Robert Burton
Fly Fishing Zombie
Eventually all things merge into one, and a river runs through it.
Posts: 4,744
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Post by Robert Burton on Jan 26, 2006 14:45:40 GMT -6
Smallmouth bass love cray fish but so do walleyes, carp, drum and brown trout Any crawfish I tie have either no claws or small 'non defensive posture' claw but I do favour a 'junk in the front' tie I also think that smaller crayfish are a more likely food source as they are easier and more plentiful. 1.Hook in vise with optional bead for weight 2.tie in 2 ostrich herls for antenna 3. hackle fibers for tendrils 4.Some under body feathers for small relaxed 'claws' or just more junk in the front 5. Some material for a back/carpace. In this case I am using olive midge flex but I have used plastic Raffia or buck tail 6.Dark bead chain or mono eyes and a single ostrich herl 7.Dub body in and around eyes and 1/3 of the way along the hook shank 8.Palmer the herl forward and tie in some copper wire for ribbing 9.Dub in the balance of the body 10.Pull back material over body, tie in and cut off leaving a tag representing the tail 11. Bring rib back, tie off an whip finish 12. Pick out the dubbing for legs
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Post by Dale Martens on Jan 27, 2006 23:16:51 GMT -6
What size hook do you favour for this one, Rob?
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Robert Burton
Fly Fishing Zombie
Eventually all things merge into one, and a river runs through it.
Posts: 4,744
|
Post by Robert Burton on Jan 28, 2006 10:03:26 GMT -6
Never bigger that #2 but always in a 1or 2x shank.
Too small and it stops being a craw and moves into FW Shrimp territory.
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Post by bookemdano on Jan 28, 2006 10:24:25 GMT -6
Do those small bead chain eyes not have the weight to flip the hook over?
Dan
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Robert Burton
Fly Fishing Zombie
Eventually all things merge into one, and a river runs through it.
Posts: 4,744
|
Post by Robert Burton on Jan 28, 2006 10:39:48 GMT -6
If I am not using a bead in the tail for weight then I use the mono eyes. Or they could be tied with the same eyes but with the hook already upside down.But even at that those are very light bead chain eyes. The point of all these ties so far is to make them broad enough to be adaptable to each tyers needs.
For instance... I haven't found too many situations for me here,yet, where I crawl a craw (say that 5x's fast) over structure. I usually drift them to pocket water then strip them out of it and this fly always catches them in the lower jaw.
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Post by bookemdano on Jan 28, 2006 10:58:15 GMT -6
No criticism here....just curiosity. I have tied some damsels with those same bead chain eyes, and wondered if they had the weight to flip the hook. ie which way is this hook going to ride in the water?
Because I was not sure I switched to mono and knotted chenille eyes on all damsels since.
That being said I have a bunch of bead chain damsels banished to a box that I never take fishing. Sort of a mental block there, they look the same upside down or right-side up anyway. I guess that's the way most of us are with our flies....if it doesn't feel right it never gets fished.
I'd like to reclaim the hooks that those flies are tied on though. I need a fast way to strip materials off hooks.
Dan
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Robert Burton
Fly Fishing Zombie
Eventually all things merge into one, and a river runs through it.
Posts: 4,744
|
Post by Robert Burton on Jan 28, 2006 11:05:18 GMT -6
No criticism felt 1. Have you seen the fly flip? If not tie some tippet to it a toss it a few times into a sink or tub. 2. I think normal hardware store bathroom chain is quite heavy but this stuff comes from a decorative side and is quite light. 3. If you are trying to reclaim the hooks an exacto knife will do the trick (blade strokes away from you and your fingers) some folks just burn the material off too
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Post by Dale Martens on Jan 29, 2006 14:49:51 GMT -6
In my experience, sometimes bead chain eyes have enough weight to flip the fly over and sometimes they don't . If the bulk of the pattern's material is on the side of the fly opposite the eyes, it acts as a parachute and really helps the flipping action. If I want to be sure that the eyes are flipping a fly over, I fill up a sink and just drop the fly in.
Most bonefish patterns have bead chain eyes and they usually manage to flip the fly over.
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Robert Burton
Fly Fishing Zombie
Eventually all things merge into one, and a river runs through it.
Posts: 4,744
|
Post by Robert Burton on Jan 30, 2006 9:36:59 GMT -6
Tank testing is always the way to go.
So, just to be sure, I tank tested the above fly (with tippet) and it stayed relatively upright ( but didn't flip) Because of the tail weight that is the part that sank. Whether it stayed up right because of that of because of the natural 'keeling' effect of the hook bend or hydro properties on the fly is unknown but it does open the discussion to 'what does flip a fly?'
One thing is line twist which can be caused by, among other things, elliptical casting (intentional or otherwise).
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