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Fly Tying

MickThompson

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Everything posted by MickThompson

  1. Wow, you gave them flies, they lost them, and then asked for more? Sounds like fly fishing welfare to me! You're sway too nice. I would have told them they could just watch me catch fish. Takes some gall to lose a guy's flies and go back with your hand out. You didn't have to give them any flies in the first place, so I probably wouldn't give them any more. Trade or sell some-maybe, but give away, not so much. Like you said, you have time and materials invested, plus R & D if it's one of your own patterns.
  2. They look good. The paint jobs are fantastic on these bugs. All I would change is what NJ mentioned- too much bug for too little hook. I like a "stinger" hook like a Gamakatsu B10S for almost all of my bass flies.
  3. Check out the stealth bomber fly. I think you could easily change out colors/size to match a cicada, and it's a great warmwater fly anyways!
  4. Correct- largemouth bass. Nice variety of species!
  5. Those are really nice ties. I would try to incorporate movement into your flies. Bass have a different menality than a trout- trout study an insect for imperfections, while bass react and strike what looks and acts like food. I use lots of rabbit hair, marabou, sili legs, and flashy materials. I was talking to a fly shop owner the other day (also a smallmouth nut) and mentioned how I had noticed fish often strike when the fly is not drifting dead with the current. He had also seen the same. Bass eat lots of things that can swim or crawl against the current. Drag is only a dirty word when using dries. A dead drift will often work, but if it isn't, you can use mending to pause the fly, and thenanother mend to allow it to accelerate. This will often trigger a strike.
  6. 55* is about right to put the feedbags on, but we still have almost 2 months of really good fishing between 55* and the spawn :yahoo: I picked up a 19.25" fish last friday in 55* water. Fishing is good, and getting better every day! By the way, It's been my experience that the best fish are caught from now til post spawn. After that, it's more of a numbers game on my rivers until water temps drop again in the fall.
  7. There's more to it than water temps. Full moons and day length both play a part. Here in TN, many of the rivers hit 55* a month and a half before the spawn. It was 52* last Sunday, and we've been on a warming trend all week. Today's high is supposed to be 78*, and I don't think it mad it back to 55* last night, so I wouldn't be suprised if the river isn't already 55*. Last year, the fish were on beds mid-May. With river fish, I think part of the equation is: How early can I spawn without my eggs getting destroyed by a flood? This is different in different places, but April into early May is usually when we have flood events. I don't like fishing for fish on beds. Not because ot some ethical delimma, but because they can be difficult to catch, especially on pressured water. Pre-spawn and post-spawn can produce some real pigs, however. Add to that, some populations of river smallmouth make short-distance migrations to spawning grounds, making them hard to find if you don't know where to look. PS- a quick search showed a consensus of 60-65* for smallmouth to spawn, but most of this is based off lake populations.
  8. You could probably furl the chenille for the tail. Basically you twist it up and then let it wind back on itself.
  9. What are you wanting to catch? Bass or bluegill? You could probably do well for both fishing early and late in the backs of the creeks. I would concentrate on those areas with poppers, sliders,baitfish patterns, or some kind of rabbit strip fly for bass. Don't overlook the boat docks. That shade will hold some nice fish all summer long. For 'gills, I would probably fish a popper with a nymph dropper around willow bushes, boat docks, etc. They are off beds by now, but you still should be able to find some around shallow cover.
  10. My local shop gets all my business because they are friendlier, have a better selection, and are cheaper than any nearby big box store (Bass Pro, Gander Mtn.) Bass Pro is usually 25-50% higher! I don't buy a whole lot either, so shopping around doesn't benefit me a lot.
  11. I wasn't suggesting you eat the fish. A lot of folks just throw the little ones over the pond levee. What I meant was don't expect good sized bluegill out of small ponds when none are being taken out. Back to the original question, if you want to target the bedded fish, throw something that looks like a nest predator such as a bluegill or crawfish, and be persistent. Aggravate them into attacking.
  12. A lot of folks don't like the idea, but the only way to get bigger bluegills in small lakes and ponds is to take some out. Fisheries personnel, especially in the south, often recommend keeping EVERY bluegill you catch, whether you eat it or not. They reproduce so quickly that they can overpopulate and stunt in a pond. I've fished ponds where almost all of the fish are too small to get the hook in their mouths and you get multiple bites on each cast, and I've seen the same thing with crappie, too.
  13. Have you thought about twisting up a dubbing loop for a tail? Check out the jeezus lizard video on youtube. I think it would work pretty well on your fly.
  14. I fish for smallmouth in rivers. I tie 4 1/2" zonkers on a #4 streamer hook, and 2-3" surface flies on #2 and1/0. I think you will have more success with bigger flies (3"+) for bass, at least with subsurface flies, because flies don't make as much noise and vibration as conventional bas tackle, so you need the bigger profile to get their attention.
  15. My cat goes straight for the calf tails and krystal flash. If I've been tying, she'll have red sparkly hariballs!
  16. Like some of these other guys, I tend to go light on the dressing. I like to use a little calf tail, some flash, and a few silicone or rubber legs. The most important key to a good bug, at least in my opinion, is how you cast it. You've got to get that heavy "plop" as it hits the water. If you do that, often times nothing else will matter. I caught one about 15" tonight doing just that.
  17. 12 gauge Remington 870- wait for the whole flock to land and you've got starling skins for you and all your flytying friends!
  18. I need a sarcasm button on this thing! I wasn't claiming the calftail clouser, just using it as an exaggerated example. A better example might be a salamander imitation I tie based on the construction of a woolly bugger (a truly universal fly if there ever was one). I bend the hook shank to get the tail to stand up, tie lead eyes to ride point up, add sili legs and a little flash, and replace the marabou with rabbit or squirrel zonker for a tail. This one is still untested (not for long though), but I think it will serve as a flyrod version of one of my most successfull lures for smallmouths and rockbass in small creeks and rivers. Sorry about the fly, its been stuffed in a cramped flybox for a while. Side View Top View
  19. I'm pretty new to this fly tying business, but after a quick scan of the internet, it seems that a lot of the patterns are just variations of another patterntied in a different color or slightly different material. Does me tying Clousers with calftail instead of bucktail make it a MickThompson minnow instead? (btw, I do this for no other reason than because I have calftail and no bucktail sitting around) How innovative and different does a pattern have to be to really be a pattern?
  20. I've caught smallmouths before with shad sticking out of their gullets that had to be 9" or 10". That being said, you'll need one heck of a casting arm to throw it, and don't plan on catching many.
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