Mike G

High and Tight, Bubba!

Remember the bulkhead is just a platform. Look at his freestyle  videos to  get some ideas.

15 hours ago, Rob G said:

Well Done Mike !  

Do you have any idea how long it took to create that Beast?  Since the amount of time I have to fish a fly is inversely proportional to the amount of time it takes for me to tie said fly, I would probably lose that one before I even got on the water.

I would like to tie one in a 4" specimen, can it be done easily and still keep it's shape?

If you only need 4" inches you do not have to go to the tubes. His Predator flies -Deceiver, Bulkhead, or Jig Bulkhead might be the ticket. But the simple answer first,"Use fewer tubes."

1st of 3 pt Predator series starts here 

classy looking blade bait. Classy $$$ too. I had a vintage Sports Afield from 1962. In it Rapala ran an add apologizing that the ran out of lures. Readers could place advance orders for the original 10 at $1. 50 each.  When did lures get so expensive?

Firstbeast by Michael Gerharz, on Flickr

A while back someone reminded me that I missed Gunnar Brammer when he was in town.  Since then I have been binge watching his videos. He has close to 100 on You Tube. He is wound a little tight, but the vids have great information and demos of techniques. Inspired by him and Popovics I tied this Beast Fly. Since it is around to 8 inches long, it is hard to say if I will ever use it. I did adopt Popovics method hand holding the tube  and whipping the thread to form the thread cone (see video about 1/2 way). Starting out the tubes were 1+ inches long. After tying I trimmed them fore and aft to about ¾”. I used .018 beadalon 7 strand for the wire with the bead lock just like Gunnar. Good videos below.

Not I just heard that the League has reviewed the tapes and determined that it was a blocked field goal attempt.  The double doink would not have been possible without the help of an deflection by an Eagle's player. That is true sportsmanship and co-operation in my book.

Cody takes the blame for another 2nd Half choke by the da Bears. A class team should be pulling away steadily in the 3rd and 4th quarters-not being overtaken and passed. I think that is called "being able to put it away."

On 1/4/2019 at 7:49 AM, Kev-mo said:

A lot of what I have read lately says the blade from the chatter creates some funky water currents and the hammer/boot tail can't function like it's meant to. Basically other trailers like curly tail grubs, senko type, craw type and the fork tail blade something by strike king are better trailers when used on a bladed jig.

I'm pretty happy with my swim jigs being bladeless. I haven't delved into to the whole bladed jig thing yet...

Thanks for the comment confirming my suspicion that there is a point where less is more. You should try a bladed bait sometime.  I have best luck with a homemade version that features a 1/4 oz  Cobra Jig, sparse skirt, 1/2 the sili fibers and a simple 3.5 in. grub for a trailer. 

43 minutes ago, Andy C said:

The swim bait with a scrounger head has been in my arsenal for quite sometime, seems to be a little better than the chatter bait IMO.

It is a very similar blade concept. Though I have had great success on my home made chatter baits with a grub trailer, I just started adding the chatter blade to swim baits with boot tail trailers.  I am wondering if the hammer tail works against the blade by causing drag and reducing action. Chatterbaits with curly tail grubs for a trailer seem more lively.

Here's a hot stove question to ponder. Which is better a swim bait or a chatterbait or a hybrid?

Here is a video on making the Hybrid. A while back I posted my homage to Jon Grahams Swim Bait.

So will the Hybrid come out the champ?

Rich,

Are they stiff enough to twist a Blood Knot? Coffee shops often give out similar straws for stirring. I won't tell your wife.

Rob beat me to it.  That toothpick is the ultimate Blood Knot Tool.

It is good to see an Oldie like the Blood Knot get some respect. It is a true survivor that connects us to fly fishing history.  The two oldest books I have on fly fishing show this knot.  They were published in 1940 even before I was born. Back then it recommended for connecting strands of silk gut to form tapered leaders. Sound familiar? The knot survived the transition to nylon monofilament around 1950 because it did not slip and provided excellent strength unlike many of the other knots which, used with nylon mono, slipped or reduced line breaking strength by 50% or more. It continues to gain honors in the 21st Century. A few years ago it edged out the Uni-uni in the Knot Wars though, because the margin was slight, the judge called it a draw and recommended the uni-uni saying it was easier to tie. This is not true for me because I have been using the Blood Knot for over 60 years. And here we are today discussing that same knot.

The Blood Knot and the Uni-uni are similar in that they are mirror image. You do the same thing with both tag ends. Think of the Blood Knot as two clinch knots. I am surprised that no one has mentioned that these two knots have a cousin in the Nail-nail Knot. Because of the way it is tied, it comes out a little sleeker than the other two. But without a good aid this one is hardest to tie. AJ McClane pushed it in the '60s.

Thank you for your patience. Now I will reward you by showing you the 2 cent Blood Knot /Nail Knot Tool.

