Flyrod Bassin'

[Ralph King]

Hi,

Does anyone here use a flyrod fishing for Bass. I usually catch bass and bluegills on the same poppers. 

[Steve Totten]

Most of my fishing is with a fly rod.  I enjoy catching fish on bugs I build my self.  I try to catch whatever will bite my bug, bass, bluegill, carp or tilapia.   Just pull on my string...........

[Steve Totten]

I've been working on some bass poppers and other fly rod bass attractants.  I made a slider type bug that will fish thru heavy weeds and lily pads.  This one has the hook pointed up rather than down so it'll slide over the slop,  Tried it out today and it works, slides right over the pads and weeds, now need to find some fish to try it on.

[Lee]

 Let me know how that hook up fly works!

[Ray Ditzenberger]

I would be interested in body size, hook type and size and even how you dressed the tail. The details that would affect the way the popper would sit in the water and react to fishing. Many years ago there was a hair bug marketed that was tied on a keel hook that should have fished very similar to what you are currently working on. ....the keel hooks have not been available for several years. One of the problems with the old keel hooks was a lot of strikes were missed because the hook point was over-protected. I have recently been experimenting with a self bent keel hook but I don't have any pad beds around here to try them on. These are mostly for streamer type flies and possibly a copy of the hair bug that I mentioned above however.

[Lee]

 

 Ray I've been working on a foam frog fly with a flat body on a self made "Bendback style" hook for awhile never have got it the way I need it. Getting it to be weedless and sit in the water correctly AND still getting a good hookset has been a problem :( 

  I'll post a picture of my latest attempt this evening any pointers would be appreciated. BTW this same frog fly tied with a normal hook and mono weed guard is one of my best producing flys but where I fish it it gets hung up ALOT!

[Ray Ditzenberger]

Hey, I am always willing to give my opinion. You do know about opinions, right. hehehe.....The hair bug that I was talking about is as follows. Tail: small feathers tied in splayed. 4 I think..Body: deer hair tied paralell along the shank and surrounding it with the thread wrapped around the bunch forward and backward to create a diamond pattern...Head: tied just behind the eye on the short flat and deer hair spun and the top and bottom trimmed flat. I believe they were available in black, yellow, brown, and frog which was mosty green with a little yellow in the tail feathers and mixed in on the shank of deer hair. I still have a couple of the original keel hooks in about size1. I have bent a couple of aberdeen hooks into a similar shape but with a more shallow keel effect and tied smaller streamers on them. I am not sure that there is any advantage over a bendback style though.

 

I am looking forward to your pic of the popper. I will say that when I tie a popper I locate the hook shank close to the bottom of the cork or foam. I had never considered inverting the hook but if I did invert I would put the shank in the center of the cork to make the hook more assesable to the fish.

 

I am a sucker for frog patterns and carp patterns.

[Steve Totten]

Here are some more details about the hook up bug.  The hook is a very fine wire #2 long shank.  I had some foam slider type bodies about 1/2" in diameter 3/4" long with a flat bottom.  I slit the bottom to get the hook inside the foam and use a c/a foam safe glue to seal the hook into the bottom.  I leave the hook eye about even with the tip of the slider head and about 1/8" below it.The tail is a small bunch of buck tail tied tight to the back of the body to keep the feathers splayed and long enough to just cover the hook.  When I do this step I usually leave the extra length of buck tail spread around the back of the body.   I add two or three short webby feathers on each side and 2 strands of some fine flash.  Then I trim the buck tail and any other material to keep the bottom of the bug flat.  If done right the bug floats flat and right side up.  Like I said, now that it floats right I  need to fish test it to see if it'll catch fish.

[Ray Ditzenberger]

If I understand what you have done I think it will catch fish. It sounds like you have pointy e#d forward which I think is good and should help it get thru the weeds. I will wait for a pic before any further 'opinions'. unless I am trying to make a small popper seem like a big meal to Mr. Bass I normally don't use a long tail. I prefer the tail to be no longer than the hook. I think some short strikes will result. I usually make my poppers with the flat face forward but I have actually better success with pointy end forward. I personally would rather the hook end ride at about a 20 or 30 degree down angle. I just think it makes a better popper. I tie a small #8 mouse that the rear of the mouse is actually congo hair with 2 small craft foam disks tied at the front so front looks like a deer hair diver and the back rides lower than the front of the mouse. I haven't fished it yet either but I expect big things from it this summer.