Gonna Try To Make Some of These Floaters for Potomac Smallmouth

[DanMarino]

Add some tail materials to some floating walleye jigs.

[DanMarino]

I'm also going to try these streamers.
http://www.flyfishohio.com/Shannons_Streamer.htm

[hookmeup]

Those shad are to smallmouth what spot are to stripers. Good luck with the streamers.

[Mark]

I'm also going to try these streamers.
http://www.flyfishohio.com/Shannons_Streamer.htm

Interesting. Looks like an elongated woolly bugger without palmered hackle.

There's no end to the ingenuity of some fly tiers.

[On the fly]

I'm also going to try these streamers.
http://www.flyfishohio.com/Shannons_Streamer.htm

Like that one!

[On the fly]

I also found Kelly Whites red & white gurgler very effective. He is a guide in the Potomac and knows his stuff.
http://theanglersinn.com/kellyswhite...tegurgler.html

And if you come to the seminar at bass pro Jan 14 th I will show you another panfish/ bass fly.

Harry

[Mark]

I also found Kelly Whites red & white gurgler very effective. He is a guide in the Potomac and knows his stuff.
http://theanglersinn.com/kellyswhite...tegurgler.html

And if you come to the seminar at bass pro Jan 14 th I will show you another panfish/ bass fly.

Harry

Step 6 where he pierces the foam and slides it over the hook is very clever. That makes for a nice undercarriage on the fly.

I tie but I never think of stuff like that!

Thank goodness for tying books and internet patterns...and people who share them.

[DanMarino]

I also found Kelly Whites red & white gurgler very effective. He is a guide in the Potomac and knows his stuff.
http://theanglersinn.com/kellyswhite...tegurgler.html

And if you come to the seminar at bass pro Jan 14 th I will show you another panfish/ bass fly.

Harry

Thanks Harry. Gurglers are on my list of things to tie this winter as well!

[Mark]

Add some tail materials to some floating walleye jigs.

Here's a similar floating smallmouth fly developed by Bob Clouser.

P1020445.jpg P1020446.jpg

The fly's body is made by gluing two rubber spider forms onto the hook. The forms are available in most fly shops.

[DanMarino]

Problems:
1. Putting the thread through the bobbin.
2. Thread kept breaking, causing a repeat of #1.
3. I can't whip finish by hand.
4. Superglue gel is sticky.

[On the fly]

Problems:
1. Putting the thread through the bobbin.
2. Thread kept breaking, causing a repeat of #1.
3. I can't whip finish by hand.
4. Superglue gel is sticky.

Come see us at bass pro January 14 th and Mark, Bignose, or myself may be able to help,with your problems

[PigPen]

I hear ya,
WIP finish by hand takes practice. I started that way a long time ago but read how to do it in a well photographed book. I just SAT there with cheap sowing thread and a salt hook till I got better at it. "It's all in the wrist"
I often get break offs on foam flies. Look for the heaviest thread they sell or switch out for braided line or mono.
You can also fish a loop of wire or mono through the bobbin to pull line through. There is a tool for that as well. I remember my bobbins getting gumbed up with wax over time and needing cleaning when I was a kid.

Good luck

[Mark]

1. You can get a tool that will help you thread the line.

https://www.amazon.com/Dr-Slick-Bras...obbin+threader

Or you can wet the end of the line with your saliva, insert the tip of the line into the bottom end of the spool, put your lips on the top end of the spool and suck like its a straw.

2. Your thread is too light. You're likely using thread for small flies. Get some flat waxed nylon thread for larger flies.

http://www.barlowstackle.com/Flat-Wa...lon-P1307.aspx

3. Hard to explain but easy to do if someone shows you in slow motion. Use only your index and second finger...spin and twist. You really need to see it. Come to Bass Pro on January 14 and I will show you. Perhaps there are videos online. I have a whip finish tool and rarely use it. I can do larger ties much faster with my fingers.

4. Don't use gel for head cement. Use Sally Hansen Hard As Nails fingernail polish. Or you can buy head cement. Neither are as thick as the gel and each dries fast. You can put them on in light coats to make a tight finish.

By the way...your fly as tied, as wild looking as it is, will still work. Fish don't care about wayward feathers, too much glue or poorly tapered whip finishes. Only the tier cares. A hungry smallie is not discriminating in the slightest.

[DanMarino]

I have Danville's 70 denier flymaster 6/0 waxed thread.

[Mark]

I have Danville's 70 denier flymaster 6/0 waxed thread.

You might want to try a heavier thread.

Note the link I mentioned above was for 210 denier. The tradeoff, of course, is that you get about 1/2 as much thread per spool as with 70 denier. But the 210 cinches down nicely on jigs and heavily dressed flies and rarely breaks.

Good luck.