VanH

7 minutes ago, John Gillio said:

Just tied a few similar to the top one. The fellow that showed it too me called it a Muskie minnow. He has been using it as a surface fly over the past couple of years for smallies. He says it’s his favorite fly for smbass. He ties it on top of a 2.5-3” hook .

How’s it hold up to musky?  That E-Z body tubing I’m using seems fairly tough but I didn’t put a coating on them.  Ruben didn’t coat his zonkers so I’m trying that first and see what happens. 
Have picture of your fly?

24 minutes ago, rich mc said:

 nice flies   reminds me of rich ostoffs bobbing minnow fly.    his worked best on a sinking line

Thanks!  Also like Phil Rowley’s foam minnow too, which I’ve had great success with floating and sinking line. With this one I will probably test it out with a floating line first and see how the action is but definitely will try a sinking too. The added bb’s should make a little extra noise and erratic movement. 

While tying up some of Ruben Martin’s Bass Zonker Tube flies  I wondered what would happen if I added foam on top and used a larger size E-Z body and this happened. 🤔 The top fly on the bottom left was the first one I tied with the red foam and the top picture is made with white foam and is longer. 

Like most fly tiers I’ve been making a few Cicada flies to be ready for the big hatch this year. A larger, simple foam black beetle usually works just fine but it’s fun to be creative and see what else will work. After seeing a video of a cicada on the water sputtering around I came up with the Buzzed Cicada Tube Fly armed with a small plastic tube propeller from Pro Sportfisher. The eyes are plastic beads attached to mono and I burnt the wings from poly wing material. 

30 minutes ago, rich mc said:

what size tubing are you using

They are slightly larger (OD 3.5mm) than the large HMH tubes (OD 3mm) with a thicker wall that I got from my friend in Colorado. I think he said they were acupuncture tubes.   To get the jig tube shape I carefully heat it up with a lighter and bend to the angle I want.  For my Mr Wiggly tube flies I use a small HMH tube. 

9 minutes ago, Ben K. said:

Cool use of the tubes, might want to tie up some big cicadas for this years hatch while your at it.  
You read my mind. 😂  I’ve already tied up a few versions on hooks  and getting ready to make a tube version. 

After having success fishing with tube flies last fall I’m continuing to experiment with other possibilities using them. The popular Mr. Wiggly seemed like a perfect fly to tie on a tube. I like being able to use a variety of wide gap/ short shank hooks and the soft presentation of a much lighter fly. 

1 hour ago, Ben K. said:

Looks  good! I’ve had some jig hooks bend and break in the last year. no worries with this rig. 

Thanks!  I like the options of swapping out different hooks depending on the situation and species. 

Experimenting with my new jig tubes. Definitely not your traditional tube fly.

 Experimenting with some tubing and hook orientation. Saw a vertical jig lure with hooks situated like this except it also had a treble hook on the bottom. This is a strange looking flyrod lure/flure for sure. I’m thinking about also making one that doesn’t have the front hook. 

Perfect fly for the summer season. Made with a Ahrex Texas style hook, 3mm foam,  beer bottle cap foam cutter, deer tail, flash and the head coated in flex seal.  

I plan on getting some video of the fly rod version soon. This one is tied on a 3/8oz - 4/0 hook for conventional gear. 

This is what happens when a fly fisherman starts adding some spin and bait casting into the mix. I’ve been making a flyrod version of a chatterbait and decided to make some bigger ones for my spin-rods. 

Nice fly!  That should catch several species. 

I’ve been looking at them too.  I have a sit in kayak and wanting to switch to a sit on top to make my fused lower back happy.  

I had to substitute body chenille for the head since I didn’t have the stuff you were using and after almost gorilla gluing my finger to the fly (Gluing and Zooming don’t mix)  I may have to consider getting some tabbed eyes.  Notice I left the damn eyes off the chartreuse one 😁. 

Thanks Jim!   I can’t wait to test them out this summer.  

My annual trip out west didn’t happen last year but I’m looking forward to making up for it this year.  I’m hoping we can start out this year catching some White Bass together in the spring. 

I will be there!     Doing a similar tying session with some of my fishing buddies that have moved out west (Colorado & Montana) earlier in the week. 

I’m looking for a team.  Sounds fun.  

I would think 8lb for heavy poppers with 1 or 2x tied on and 6lb for lighter ones. Let me know how using fluoro turns out.

Good point. I left that part out about not casting well for longer distances but along as you bring it back and toss it and avoid false casting it works well for shorter cast in fast water .

While you can get by with a level leader casting smaller streamers at only short-medium distances in little if any wind a tapered leader is a must for ease in casting further with bigger flies.If this were not true there'd be no reason for ever using a tapered leader since there is an advantage to a thin straight leader both for streamer fishing in getting the fly down a little faster as well as reducing the affect of current drag.

I tie several types of leaders depending on the species and conditions but for smallmouth my go to leader is a Harry Murray's bright butt leader I learned to tie while out in Virginia, but if you are tossing heavy streamers a straight piece of fluoro works fine .

Looks better than the store made poppers!

What size kit did you use to make them?

Merry Christmas Phil

Let's fish in 2011

Van