Has anyone heard of or tied flies upside down to reduce the amount of snags on rocky brushy bottoms?
If yes, which flies have you tied in that manner?
regards,
paff
Hey Paff,
A good example would be Al’s Crappie
Candy. It’s in the FAOL FOTW archieves.
It’s tied in that manner to reduce hang
ups fishing in the structure where crappie
like to hang. Warm regards, Jim
Most crayfish flys are tied “hooks up”. This is done, as you said, to reduce (not eliminate) the snags. It is not hard to tie upside down, but I notice I stick myself a lot more when doing so.
Clint
I feel closer to HIM when I’m fishing.
Gee, doesn’t that cause the blood to rush to your head?
Allan
Uh, the Clouser Deep Minnow.
tyeflies,
The humor in ambiguity. Well played.
WE had a recent swap on flies tied in this manner. I would suggest from the entrants that just about anything you can think of can be tied like that. I’ve tied foam divers upside down for a couple of years now that exact reason. Probably be in the archives as the Hooks Up Swap. Check it out. JGW
[This message has been edited by white43 (edited 17 January 2006).]
pa,
Sorry, but couldn’t resist lol.
I haven’t tied flies ‘upside down’. I’ve read that they (dry flies anyway) have a tendency to hook into the roof of the fishes mouth.
However, I have tied dry flies with parachutes below the shank.
Allan
Bendbacks
Clouser Deep Minnows (as Steven said)
Flash Tail Whistlers (jig hooks)
Keel Flies
Ok - I tried tying a wooly bugger upside down, but did not notice a difference.
Is the main difference the angle of the bend of the eye hook?
There either needs to be weight on the top of the shank to turn the fly over… or…
a wing on the bottom, as with bone fish flies to make the fly settle that way…or
a bend in the shank of the hook combined with a stabilizing wing.
The eye of the hook makes little difference
Take a look in the fly of the week archives.
crazy charlie 4th quarter '99
inverted muddler minnow 2nd quarter '99
[This message has been edited by dudley (edited 17 January 2006).]
I have tied many of my patterns with small dumbell eyes to get them to ride hook up.
I don’t snag in the weeds as bad with those flies as the regualr fleis.
Rick
Hi paff,
Just about any subsurface fly can travel in the water column hook point up. Just put enough weight on the shank (wire or dumb bell eyes) to counter act with materials and the hook itself. EX: A Woolly Bugger travel point up when it has enough weight to turn it over. Take care & …
Tight Lines - Al Beatty [url=http://www.btsflyfishing.com:7bf4f]www.btsflyfishing.com[/url:7bf4f]
Al,
Can you elaborate on how that weighting works to get the Wooly to turn over?
I don’t see it in my mind yet. I am a tying neophyte - 3 weeks into this passion.
Best,
paff
you could tie in a piece of lead wire (same dia as the hook shank) atop the shank or add bead chain or dumbell eyes, again atop the shank. either one should turn yer bugger over.
mgj
If you want a fly to travel through the water with the hook up, you can do barbell weights, or lay a keel.
I perfer to lay a keel, there is an article in “Tying Tips” on how to do this…
[url=http://www.flyanglersonline.com/flytying/tyingtips/part151.html:63c5c]Laying Keel[/url:63c5c]
I know that this isn’t probably the best way to add weight to a fly but I keep galvanized brad nails by my bench and use them to make a keel on a fly. If I want it hook up I tie the nail on top of the hook skank. It is want it to ride hook down I tie it underneath. I then give it a liberal coat of Hard as nails to keep the moisture out then tie up the rest of the pattern.
If you don’t want to use any weight a slight bend in the hook shank and a liberal wing will always work.
Let me guess someone is now going to say how galvanized nails are toxic to fish.
Who has time for stress when there are fish to catch.
Nick
All great comments and feedback - thanks. Now I get it.
a litle bit confused…usually a lot confused so this ain’t too bad…looked at the “laying a keel” article…seems simple enough, but stumbled at the statement:
“This is great if you are doing a Minnow Pattern, but not so good if you want to have the point up on a Nymph Pattern, makes them look funny.”
i have always assumed the nymphs kinda tumble along the bottonm to begin with, but why would it make a difference if the hook point were up or down?
teach me, i want to know.
one more cast and i’ll leave…well maybe one just one more
Weighted hooks, that travel through the water, travel along the bottom of the stream/lake. The fly pattern with the hook point in the down position, is more likely to become caught on a sunken logs/branches littering the bottom. The objective is to catch fish, not get you line hooked on subsurface debris.
The “Center of Gravity” (The point where the hook mass is balanced) on a hook, will effect how the hook travels through the water.
~Parnelli