Fish For Life

Is there any way to clean flys of bad smell? Today while tying i realized that my hands were not all that clean because previously working. They weren't bad but im sure that some light smell worked its way onto the fly while tying. So it got me thinking if there was any way of cleaning them to make them smell free. Also some materials dont smell all that well, which im sure might be putting off the odd fish here and there. So again, am wondering how to best clean the flys and make them smell free. No if you hands are covered in gas from previously working on the car i dont expect to be able to clean these flys, just flys that have a lighter smell that are in need of a cleaning. So what you guys got? Thanks

^^sure hope more people did than would appear. If the list is up to date and correct, 3 out of 10 is kind of disappointing.

Although it might not seam like much help, start off by just Googleing pike flys and watching some YouTube videos. Purpose of this is to get an understanding of what some different pike flys look like, there colors, and what materials are used. From this you can either follow some of these patterns you look at, or create your own. What your generally looking for in a good pike fly is something bright with lots of movements. Your key materials are going to be rabbit strips, buck tail, long feathers, and a variety of synthetics. Colors such as yellow, orange, chartreuse, red, black and white are all good choices. Some on there own, and others a combination of a few. Start off simple and work your way up from there. Such as a large classic clouser, chartreuse on the back white on the bottom and some flash in between. Bam, you have a killer pike fly that will catch more pike than you would think. Your flys dont need to be big to be good pike flys, often it is the opposite. A clouser on a size 2 or 1 streamer often will out fish a large fancier articulated fly on double 5/0 hooks. Some other good patterns to start off with would be some large bunny leaches. Tye on a bunny tail, wrap the bunny up the hook to create a nice fluffy body, and maybe some eyes to give it weight so it will sink better and your done. Another killer pike pattern. Tye this in various colors and your set. You dont need to make your flys complicated, keep em simple bright and with movement and you will be set. One of my favorite pike flys is also one of the simplest that i tye. 5/0 hook, large clump of buck tail as a tail, surround this tail with flash, than wrap a bunny strip up from the tail to the head for a body, and an epoxy head with eyes. Simple yet honestly one of my most used and productive flys. Again, tye this in various color combinations and you will have another ready to go pike fly. Pike flys are fun as there is really no wrong way to tye one. Just have at it.

Awesome flys and pictures, thanks for sharing. Really regret not getting into that swap, the results look amazing.

Address pls. Should be hopefully shipping Monday or Tuesday.

I guess the bow river is an okay fishery

Yes, i am talking about trolling in lakes.

What set up and methods do you use for trolling flys? Although frowned upon my many im sure, trolling flys in a float tube sounds like it can be pretty effective. Im just not really sure how to do it? Do you just chuck out a whole lot of line and start kicking, or is there more to it. So how do you do it. Rod setups, line setup, flys used, trolling speed/methods, depths, and so on. Anything that would help out with starting trolling flys would be appreciated. Thanks

An 8 weight is a fairly common pike rod size. Wouldn't want to go much lighter but it will do good. A 9 wt is in general a very good pike rod size, 10 is good if you are wanting to target some bigger fish however. As for casting the flys. You should be able to cast most of them, although some of the bigger more wind resistant flys may give you some troubles. Only 60lb leader is kind of unnecessary. I use and would recommend 30lb leader with a short several foot length of the 60lb as tippet. For colors, probably the colors that you would think are good are good. Chartreuse, orange, yellow, red, white, black are all very typical pike fly colors. Ive caught plenty of pike on a 5wt, and although it isn't ideal it is very doable. I was casting clousers so the weight wasn't a problem. And even small fish gave a hell of a fish. No in wouldn't want to get a 20lb fish with the 5wt, but im sure it would handle it. So an 8 wt will be fine.

In moving water fish dont really have time to smell what is food and what isn't. So for moving water i would say that it doesn't matter much. In still water on the other had fish will have extended periods of time to smell and determine if what they are looking at is in fact food. So fly smell will matter significantly more. I have found that many head cements although may smell when applying to the fly, will dry with very little to no odor. In the end moving water or still water, the less smell on the fly the better. Even if slightly, it will increase the chances of the fish not refusing your fly. I like using crazy glue which drys hard and leaves no scent, so i dont worry about it much.

Finally the flys arrived today!! What an awesome set of fly. Once again, thanks not only to musky fly guy for hosting for for all who participated. This was a wicked swap!! I was wondering if some of you guys wouldn't mind telling me what you truly think of my flys? You could do this either here or in a PM. Im always trying to improve with fly tying and im sure as with many of you, constructive feedback both negative and positive is the best way for it. Please dont be hesitant to tell me what you truly think of them, i wont be offended. The way i see it, telling me more negatives and what you dont like about them is better than saying they are good. Even if you think there good, what could i do to make them better and so on. I want to improve, and to improve i need to know whats wrong or whats not working so good. So what do you like, not like, think will work well, not work so well, needs improvement, and so on would be awesome. Even if you straight up say i dont like it and wont use it, that fine. I just want to know what i can fix so next time you would use it. So have at it and lay it on me. Thanks If you would like me or any other swap members to do the same, im sure we would all be more than willing to do the same for each other, just ask. Thanks agin

A unique streamer that im hoping will produce well. Plastic reflective craft beads and some red marabou to create a nice hookless wobbly tail. What are your thoughts on this tail?? Im not sure if it was a good idea, or it will be a bust. Either way im hoping to try it out tomorrow and see how it looks in the water. And a couple of big 5/0 hooks for this new pike/musky fly. cant wait for the lakes to melt to try it out on some spring pike!

