Capt Bob LeMay

I have that book myself - that's the setup but a bit lighter mono and a bit smaller loop...  The positioning is as I remembered it.  

I think so - absolutely... I might be a bit prejudiced though since one of his fishing partners - all those years ago down here in south Florida when he popularized bonefishing with the fly.. was Harry Friedman - and I was lucky enough to meet him and learn a bit from him towards the end of his life when I was just beginning to tie a fly or two.  My very first bonefish on fly - back in 1976 was one he showed me how to tie... Harry was a founding member of the old Miami Beach Rod and Reel Club (no longer in existence) and his proudest catch was a 72 pound tarpon on 12lb tippet...  I wasn't impressed until I learned that all those years ago, early fifties, they thought using a bite tippet (standard practice for years now...) was "un-sporting"... I can't imagine how many tarpon Harry had to jump before being able to land a big one with only a 12lb tippet.  For those who've never tangled with tarpon - their jaws are as abrasive as 40 grit sandpaper....   As a point of comparison - my standard fly leader for big tarpon will have a 20lb tippet - with an 80lb fluorocarbon bite tippet at the bitter end - where it counts.. 

If you're ever able to get a look at the books by Joe that were about bonefish, tarpon and other saltwater species - you'll see Harry's picture in many of them - all those years ago - just after the big war when fly anglers were looking toward the coasts - if they could, where folks were first trying to fish the salt with fly rods... Me, I only came here in 1971 (almost directly from Vietnam - but that's another story entirely...).

There was a local bass fly guide who made up lots of small poppers for bass - each one with a light mono loop in the forward 1/3 of the popper body (each end embedded in the head with the loop just large enough to stick down in front of the hook point like you're showing but mounted a bit to the rear with a bit lighter mono set in at right angles to the belly of the head.  I've never tried that myself - but it worked well enough that he had quite a following in the canals and other water west of Fort Lauderdale out into the Everglades...  When he was going strong I was still only fishing in salt or brackish waters.  Me, I'm a relatively new guide as far as the freshwater scene is concerned - just beginning to target peacocks when I'm not a hundred miles to the south along the coast of the Everglades... 

I might still have one of his bugs - if I can find it, I'll post a photo....

Their decision to quit making outboard motors was explained to me by my dealer as an internal decision to quit making a profitable product because they realized they'd never be "number one" in the industry - and that's what they want all of their products to be... Thank heavens they're still honoring all their existing warranties and maintaining their parts business (a substantial business I'm told...).  I'll be putting up my current E-Tec 90 (this is my fourth one...) up for sale shortly - with more than a year's warranty remaining...  Lucky me...  If they still made the motor I currently use - I'd still be buying them - they were that good for my purposes...  The Evinrude line of motors was the last two stroke being made that I know of... It was fully computer controlled, and fuel injected so it actually burns cleaner than any current four stroke (if you can believe it...).  Here's a pic of my rig - off of the trailer while we worked on the trailer with up-grades recently.. .

this hull, an old Maverick, is nearing 35 years old - and still going strong.  Can't remember how many motors I've had on it over the years - all of them either a Johnson or Evinrude... 

As for BRP's future motor plans - I'll believe it when I see it...

With the small poppers I make for the backcountry (the SpeedBug) I'm using soft foam Perfect Popper heads meant for a size #4 hook - but mounting a size #1 Mustad 34007 hook instead.... Here's a  pic or two... I figure that the gap needed as Denduke mentioned is all important to hook striking fish...

Each hook is wrapped with a double layer of tying thread (Danville's flat waxed nylon - any color) on the portion of the hook shank that will be fastened up inside the slot of the popper head,  to make an anchor point for thin super glue (Krazy Glue) - then each pre-slotted and pre- shaped head is pushed onto the threaded area partially, a run of super glue on the thread - then the head is pressed into place and the slot secured with a clothes pin to clamp it together a few minutes to close the slot around the thread wrapped hook shank..... The head is compressed by the clamping but in just minutes afterwards the head returns to its original shape... I tend to glue up ten, twenty, or more at a time when I'm doing a run of these.  The various tails I use are done as the last step in the tying process... 

I've filled orders for these -by the hundred at times... No need for any color or markings on the head, small tarpon, snook, and many other species will attack these over and over at dawn or any time the wind lays down.  I tell my anglers to fish the bug like a crippled minnow with very short sharp strips (4-6" each time) - and with the tip of their rod in the water pointing at the bug at all times... For my own uses this bug always has the barb mashed flat with a pair of pliers before tying onto a leader... and we do without a bite tippet if at all possible... Although meant for salt and brackish waters, we've gotten good responses in freshwater canals from various different exotics - cichlids, oscars, peacock bass, and largemouths as well... 

