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hollow pleyes


rich mc

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Rich, I tied a few some years back to use for hybrid stripers. Until I saw your post I forgot I ever had them. I hope I can find them. They have never been used. I would guess they would also work great for pike. This large profile fly should be easy to cast considering the hollowness of the body. You have inspired me to tie up a few larger ones.

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Rich,

I can't thank you enough for bringing this pattern back to our attention. I had seen this a while back tied by one of the salt water guys at a fly show but never taken the time to adapt it for our needs. I think it could be a winner in taking some smallies this season. You've now given us our pattern that we will work with at the February 26th Central IL Bassbugger fly tying gathering (unrepentant plug : )

I whipped up one of the craft fur variations and it definitely could stand some tweaking but I will take it over to a local pond shortly and see what it does in the water. Thanks again.

 

c9cb91ec-d1bd-4e56-9fb1-acded512b8b8.jpg

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Ok, so I stole away at lunch for just a few minutes and ran over to a near by strip pond in order to see how this fly reacts in water. It's only 32 degrees and spitting snow so I was only able to tolerate a handful of casts but on the second or third cast, this guy confirmed my suspicions that it definitely has some nice lifelike movement. I need to come up with an eye as it looks naked without it. What do you think, maybe a pair of starling feathers tied in, I'm too cheap to buy junglecock, and supposedly gluing on a pair of eyes is not suggested?? It doesn't run deep, has anyone heard of wrapping the shank with lead to get it down, but would it affect its movement?

 

f59b24d5-4bec-4890-a2ce-ec66bda57d85.jpg

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rob we are all trying to improve our tying and this style just adds to it. after reading some more about it one tyer said to decrease the lengthof the section by 1/3 as you work towardthe head on longer flies with more sections 1/4.

 

some add eyes with flectite[arrow glue] i will try an eye of t shirt paint.

 

as with any fly it can be weighted or even added to a float n fly head

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Rob,

 

Tab eyes are suggested but hard to find. Imitation Jungle Cock is cheap and easy to find. So?

 

Then too, a lot of prose and poetry has been written about eyes on flies. Yet bass swarm to get to soft plastics that have no eyes. Are eyes really that important to the fish?

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Are eyes really that important to the fish?

 

Maybe more of importance to the fisherman. I have read that some "experts" believe that eyes allow the predator something to hone in on. Now we all fish with, and have caught fish on flies that have no eyes so I don't think it's mandatory yet my degree in zoology tells me that some fish have evolved over time with a "fake" eye implanted on the tail as a mechanism of defense, predator strikes at the eye which is really the tail and dinner is more easily able to get away, so it must have some merit or nature wouldn't have provided that.

 

I just think it would make the fly look prettier, OK, there I said it.

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Maybe more of importance to the fisherman. I have read that some "experts" believe that eyes allow the predator something to hone in on. Now we all fish with, and have caught fish on flies that have no eyes so I don't think it's mandatory yet my degree in zoology tells me that some fish have evolved over time with a "fake" eye implanted on the tail as a mechanism of defense, predator strikes at the eye which is really the tail and dinner is more easily able to get away, so it must have some merit or nature wouldn't have provided that.

 

I just think it would make the fly look prettier, OK, there I said it.

Indeed.

 

Flies have evolved also. There's one conceived by the great LaFontaine and executed by Gretchen and Al Beatty puts the target eyes back by the hook point, the better to catch fish. So there is a whole new line of discussion dealing with where to put the eyes on the fleye.

 

 

 

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John,

I always attributed this to the fact that crayfish swim backward and hence the eye near the point makes sense since you are imitating their natural rearward movement.

I agree. Their backwards motion probably saves them from being a meal on occasion being they face their attackers head on in most instances. Real crayfish don't have hooks in their heads to snare their attackers. Fish with fake eyes toward the back of their bodies escape being dinner on occasion too, being they are able to swim away from or out of a mouth rather than only forward into it. In the case of a minnow imitation with an eye at the hook bend, If a predator were to hit the eye (pointy hook end) first it just may increase hookups.... Maybe.

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I gots me to thinkin', wonder if I could make some of those "tab eyes" for these fleyes.

 

Low and behold, I took a standard 1/4" peel and stick eye and placed it face down, then placed a small piece of 30 lb. mono on the posterior surface. I then dropped a single drop of UV glue on the back across the mono and cured it, and voila, a tab eye that I can tie in. The bond is surprisingly strong and difficult to pull off. This mono is Berkley green for demonstration purposes but I would use clear and it should solve the difficulty of getting eyes to attach to the hollow fibers and, will be a lot cheaper than buying commercial tab eyes.

 

IMG_3143a.jpg

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I gots me to thinkin', wonder if I could make some of those "tab eyes" for these fleyes.

 

Low and behold, I took a standard 1/4" peel and stick eye and placed it face down, then placed a small piece of 30 lb. mono on the posterior surface. I then dropped a single drop of UV glue on the back across the mono and cured it, and voila, a tab eye that I can tie in. The bond is surprisingly strong and difficult to pull off. This mono is Berkley green for demonstration purposes but I would use clear and it should solve the difficulty of getting eyes to attach to the hollow fibers and, will be a lot cheaper than buying commercial tab eyes.

 

IMG_3143a.jpg

Kudos to the EYE DOCTOR.

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