Rob G

I have a photo somewhere of my father from the early 30's as a young boy holding up one of those huge flat heads. Of course now, that area where they used to be able to stand so close to the dam and swing those large cane poles is all fenced off.

John, my grandfather told me that they used to use long cane poles to swing large pieces of chicken like a leg and thigh below the dam which formed Lake Decatur. They would allow the under current to tow that bait back up underneath the dam in search of 4 ft flat heads. Though I had never seen their poles, I'm betting that the cane pole above is what they were using. Thanks for sharing. Btw, my father told me that when my grandmother would fry up one of those huge flat heads that it would smell up the house for a week, Ha

Tenkara

yes, for protective purposes only

John, I'm not a clean freak but I can't handle a lot of clutter very long. Ha I almost tossed that out there that people could gain bonus points towards Mike G's prize if they knew what that apparatus is. Suffice it to say, one similar to it served as my first fly tying vise almost 40 years ago. I know it's difficult since you're only seeing part of it but any ideas ? Timothy, you can't play in this one. Ha

John, you couldn't have timed this thread much better as I just finished cleaning up my bench. Behind my table, I keep all my materials organized in those plastic drawers. I know, my work area is rather boring, not nearly as fisherman cool as yours.

I have also used it for the top wing of small Clouser Minnows, but because the "brown hair" isn't very long it does limit the size of the fly,

Top wing of a Black Nose Dace

No doubt that would fool em.

Mike, that ole Beetle Spin never looked so good !

Very nice Andy ! I haven't tied that Lipp into a lot of my standard flies yet so I'll hold judgement, but so far I'm not amazed at the movement that it imparts.

Has anyone tried these Fly Lipps before with their flies ? Obviously used to copy the wiggle or wobble of a Rapala. My first attempt with this Zonker like fly caused it to move erratically and somewhat rolling, nothing like a true running Rap. I might need to weight it more but it did impart a lot of movement to the fly though it did not really cause it to dive deeper like I was hoping. I'm wondering what you can create by modifying that front lip? Also, do you think I'm paranoid or do you foresee that lip getting in the way of solid hook sets? Anyway, just curious if anyone has played with these and what were their results.. Thanks

Andy, funny you mention that. A friend and I are going over there tomorrow to pick up a few rod building supplies and fly tying materials. I know they have a large assortment of jig heads and I'll take a look at them tomorrow while I'm over there. lurepartsonline or also known Angler's Workshop is a great business to deal with. Really fun to go thru their warehouse.

Colin, I generally use 1/8 oz. jigs for most of my walleye fishing but occasionally will use a 1/4 oz. if fishing deep or if I or the water is moving faster. As to Crappie, generally 1/32 oz but might go to 1/8 oz again if fish are deeper and/or suspended at significant depths. Btw, I like that pink and white for crappie and that white and pearl for everything. Darn, now my secrets are out there for all to see. As to where to purchase jig heads, Cabelas were generally of decent quality but my favorites came from Northland FishingTackle.

Wish I lived closer. I made it to a couple of the shows in the past and had a great time. See if you can get someone to film you and other tiers and post links here in this forum. Would love to see your works of art.

Mike, I always thought of Tenkara as up close and personal, but if you're fishing at 30 feet, then yea, sneaky Indian need not apply. There were times this year when the water was so low that I took to casting from my knees in the middle of the stream and made long casts with long leaders and tried to keep my number of false casts down so as to reduce my chance of being spotted near some of my more shallow honey holes.

I'm presuming this technique is designed for faster and more stained water. Good luck getting within 10 feet of a wary smallie in our slower, lower, and clearer water. You would have to be one sneaky Indian, Ha

In the immortal words of Stan Lee, "Nuff Said" : ) Took a few today on topwater but it's getting tough. The night time temps have plummeted making for much colder water temps and it's taking all afternoon for the water to warm up.

I'm interested in what you can create with that stuff so please post some pics when you get a chance.

Since I have no "before" picture for comparison, can you tell me what someone has exactly done and for what reason? Was the creek bed always of that fine gravel or sand substrate, no larger rock ? Does the water normally run higher at this time of year?

Top water bite still going strong down this way in the afternoon. Yesterday I ran a double rig of a Big Black Bug and a Hopper, and the first 4 or 5 hit the BBB so used that one most of the day and it fooled a bunch of smallies, nothing really large but lots of em'

This is a simple two piece foam fly. The top 2 mm thick foam is tan, and the bottom piece is yellow with the hook sandwiched between. I have some foam pattern cutters that create the perfect shape each time. I use black thread to highlight body segmentation and leave the pattern a little longer than a Mustad 33903 size 4 popper hook, so as when cinched down in the front over the eye of the hook, you get a small cupped area that produces a nice subtle pop and gurgle when you give it a quick twitch. As to the long walk, I keep telling myself that just around the next bend is an area that doesn't get hit very hard and a 20"er has surely made his home there. I know that one day not too far in the distant future, that I won't be able to trek miles upstream, but darn it, I hope to be that old guy who can no longer stray far from the bridge but is still giving them hell. Ha

+1

But then again, it’s tough to beat a Hopper pattern in September So to get back on topic, I walked for 8 ½ hours today and I couldn’t buy a topwater bite for the first 8 hours. Nothing worked so I kept going back to streamers. Then when the sun finally dipped below the tree line, it came alive, but only for a few short minutes. I only caught a few but was fortunate enough to land a couple dandies, an 18 and a nice 19 on the Hopper. Btw, saw a few grassies today and they wouldn’t even look at my surface bugs. We are starting to get some significant leaves on the water and I’m thinking that they’re probably focused on that easy meal.

John, couldn't agree more. On the near by Wabash River, there were a couple of specific places that once summer arrived, were always guaranteed to be stuffed with large long nose gar and of course a bunch of smaller shortnose gar. Not coincidentally, there were large schools of shad found in this particular river bend as well. Though we still see a few smaller shortnose, the longnose gar and schools of shad have disappeared since the Asian carp have arrived. Unfortunately my rope flies have been sitting idle. But hey, this thread is about topwater flies that fool smallmouth