One example of the many different color combinations I use for the tails (neck hackle for the tail - saddle hackle for the collar) with a bit of pearl Flashabou or Flashabou Accent to provide some flash for the tail on  the finished item.. 

A few additional remarks about trucks (and I'll add some info on boat motors...).  The current market for good quality used trucks is flat astonishing...  A buddy has a top of the line Chevy diesel for towing his fifth wheel (among other toys) and traded in a late model gasser to make the purchase.   He was actually offered more for the gasser than he'd paid for it a year or two ago - that's how strung out the market for trucks is... but he is very happy with his current diesel and they do a lot  of over the road RV'ing to other states... towing all the way there and back...   For anyone with an older low mileage truck in good condition - you'll be surprised how much it's worth when you go to trade or sell (and just how much you'll have to pay for something new...).  I do see the recent offerings of electric trucks - but figure they'll have very few buyers (not from folks who actually need and use a truck hard day after day...).  We'll see if I'm right.... of course - nothing like reality when rubber meets the road... 

As for boat motors... that market is upside down in many respects.  I need to re-power my guide skiff (after BRP quit making outboard motors... the Evinrude brand is now gone forever.. ) and went to my dealer more than a year ago now.  I was told not to even consider re-powering unless my motor was bad since I'd pay top dollar plus for one - if we could find one anywhere in the country.  I was told to come back in a year and maybe by then the market supply would have settled down and things would be "more reasonable"...  Here's my situation now... Yes, motors are available now (at least the 115 model I need..) but there's no more "guide program" from any manufacturer, so I'll be paying full retail...  And partly because when you re-power to a different brand motor,  you also have to change out all of your gauges, wiring harness, shift and throttle (adding about $2500 in cost for a modest 115..  lord only knows what it would be for a big motor...) my actual cost for re-powering will be more than double what I"m used to paying (maybe a bit less than 14K, if I get a "deal"... Lucky me...   It will be a Yamaha - and I'll be learning all about four stroke outboards since I've never run anything other than a two stroke motor - and every one of them since 1974 - a Johnson or Evinrude... once again "lucky me"... 

Tempering hooks is a is literally a "make or break" proposition... Too much and the hook is brittle (and some of them will break - as noted- right in the vice...}. Not enough tempering and the hook is soft,  won't break at all - but you can bend one out with your fingers... 

I was taught, all those years ago, by a premier jig and lure maker (Bob White was the daddy of them all in his era, down here in south Florida) a teacher by day and a lure maker nights and weekends for many, many years.  I was taught to take a sample from a new box of hooks place it in a small bench vise (not much differently than you'd do with a tying vise - then try to bend it, using the hook's shank as leverage, to see if it would bend out using only your fingers (too soft) and if it passed that test then use a pair of pliers on the shank to see if it would snap as you tried to bend it with the tool.  Most premium hooks (the ones from the Orient that you pay all that extra money for...) will almost always break before bending - but they're very strong - unless they're too brittle... 

My best advice to new anglers is to get in the habit of checking your gear every few casts to verify that your fly is still effective (still actually has a point... and not broken off) since a fly will look and fish the same with or without the bitter end.  This is something I had to learn the hard way after an angler or two was missing the hookset on the strike - and when we looked - he was fishing with a teaser that would never hook anything once that point was gone.  I have a few examples on my tying bench and will take a pic or two - then add it to this thread when I can.

By the way a soft hook that opens up will still hold a fish - until it opens up enough to let go.  Since I work with other gear as well as fly - we do see a lot of hooks that big fish have seriously mis-treated - but are still holding the fish... 

I first heard one of Lightfoot's songs done in a coffee house in Baltimore back in 1968 (long before he became popular with his ballads - it was the Canadian Railroad Trilogy being done by a local folkie... ).  It was early afternoon and the place was empty except for me and two buddies on leave from a local Army base....

Wasn't until a few years later you could hear his songs on the radio... but I always enjoyed everything he did - even the commercial stuff... Guess I'm getting older.

I favor work trucks - barest of bare bones, with a V-8 and towing package, mostly Chevys, then tend to run them as far as they'll go since I'm on the road towing around 20,000 miles a year from my home to one ramp or other - many days a 200 mile round trip (along with 8 or 9 hours on the water every day I'm booked).  I bought new back in 2005 - but new truck prices flat put me off so then it was a hunt for a used version... Could not find a used bare bones Chevy with a V-8  (they all come with V-6 motors now, the work trucks, unless you special order.... ) so the last time around (two years ago now) I had to buy a  used GMC work truck to get a V-8... "such times as these" (to quote a Ry Cooder song...).

One of my customers jerked me up short a few years back by saying "No room for politics on a 17' boat" so I'll stop right here.... but I'm still somewhat to the right of Atilla the Hun in my preferences... 

