Jonn Graham Posted April 9, 2009 Report Share Posted April 9, 2009 Started playing around at the vise last night trying to create a topwater bug by Nelson Ham. Nelson is one of the guides out of Tight Lines Fly Shop up in Green Bay. He calls this fly the "ham Sandwich". Mine, of course, is not quite as polished as his yet, but I was able to produce three replicas last night. After I produced the first one, I quickly ran out the door and walked down to my creek and tested it out. It worked great. Floats well and makes a very subtle "pop" and "spit". I can see it might be a little tough to throw when windy. When I hit the creek last night right before dark, there was absolutely no wind and I was able to throw the bug perfectly with the my six weight "Predator" rod. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest airbornemike Posted April 9, 2009 Report Share Posted April 9, 2009 Started playing around at the vise last night trying to create a topwater bug by Nelson Ham. Nelson is one of the guides out of Tight Lines Fly Shop up in Green Bay. He calls this fly the "ham Sandwich". Mine, of course, is not quite as polished as his yet, but I was able to produce three replicas last night. After I produced the first one, I quickly ran out the door and walked down to my creek and tested it out. It worked great. Floats well and makes a very subtle "pop" and "spit". I can see it might be a little tough to throw when windy. When I hit the creek last night right before dark, there was absolutely no wind and I was able to throw the bug perfectly with the my six weight "Predator" rod. Nice lookn bugs Jonn, I was given a couple of these last summer in a flourescent orange pattern, I did very well up here on the fox with it. Hows that predator rod work for you? I cast around the sage bass rods but like the price on the ross sticks, these short rods will work great for the creeks in my area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonn Graham Posted April 9, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 9, 2009 thanks for the compliment concerning my "bugs". I really like my Predator rod. The shorter length is working out great for my small flows. I think the rod will really shine in the canoe. While the rod is listed as a six weight, it seems to be able to handle bulky/heavy flies fairly well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonn Graham Posted April 13, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2009 HMMMMMMMMM. 70 views and only two responses and one of them is mine. It seems like everytime I post a picture of a fly, very few, if anyone ever responds???? I would love to get some criticisms or tips concerning my tieing. Maybe I have not "put in my time" yet to enter the secret fly fishing club. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fredmo Posted April 16, 2009 Report Share Posted April 16, 2009 Jonn- probably everyone saw you produced three of these but only two were pictured, everyone is wondering, "what happened to the third?" Or like me, they had trouble finding Ham's recipe to make it. I see now there is a link to it on another post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonn Graham Posted April 16, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 16, 2009 Where did I say that I made three? Also, there is not a link for the ham sandwich fly. The link you are speaking of is for Ham's Menominee Mud bug. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonn Graham Posted April 16, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 16, 2009 OOOOOOOOOOps. I did say I made three. I only pictured the two best ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fredmo Posted April 17, 2009 Report Share Posted April 17, 2009 OOOOOOOOOOps. I did say I made three. I only pictured the two best ones. O.K., I was right on one out of two. Is there a recipe somewhere for this bug? I looked under Ham's name and didn't find it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rich mc Posted April 17, 2009 Report Share Posted April 17, 2009 nice looking flies. basically its a variation of the gurgler which is a proven fish catcher. i would use the marabou tail in smaller versions and craft hair, artic fox on larger ones. if you reverse the foam it becomes a diver. a black diver has done well for me. youcast it upstream and let it float down ,when it gets down stream give it short rips and it dives and wiggles and calls in the smallies rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonn Graham Posted April 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2009 The above bugs will dive if stripped aggressively. That is what I like about this particular bug is that it is versatile. Light strips cause the fly to just spit and more aggressive strips cause the fly to get louder/dive. Thanks for the ideas Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonn Graham Posted April 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2009 O.K., I was right on one out of two. Is there a recipe somewhere for this bug? I looked under Ham's name and didn't find it. I have the recipe straight from Mr. Ham. When I get a moment, I can PM it to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart_Van_Dorn Posted April 23, 2009 Report Share Posted April 23, 2009 Some thoughts and notes on foam. I've found that using spray glue, any of the permanent glues work and won't melt the foam. I use spraymount and spray several sheets, carefully align them and then using a rolling pin, compress them together to make one big sheet, usually about 8x10 inches. I tie mostly with mono thread and color it with a marker if need be, that way I don't worry about thread color. And then I get to use the markers to make dots and stripes and other froggy markings. I use super any thick cyano that I have around (super glue) to keep the foam on the hook. Also, keep you tails sparse and tied down the hook a bit. Less is better in a lot of cases, unless you want to use a couple of hackle feathers and splay them to imitate the legs of a frog. Rubber legs are always good. I've gone to keeping my long, but no so long that they don't foul the hook when casting. Same is true of tail material. If you think the marabou is going to wrap around the tail, put a pinch, note thats a tiny pinch of bucktail or deer hair to keep the marabou up. You can also take a couple of wraps under the tail to sort of kip it up. I just keep the tails sparse. You could use a little less bucktail. When bucktail gets wet, if there's too much it loses its action. Once again, sparse is good. You could splay it with a figure eight wrap and get a bit of a leg action going. Not a fan of the eyes. If you think they attract fish...okay but I usually leave the eyes off or put on the dome epoxy eyes. Or paint. You could paint on eyes with the marker. This pattern is bit like Jack Garthsides Gurgler, one of the best foam bug that you can tie in sizes from 12 to 1/0 if you wanted to. Google Gurgler and go look at Jack's site. Nice patterns there. Jack is insane....but in fly fishing, who isn't? But you done right here John, even got the lighter colors on the bottom. As it should be. Keep on tying...the more you wrap thread on an hook, the more you learn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 23, 2009 Report Share Posted April 23, 2009 If it was mine, I'd eliminate the bucktail or marabou and splay out three or four more rubber legs giving it a "buggier" appearance. It looks like a float and twitch type of fly. Other than that, nicely done. Jonn don't you know the secret fly fishing society handshake? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonn Graham Posted April 23, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2009 All: Thanks for the tips............I appreciate it. Craig: I was hoping you could teach me about that "secret handshake" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fredmo Posted April 24, 2009 Report Share Posted April 24, 2009 I have the recipe straight from Mr. Ham. When I get a moment, I can PM it to you. If it rains again, I'll be looking for your recipe for something to do indoors. Haven't seen a PM from you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonn Graham Posted April 24, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2009 I cannot PM it to you. I can send it to your personal email. Let me know what that is and i will shoot it back to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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