Joe D Posted March 15, 2008 Report Share Posted March 15, 2008 Here are a few flies that I've been experimenting with. These have plastic lips so they swim like crank bait. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe D Posted March 15, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2008 they mimic a dying minnow very well. I tested them in the official testing tank( my bathtub) . I will continue to work on them to see if I can improve them. I'll keep you all posted. Joe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob G Posted March 15, 2008 Report Share Posted March 15, 2008 Joe, what are you using for a the plastic lip and do they twist in the current or ride pretty stable with lip and hook down in that fashion? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Kast Posted March 15, 2008 Report Share Posted March 15, 2008 Depends on how much current he can get flowing in his bathtub! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe D Posted March 15, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2008 Jim, I need a bigger tub!!! Rob, the lips are made just for this purpose. I got them at cabelas in hammond. I threw away the original packaging and cant remember the name of it. but they are a tear drop shaped piece of plastic with a little hole in it to get the hook through. I dont think they would work well with the hook up, streamers unless weighted like a clouser minnow ride hook down anyway. I think it would be trying to turn over from the weight of the hook. they also dont give the classic "wobble" of a crankbait. maybe if I work on them a little more and try to "tune" them I'll be able to get that action. from what I can see in the official test tub, they have more of a darting action that looks just like dying minnows I have seen in minnow tanks. I do like it and cant wait to try them out. Joe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rich mc Posted March 16, 2008 Report Share Posted March 16, 2008 do they float at rest or slow sink? rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Loebach Posted March 16, 2008 Report Share Posted March 16, 2008 How do they cast, I would worry about spin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe D Posted March 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2008 rich, they sink very slowly. if you pull on them hard they do wobble from side to side. but then they will turn upside down. being basically a streamer I'm having a hard time getting them tuned right. they all seem to swim a little different. I dont think they will ever run true like a real crankbait, but short quick strips with a pause then a strip seem to me to look excactly like a dying or injured minnow. I guess if you want a crankbait action it would be best to just use a crankbait I got to be careful talking about this anyway. because if this gets around I know Joseph from ONE MORE CAST is gonna really razz me and bust my stones over this idea he may even ban me from his shop I can hear it already! for what its worth, I thought I would give it a try. I like toying around with new ideas at the vise. I have a pretty good imagination. Joe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe D Posted March 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2008 John, these are brand new to my fly collection and I have not had a chance to cast them yet. I dont think it will interfer with casting but I dont know from expierience Joe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rich mc Posted March 19, 2008 Report Share Posted March 19, 2008 i would think that having foam on the back may reduce rolling. stop by josephs and lokk at bill shieres musky flies, they have plastic lips. or www.wetieit.com rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe D Posted March 19, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2008 I put a lip on a foam hopper and it seems to work pretty well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rich mc Posted March 19, 2008 Report Share Posted March 19, 2008 funny how rebel makes the craw and hopper mini cranks. i could see a side wobble on a hopper as being more natural than a pull and stop.. anyway , they normally get sucked in as soon as it hits water . rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe D Posted March 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 that gives me a idea rich. maybe I'll put a lip on one of my crawfish patterns. I'll bet that would be neat. I'll paint it to match the rest of the fly. I'll get some made up and post a few pics when they are done Joe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rich mc Posted March 20, 2008 Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 there is a thread on www.danblanton forum about imitating zara spooks , one guy posted a photo of a deer hair bug with a lip , another version is a gurgler with a foam diving lip. rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Wahl Posted March 21, 2008 Report Share Posted March 21, 2008 That's Jay Murakoshi, he lives in Fresno, CA. Here's his site....Ed http://www.fliesunlimited.com/Home.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick D. Posted April 5, 2008 Report Share Posted April 5, 2008 Joe, That's great! I'd seen a saltwater fly the was similar for redfish, but it never set in to try int for bass. WOW! There is a thought. Great insight! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart_Van_Dorn Posted May 18, 2008 Report Share Posted May 18, 2008 Nice flies Joe, have you added a rattle yet? About getting them to run correctly. I've seen people put a small split shot into the lip to make the fly ride correctly. That way it keeps the weight below the hook. Adding lips to flies has been around for a bit. You can order plastic lips in different sizes from Bill Sherer's shop, "We Tie It" out of Boulder Junction Wisconsin. He also has a video titled: Bass, Pike & Musky Flies...Proven Patterns. Bill also has, for those of you into fly fishing blasphemy, a component called the "Thumper Head," which is a nifty little spinner that you put over the eye the hook. It looks like a small vinyl L, with a swivel and a spinner coming off of the long leg of the L. The small end has a hole that you slide the hook eye through. It's pretty nifty and I buy a dozen or so when I see Bill at the shows. If you've ever seen a fly called the Coyote, that's what it does for your regular flies. I tied several of his foam perch patterns which work fine but as noted, tend to be a bit of a pain to cast, especially on sinking lines, so I bought some 00 sized swivels. Tied them onto my leader and then added a 12 inch piece of tippet from the swivel to fly. It kept the leader from twisting up but didn't make the fly easier to cast. (I hope there's no purist out there saying, "He tied a swivel to his leader!") It's a simple solution that I've used for casting large flies for pike and bass that keeps twists out of my leader. It's also something that Tom Nixon, God rest his soul, used to do when he tied on large air resistant bass flies. There's also Marc Petiijean magic heads. They look like little silicon funnels and you tie them on over the hook eye so that the large part of the funnel faces forward. I've tied these on lighter flies and if you fish streams and rivers they give the fly a very tight wiggle. The can also be clipped so that you have a small diving lip and you have a fly that dips and wiggles. And also, you can push the silicone back and create a bullet headed fly. They too come in a variety of sizes and I don't know if they've made my flies more effective, but once again, I like the simplicity of tying with them, they give a lot of motion to the fly and you can read more about them at http://www.petitjean.ch/eng/MagicHead/default.asp Lipped flies are interesting to tie, cast and fish. You usually can't buy them in fly shops so you have to tie your own. Most fly shops carry the components for them or you can check out the web and see what people are tying out there. And finally, just like many crankbaits, you do have to tune them, they'll run sideways, upside down and so on. So you trim the bill, or add weight or twist the lip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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