Here are two photos from a trip out of Flamingo last week...

this is our best of the "baby" goliath grouper this season, estimated at about 40lbs... carefully released in a small river

We added this 50lb tarpon to round out our day...

Tomorrow I'm fishing two anglers, a fly angler up front, backed up by his partner with spinning gear at the other end of the skiff.  I'm looking forward to it.. 

If you buy your hooks by the thousand per size - you'll see many more oops in each box from one manufacturer or other.... I've never seen a mistake in box after box of Tiemco hooks - but one model of their hooks had to be withdrawn - the Tiemco 800s in sizes 1/0 and above - after they were found to be brittle enough to break on the strike with big  tarpon (and I lost a bunch of royalties that year as flies done on those hooks had to be withdrawn from the shops that had ordered and paid for them -- years ago..). 

The good news for all of us is that the supply and variety of hooks available each year continues to grow... Of course, back when I was filling orders - too many times an order involved a hook style or size - that I didn't have on hand... 

Mike, go to Imgur.com and sign up.... Once you have an account there (it's free) you can download any photo you've loaded there - onto this or any other site, using the right format...  

Call up your photo, select it- then use the "BB Code" (second from last on your drop down menu) to load it,  then post it on any bulletin board site.. Very handy and pretty much professional quality - all free...

Lots of different ways to work spinning hair.   I found for my purposes that using deer belly hair solved most of my troubles…. Of course as a saltwater tyer,  I get to improvise all the time… Dyed over white belly hair comes in very bright colors as well…

The grass carp down here in south florida get quite big - much bigger I'm guessing than up north... Pretty obvious when they're feeding on berries - but like our big black drum in saltwaters... they pull a bit then come to hand... You wouldn't believe how we get 20 to 40lb black drum to take a fly... 

Not in the salt… For us it’s a primary color - for almost any baitfish pattern…. 

The bug folks use down here is tied specifically to resemble a red to purple berry that drops off of trees into canals where grass carp feed on them this time of year.  There was a local guide who came up with it years ago…. All you had to do was find  one of the trees and you’d find the carp eating the berries ( but darned if I can remember the name of the tree…).

Down here in paradise (Florida) my first question would be "what's an opening day"?

After all there ought to be some compensation for putting up with all the BS my state has in too many cases...  For anyone not noticing our current weather spat - Mother Nature doesn't fool around when it comes to a bit of rain (25" in a day at my local airport - Ft Lauderdale, completely shutting it down for a few days...).

Here's a few extra pics... 

This shows the weedguard tied into place as part of the tying sequence for a clouser style pattern.  I try to tie in as much of any pattern as possible before adding in the weedguard towards the end of the process (tying materials in after that weedguard is sticking straight out takes a bit of practice - and maybe a bandaid or two...).

The next two photos show the wing added - then the head whip finished into place - note that the weedguard has been raised slightly to keep any super glue from getting into the hookeye once you're done tying and need to lock everything into place... 

If this bug were part of an order for a shop the last step, after the Krazy Glue was dry - would be to add some finish on top of the thread to "pretty it up".  For my own purposes as a guide I'll be tying that fly onto my angler's leader as is...  Doubt the fish would ever notice... 

Once everything is finally dry the wire is bent into position, trimmed at the hook's barb - then a final slight bend at the tip end of the wire to allow it to smoothly slide along any snags, etc.

If you look closely at the wire in the final photo you'll see that sometimes you need a slight additional bend at the head of the fly if the head is large enough that it prevents you from bending it down into the proper position (a bit more than 1/16" directly above the hook point).

One other minor detail - occasionally,  in use,  the wire will get moved out of position - keep a close eye on it in use - if the wire isn't positioned properly either the fly won't be weedless - or the fish will refuse it... When everything is right - the fish don't seem to notice it ever... 

Hope this helps.  There are actually two additional styles of wire weedguard I use - but that will be a topic for another day... 

This thread just came up on another site that I frequent... Down here in south Florida there are guys who take kayaks fishing out in bluewater off the Atlantic coast (the Gulfstream comes in within a few miles of our coast from MIami Beach up to Stuart -and the depths drop off very quickly in relatively close to shore..).  At any rate this tale comes under the heading of "be careful what you wish for" in my opinion.  From the visual evidence it looks like the angler's kayak was actually attacked and bitten....  https://forums.floridasportsman.com/discussion/296869/kayak-angler-knocked-out-of-his-kayak-by-a-big-shark#latest

No, this isn't something I'd ever recommend anyone doing (even in my younger, very foolish, days...).

