bjensen Posted June 24, 2009 Report Share Posted June 24, 2009 I was originally going to post this as a reply to Jonn's "10 month update" but posted here instead since it involves patterns. Water levels here in Central Illinois have not been kind to us, but I have been hitting the largemouth in the local ponds & finally managed to get 4 smallies this past weekend below the spillway at Lake Bloomington. LOTS of water going over the spillway & fished for over an hour downstream before I finally found them up next to the spillway where a current break on the south side of the spillway diverts the water coming down the face & forms a swirling pool that flows back towards the face of the spillway. The smallies moved up there because they could trap baitfish in the reverse current where they couldn't excape. The fly that worked (& also the best so far for L.M.) has been the white, conehead Krystal Bugger tied on a size #4 TMC200R: Also have been hitting L.M. and got one smallie on large poppers, so the surface action is finally starting to pick up: No startling revelations in fly developement here, just good, old, standby's that really work well. Haven't caught anything on a Clouser for over a month. Brian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary L Posted June 24, 2009 Report Share Posted June 24, 2009 Those look like they gonna catch some Smallmouths for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbickley Posted June 24, 2009 Report Share Posted June 24, 2009 Brian, I've been using a similar bugger tied on a #6 Mustad 9672, and I've had great success catching larger smallies in small streams. I'm wondering: Have you tried using silver flashabou in the tail? I've been using a bead head instead of a cone, but I'll definitely try using this variation. Thanks for the picture. Keith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjensen Posted June 25, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2009 Keith- The 9672 & TMC 200R are both 3XL hooks. I like the straight eye of the 200R & with the curved shank, they will usually turn over & ride hook-point up. I also wrap the shanks with .030" lead wire so they'll get down in the deep water we've had to deal with. Later in the season when we have shallow water (hopefully) I'll leave off the lead or go down to .015". I also tie the thing in size 8 & the crappie can't leave it alone when it's crawled along the bottom! I'm using pearl Flashabou in the right now as I ran out of krystal flash last night! I don't expect it to make any difference. Brian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbickley Posted June 25, 2009 Report Share Posted June 25, 2009 Brian, I've no doubt that the fly works with the crappies because I'm guessing that it has action similar to a tube jig. I think that we're tying similar flies because it appears that we're using the same chenille and giving the fly extra weight with the wraps of lead wire. I've also used both the pearl krystal flash and pearl flashabou in the tail. I've been substituting silver flashabou and clipping it about 1/2 inch longer than the marabou and I think that this may give the fly both some extra action and flash (on sunny days). I like the idea of using the cone head because it may bring even more flash. I use TMC 200R's to tie crayfish imitations, so I'll have to give them a try. Keith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Nevenner Posted July 4, 2009 Report Share Posted July 4, 2009 Brian I fished there on July 2 and was using black and then tried a light brown color wooly with no sucess. Had to use plastics and lande 4 sm largest being 18". I might try tying a few with your color pattern and try it. If you want to hook up pm me and let me know. I fish there a lot. I also hit several creeks in McLean county. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rich mc Posted July 4, 2009 Report Share Posted July 4, 2009 flies, flies ,flies . there is always a hot fly that replaces last months hot fly. i have been doing some fly swaps with another forum and have an idea for some smallie flies.i will post it tomorrow as a new thread. rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 27, 2009 Report Share Posted July 27, 2009 Brian, I'm surprised that for someone who is weight conscience on his flies you have not incorporated my interchangeable weighting system into your tying. Tie the fly once and change the same fly to any weight you wish in seconds. I don't want to hear any grief from anyone about self promoting. This is just about being smart. Why not have a fly that you can instantly make fit the conditions you are facing without tying on another fly rather than having to have three or four flies of the same pattern with different weights? Yes it was designed with the Hairy Fodder in mind but works just as well on clousers, woolly buggers, seaducers or any other patter you could come up with. It only take sixty seconds to attach it to your fly and make it convertable. You can't even begin to tie another fly in that time. Just pointing out a great resource available to you. I'll bet if I made this to fit a jig head, the spin fishermen would be all over it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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