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Who's tying what - winter 2019


Rob G

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2 hours ago, Rob G said:

 

Mike,

I use the pre sticky eyes that Bass Pro sells in the lure building supplies such as where spinner blades, beads, and lake trout/walleye rigging are sold.  Do NOT buy them in the fly tying materials area, they are much cheaper for the non-fly guys (of course).  Peel off an eye and lay it face down.  Now take your bodkin and lay it flat on the table where the point is midway across the eye, just below center.  Use Loc Tite super gel glue and place one tiny tiny dot in center.  Don't place a large drop, it takes so little to attach and too much will seep out under the eye and make a mess.  Now pick up the bodkin which the eye is temporarily attached to , and rotate the eye over face up, place it on your fly where desired,  and apply light pressure with finger, pencil eraser end, etc. and pull your bodkin out from underneath.  Voila, perfectly placed eye with no mess.  Again, the gel vs. regular super glue makes a huge difference because it stays where you put it and won't run.  Btw, the gel also takes just a second or two longer to set up on foam which gives you a moment longer to perfectly place your foam popper on the shank of the hook.  

 

Thanks Rob,

I well give this a try. I feel like it will work because it reverses things like the way I glue foam  bodies.

Kelley sez, "Put the glue on the fly and set the eye on top of it." 

You sez, "Put the glue on the eye and set the eye on the fly."

As for eyes I found some great bulk deals on 2 to 10 mm 3D eyes on Amazon of all places. Assuming folks are interested, I will add the info here when I get a chance to get it together.

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Here's the link. You get 360 6-8-10 mm 3d hollowgraphic eyes for $14. That is less than 4 cents per eye. BP looks like twice as much.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07B4S4S97/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

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Mark, I met Gary 10 years ago over at Indy and we bought for  our central Illinois fly tiers both sets of his cutters.  They work great and are a lot of fun.  We often have them at our fly tying gatherings for people to use. 

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8 hours ago, Mike G said:

Here's the link. You get 360 6-8-10 mm 3d hollowgraphic eyes for $14. That is less than 4 cents per eye. BP looks like twice as much.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07B4S4S97/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Yea Mike, I only get 35-40 WTP eyes for $3.50 but in fairness, they are high quality and the discerning fish that I catch seem to approve.  Ha

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On 3/4/2019 at 12:51 PM, John Gillio said:

Nice tips Mike.

Mark, I've noticed that with your flys, the hook eye is closer to the bottom of the head than the top. This is how I usually do a popper or floating bug, to allow for a wider gap for a hook set. In the videos in your post, the Tyer places the hook eye closer to the top of the bugs head. In the second video he points this out, but does not explain why. He does explain how he places the body on the hook so the taper of the body allows for a wider gap. I wonder why he places the hook eye so high. May it allow for a more aggressive popping sound, as he likes to work this fly more aggressively? Any ideas? I have never placed the eye so high.

 

Lefty sed placing the hookeye high on the popper face (like the center) causes too much noise on the pickup. I follow that usually so that the hookeye is very close to the bottom of the popper's head. But one of my best poppers has the eye almost dead center. How's that for a non-answer.

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15 hours ago, Rob G said:

Yea Mike, I only get 35-40 WTP eyes for $3.50 but in fairness, they are high quality and the discerning fish that I catch seem to approve.  Ha

 

You have revealed a great truth. The more expensive it is, the better it is. I am getting my materials from Orvis from now on. A bag of their 20 10mm eyes is $3.95.  Beat that.

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2 minutes ago, Mike G said:

 

Lefty sed placing the hookeye high on the popper face (like the center) causes too much noise on the pickup. I follow that usually so that the hookeye is very close to the bottom of the popper's head. But one of my best poppers has the eye almost dead center. How's that for a non-answer.

I've read that too. I do have a small popper that has just been a killer in the creeks. It too has the hook dead center. It has a cupped head. I'll try one of those tiny bugs with the hook up high just to see how it reacts. Thanks Mike.

 

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On 3/4/2019 at 7:32 AM, Mark K said:

Here is a version slightly different.

http://flyanglersonline.com/flytying/fotw2/011507fotw.php

The son of the guy who invented this fly is carrying the torch.  His name is Wade Blevins.  He is pretty active on Instagram.  He does illustration too, awesome artist.