You do have to get them wet before they sink  -but the combination of the heavy hook (either an Owner Aki  or a Tiemco 600sp) and very large bead chain eyes along with a heavy 80lb bite tippet allows the fly to sink at the same rate as that full Intermediate fly line - and once it's down it stays at the exact depth it was at when an angler begins the long, slow strip we employ... The beadchain eyes are the exact same size you find on the pull cord for vertical blinds - and we actually count down the depth as the fly sinks after my angler lays the fly out into the drift pattern we desire... and I count out loud to get them into the idea of allowing the fly to drop into the strike zone... so no lead needed at all.  Every fly line we use, whether sinking or floating is set up with a permanent butt section ending in a surgeon's loop that we'll attach whatever leader desired.   Every heavy 12wt line starts with six feet of sixty pound mono, a 10wt starts with five feet of fifty pound mono...  The entire package is pretty well thought out to achieve a given goal in my world.

Big tarpon that aren't migrating to spawn (these are pre-spawn fish) are pretty lazy and rarely go out of their way to feed (at least when we're around - the night scene is probably very different since tarpon are mostly night feeders...).  You see them roll to gulp air -then the moment you no longer see one - it's headed down to the bottom - wherever that is.. We fish them in six to twelve feet of water and really need that fly to be down at whatever level they're holding in.... At times these big fish will actually float just under the surface or ease along near the surface.  Whenever that occurs I have my angler lay out a cast that will allow the fly to cross right near the fish - and simply start stripping so that the fly never sinks much at all.... Here's the photo I always show whenever someone asks what I do - I call it my "office photo"...

a moment later this fish smacked me upside my head - and all I was trying to do was release it safely... it was an 80lb fish - they get a lot bigger, but the big ones have all the advantages when your hunting them in small rivers... 

Science Guy... Great looking muddler pattern !  That bug in various colors would work very well in my area - the backcountry of the Everglades for small tarpon - and anything else eating small minnows... Good looking bug... Peacock bass and other exotics would also jump on it in my local freshwater spots.

I've been tobacco free now - since the early seventies - and if asked,  I still can't explain how I was able to go cold turkey all those years ago as a young man after smoking a pack and a half a day from age 16 to when I quit at age 22... Best thing I ever did - and maybe,  just maybe one of the reasons I'm still able to guide at nearly 75 years old... 

For anyone reading this and still smoking - get free of tobacco any way you can...  Amen (and I'll get down off of my soapbox now...).

Just came off of three days booked out of Flamingo chasing tarpon in the rivers that drain out of the Everglades into the west coast of the 'glades.   Waiting now for a video clip or two from my anglers as I write this.  We're quite busy this time of year,  but I'm taking Easter off so will be able to file a report.  We're in big fish now every day using 10 and 12wt rods set up with full Intermediate fly lines and big flies for fishing in rivers (not exactly the tarpon fishing they do down in the Keys most days....).   These are the flies getting  all the attention... 

A stout 4/0 hook and a wire weedguard are standard gear for these flies (roughly five to seven inches long, set up with a 20lb Hard Mason tippet and an 80lb fluorocarbon bite tippet...).  This one is a variation of the original, all black Tarpon Snake...

The original Tarpon Snake, we use them in two sizes, the standard big 4/0 and a smaller version, about five inches long with an Owner Aki 2/0 hook - for 10wt rods, and hopefully smaller fish... using that same 20lb tippet - but with a 60 lb bite tippet... both the body and the tail are entirely done with large, wide, webby dyed saddle hackles (not exactly the saddles that freshwater tyers use...).

We're working tarpon - that behave like salmon or steelhead when they're up in our rivers, holding in current breaks, at bends, river forks, and other places where they are just out of the current but close enough to pick off any baitfish that come their way on the tide.  You see them rolling at the surface gulping air (not feeding behavior at all...) but when they have that little oxygen boost they drop right back down to the bottom in six to twelve feet of water (hence the full Intermediate lines...).

We're jumping fish every day now, mostly... even on days like the past three when the wind has been howling all day long (hooray for rivers that keep us out of the wind almost entirely...).  Our first fish was nearly 80lbs on a light 10wt meant for smaller fish in the fifty to sixty pound range... My angler that day did a fantastic job - beating the fish to a standstill in less than fifteen minutes on that light rod before it finally wore through the bite tippet at the boat... 

The next day we jumped three (two on fly one on spinning gear) and that was along with a few forays for small snook on much lighter gear.  This will be my routine until the end of the first week in May when all of our big fish will leave my area to join the spawning migration down towards Islamorada... The good news is that all the smaller fish (sixty pounds and under) will still be available - all summer long.  Our big fish will begin to return towards the end of summer - both September and October can be as good as it gets in my area for the big fish (if a hurricane doesn't shut us down.. since late summer and fall are prime months for the great storms...).

For anyone considering a trip to my area (or anywhere in the tropics) - here's a hint of how we dress each day... Friendly looking guide - covered up like a desert raider each day, and I get to see my dermatologist every three months as well... 

Don’t forget to replace those mothballs or crystal packets yearly for best protection