NOT FAIR!!!! Thats so wicked, one hell of a fish to!! Still haven't gotten my flys yet from the swap, any day know im hoping.

Thats what i was originally thinking as well. If its a 7-8 reel you wont have to drop much. Not like you ever need a full spool of backing anyways, unless you ocean fishing.

Do you have a yard or a park that your could try it in?? Thats whats i would recommend to see how the line feels casting on your 9wt. It will cast it, might just not feel all that right. Especially if your are casting some bigger pike flys. Since it is a sink tip and has some weight to it, it should cast better than just a floating 7wt line. Still not ideal but im sure it will work. You will find out the first time you hit the water with it. If it doesn't feel that bad go ahead and keep using it, on the other hand if it feels like crap you might want to consider getting a different line. Where in Canada are you located if you dont mind me asking??

Yes they are fairly heavy, but to me no more heavy than some of the bigger pike and musky flys. No i wouldn't want to be casting them with a 5 weight, but with a 10 weight and the right line i feel they would be doable.

Ive got a question for you guys that im sure will arouse some different opinions. I don't intend for any arguing, although im sure there will be some. My question is to what point will you call a fly a fly, and whether you will still fish it with a fly rod. As an example i tyed up two flys that i am planning to fish for pike with. The first one consists of a plastic squid body and a curly jig tail. And the other is a spinner skirt, and a curly jig tail. Both flys are made of lure components bough at bass pro shops. I put a hook into a fly tying vise, i lay down a thread base, i tyed in some chenille for the glue to make contact with, i glued the plastic lure material down, and on the second on i tyed a thread head and added some eyes. So what i have just made, are they flys or are they lures?? Why have you made this decision?? Know that you've sorted that out, next question. Would you fish them with a fly rod or with conventional fishing gear? Why have you made this decision?? My opinion, I still do consider these flys. I tyed them at my fly tying table. I lay down some tying thread and tyed in some chenille. Although that's about all the actual tying aspects to these flys i still consider them flys. Sure they may be primarily made of lure components, i still feel that i tyed these. I am not a picky fly fisherman who loves tying only there perfect dry flys. So i really dont care that they have so much plastic built into them. I still tyed them and they are flys that i am going to fish with. If i just took a hook and stuck some plastic body onto it however i wouldn't consider it a fly, that is a lure. The fact that i have spent time and fly tying principles into these is what makes me consider them flys. Would i still fish them with a fly rod. Well obviously if i consider them flys im going to fish them with a fly rod. But even if i considered them lures i would still fish them with a fly rod. I dont only fish with a fly rod because i want to fish small flys. I enjoy fishing with a fly rod for other reasons so i dont really care what im casting. No im not going to be fly casting a metal spoon or a deep diving crank bait anytime soon. But something such as this i will still fish with a fly rod. I fly fish for more reasons than so i can accurately cast a #20 dry fly. Casting the fly rod, the amazing fight, the fun in it. There is so much more to fly fishing than what is at the end of your leader. This is my personal opinion, what is yours on the matter?? Please keep in mind peoples opinions are there own, and if they think something differently than you there is nothing wrong with that. Go ahead and bash the idea if you dont think it is correct, just dont bash an individual because of there personal opinion. Thanks

Still working on spinning hair. Today i got Two trout streamers, a bass diver, and a pike diver to share.

Ill take a spot. Not sure what pattern yet.

Open them in a photo sharing website such as picasa web, or photot bucket. I prefer and recommend picasa as i find the process simpler and more convenient. Google Picasa Web. If you have a gmail account login with it, if not you will have to make a quick account. Than upload your photos there. Click the upload button at the top center of the screen. Once uploaded you can click the home button, which will bring you to a screen with all your photos organized in albums by date. Click the photo/album you want. Than click the individual photo you want to upload. Simply copy and past it to the forum. give it a try and let me know if anything goes wrong.

Oooooo those are really good!! Do you tye the bow river bugger because you live near the bow and fish it, or is it a popular fly everywhere not just around the bow??

I would love to see them and hopes he does to. What i posted is the best that ive come up with on the bow river bugger. Would like to see what others look like.

I also really like the idea SBPatt has, by using the wire to hold back the hair during trimming. Looks like it would work really good.

im sure it doesn't matter, and that it's more personal preference than anything. But when it comes to trimming the hair i like to keep the blade tight to the cone and cut back the hair to match the cone size. I personally just think it gives a cleaner looking head. Again, just personal preference.

Recently on many of my streamers i have really been liking this style of fly. Instead of just a deer hair head, the cone along with the hair gives a nice shape and some weight to counter the buoyancy of the hair. I just slip the cone onto the hook, tye the tail and body of the fly, then when you get to where you want the head just stack hair until tight against the cone and there is no more room for stacking. Then for the trimming i just use a razor blade and shape along the cone head at the same angel of the cone into the hair. You get a nice smooth head and since your following the increased angle of the cone heard you get a nice gradual head shape. I dont use any glue to hold the head in place. The cone may spin but if you trimmed the hair correctly this wont make any difference. Why would you want to make a thread damn in front of the cone? It cant slide past the eye so i see no reason., Unless you are using the cones that do slide over the eye, than yes you would want a thread damn. Not sure if this is really any help. Just the way i do it and it has worked for many years and seems fine to me.