QTknottool by Michael Gerharz, on Flickr

The cotton swab with hollow plastic shaft costs $2.00 per 100. Cut the cotton tip off one end. Coat the cotton on the other end with epoxy to provide a good grip. Trim a little off of that end to expose opening of the tube.

Use it as the toothpick for the Blood Knot. Use it as a hollow tube to pass the tag end back under the Nail Knot wraps.

PS You will find the swabs in the cosmetic section at your local chain drug store.

Good tip.

I'll go on further. Save the broken rod too. You can use sections of the old rod blank to make internal or external splints to fix broken rods.  I used a 4" section of a broken rod handle telescoped over a section of the blank to extend the handle of a 6' 6" spinning rod. At 6' 10" the rod has much better balance. It is one of my favorites. 

Amen.

Eight Days!

And if you missed everything like me, Gunnar has over 100 videos on youtube. He isn't shy.

rich,

My jaw dropped when I saw the prices. $5-10 or more per head is way over my head. (Beat that Rob G.)

Good question about how real.  Though I do not use it much any more I have caught a lot of SM Bass on a Mickey Fin streamer which only vaguely resembles a fish or bug. I believe that matching the action of the hatch is way more important than matching the looks. The Red and White is another example of a bug that works but has no counterpart in nature. A white minnow with a red head?

20120311_9 by Michael Gerharz, on Flickr

These are my top four. You don't have to match patterns exactly.

1. Sponge Spider, #6 or 8

2. Stealth Bomber #4 (Sub any popper or diver.)

3. Custom Hairy Fodder #1/0 - 4) (Sub Clouser Minnow)

4. Red and White  #2-4 (Sub any streamer.)

The idea is not to have specific flies but to have flies that cover the water column top to bottom--surface, diver, mid/depth, deep.

The party advocating endangerment to the point of extinction is not a political party; it is a society founded to prevent the extinction of the super wealthy. Their motto is, "We only really need one species" Therefore this is not a political discussion. These comments should not be removed.

6 hours ago, gordon p said:

The current Administrations stance on the environment is horrifying and seems hell bent on reversing decades of progress.  Shameful.

Gordon, 

Don't hold back. Say what you really mean; I'll back ya!

Mark,

Thanks for the offer and thanks for reminding us of this great leader design that in buried in one of Bob Clouser's  books. I would take you up on this if I had not already made my lifetime investment in leader material. Since I can also use the 40, 30, and 20 lb stuff for weed guards on flies I tie and the 15, 12. and 10 on my baitcasters, I am not stuck with 100s of yards of line that I may never use. I have used this "big butt" designs for some time. They are great for turning over bulky flies as the article says.

Anyone who has not tried the design should take you up on the offer. They should learn to  tie the classic Blood Knot and Perfection Loop anyway.  Up to 1950 these knots were go to knots when tapered leaders were constructed from segments of drawn silk gut.  There had to be a lot of knots because the max length of a strand was about 15-20 inches. The knots are still among the best for mono-mono, mono-flouro, and braid-mono. The perfection loop can't be trusted on super lines however.  A fixed loop for braid is another question.

I should mention that like Rob, I have simplified my big butts based on Lefty' advice. It is a 4- 2,-1 leader. The numbers give rough proportions for both the lb test and the length. My  basic leader is 4 ft of 40#, 2 ft of 20#, and 1 ft  of 12#. I will put 2 ft of 10# on the end for a tippet.  This gives me a nice 9 ft leader with only 3 knots to catch debris.  You can scale up or down as needed like 30-15-8 with 4-6# tippet for your panfish rod. 

Thanks Tom.

Paul, Terry, Jude

It's true. A great lure from a great City. It comes with a great story. Check this out.

https://www.bluelinelures.com/

In the dictionary of my youth, hack was slang for a crude or unskilled person like a political hack or an golf  hacker. Lately I see hack used in an almost opposite way. A hack is a good tip.  Some of us remember Tap's Tips in F&S. Today F&S continues the tradition with Fly Fishing Hacks instead of Tips.

I recently came across this article featuring 12 good fly tips. They are all good, but if you read only one, read #9. Besides featuring the Blood Knot, a favorite of mine for over 60 years, it gives a  possible was to beat the algae gunk that we hear about so often on this site. Enjoy! 

https://www.fieldandstream.com/photos/gallery/2015/10/12-simple-ingenious-flyfishing-hacks?image=5#page-9

Crazy glue or 2 part epoxy would work with the 2 part being stronger. Both will be stiff when they cure. If that is a problem, there's Pliobond Multi-Purpose Flexible Adhesive. which I use for fabric to fabric connection. Application is a little more complicated than the other two products.

I risk repeating myself. The one topwater for me would be my Streamer Stealth Bomber. It is a 4-in-1 fly. Depending on how you work it it will slide, dive, pop, or rise and fall (on a a sinking line. Favorite size is #4 Mustad 3366 shown here. The legs are optional. PS on the rise it has a nice wobble.

4wayPopper by Michael Gerharz, on Flickr