He is also under Samsonebug.

Here is another version I may give a shot.

https://vimeo.com/186066571

Mark,

Thank you for posting up my dad's creation here on the forum. Warren Patterson was a good friend of my dad and he and I have exchanged stories and pattern details over the years. His post on FAOL was right after my dad had passed away in 2005. Dad created the sam's one bug in 1982 and was working with a gentleman out of Shelbyville TN at the time (Dale's Custom Tackle). Dale was making custom saltwater rods  with foam handles and had tons of core material laying around. That product soon became known as LIVEBODY. After Dale closed his shop and sold out to other companies a few companies picked up the foam product and started packaging individually as foam cylinders. WAPSI eventually became the purchaser of the product and now distributes the foam cylinders. Years of testing and many changes have made the bug what it is today. I would put it up against many other patterns when tied correctly for durability and fish catching. I have yet to find a pattern that can withstand 200+ fish on one fly. If tied properly this one will do just that. I have evidence to prove. It simply seems to catch fish when other flies wont. After years of testing yellow and orange were the preferred colors. White with fluorescent legs a close second.  Fly Fishing and Tying Journal picked up dad's article in the summer 2002 issue. 

Before Dad passed away, I suspect he gave away 10,000 Sam's One Bugs or more to people he met. We have stories from all over the planet of various fish caught on his bug.

I am very pleased to see that others are still interested in his pattern. Feel free to send any questions or comments to the Sam's One Bug page on Instagram. @samsonebug 

Thanks again,

Wade Blevins

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4 hours ago, Wade Blevins said:

Mark,

Thank you for posting up my dad's creation here on the forum. Warren Patterson was a good friend of my dad and he and I have exchanged stories and pattern details over the years. His post on FAOL was right after my dad had passed away in 2005. Dad created the sam's one bug in 1982 and was working with a gentleman out of Shelbyville TN at the time (Dale's Custom Tackle). Dale was making custom saltwater rods  with foam handles and had tons of core material laying around. That product soon became known as LIVEBODY. After Dale closed his shop and sold out to other companies a few companies picked up the foam product and started packaging individually as foam cylinders. WAPSI eventually became the purchaser of the product and now distributes the foam cylinders. Years of testing and many changes have made the bug what it is today. I would put it up against many other patterns when tied correctly for durability and fish catching. I have yet to find a pattern that can withstand 200+ fish on one fly. If tied properly this one will do just that. I have evidence to prove. It simply seems to catch fish when other flies wont. After years of testing yellow and orange were the preferred colors. White with fluorescent legs a close second.  Fly Fishing and Tying Journal picked up dad's article in the summer 2002 issue. 

Before Dad passed away, I suspect he gave away 10,000 Sam's One Bugs or more to people he met. We have stories from all over the planet of various fish caught on his bug.

I am very pleased to see that others are still interested in his pattern. Feel free to send any questions or comments to the Sam's One Bug page on Instagram. @samsonebug 

Thanks again,

Wade Blevins

Thanks for taking the time to sign in and respond Wade.  If you ever find yourself in headed to the Windy City or Illinois, please give us a shout.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Since I finished these before the Equinox, these are my last flies of winter.

 

About the same time I was doing some photo work on rich’s Eyelash creations, I came across an add for Mangum dragon tails and got a craving to do a dragon tail articulation. Then I realized  I could use rich’s creations as dragon tails. The rest was history.

47426910591_7269209d15_z.jpgshankdragons1 by Michael Gerharz, on Flickr

 

Shank articulation, very cool.

 

46511800455_9dd39df6bc_z.jpgshankdragontails by Michael Gerharz, on Flickr

 

47374176532_23cc501629_z.jpgDSCF2936 by Michael Gerharz, on Flickr

 

rich's Eyelash Minnows Before

40354961533_c54240f8b1_z.jpgDragonTails by Michael Gerharz, on Flickr

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the whole key to these flies is how it is trimmed   i have even used some goop to make a solid tail fin on the big fly  .   it helps to keel the fly and gives it a bigger kick when stripped .

mike one thing when making the longer flies , if you add some foam to the shank or some material, it will give the body more girthwhich will help in getting a truer minnow shape.  i do like your idea of the shank over a wire and bead connector.

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