glue or anything like it. If the legs tear up in time, you can rethread new legs through the popper body through the same hole. I talked to a guy who makes poppers all the time, he never uses any type of glue on his popper legs. If you would feel better, maybe dab a bit of glue on the outside where the hole is on each side of the body. If you have Plain Jane poppers, that would be fine, but you could mess up your paint if you made an artsy popper. Just my opinion. I am sure you will get plenty of other views. Really it is just a matter of personal choice.
First, I don’t slice open the bottom of the popper head. I put a hole through it with a hot bodkin and then a micro rat tail file.
Second, thread the legs through the popper head (using whatever method you want) AND through the hole you made with the file.
Third, put a layer of thread on the hook shank.
Fourth, put a coating of CA glue on the hook shank.
Fifth, push the head onto the shank. When it glues to the shank, the rubber leg inside of the hold will also glue to the shank.
Voila.
I heat a bodkin and make a hole, then use a wire threader to pull the rubber through the body. With the rubber off center I add a drop of glue to the long side then pull it through till its even pulling the glue inside. You can wipe off any glue that doesnt get pulled thru, but after a couple of times you dont have that problem.You just need a small drop to tack it in place.