Articulated streamers

[Kiwi 0]

Greetings all,

 

I'd like to ask for some advice on the do's and don'ts of tying articulated streamers. I tie mostly steamers but have never tried tying any of the articulated patterns i.e. T & A, Rattlesnake etc. Any helpful tips or advice on the techniques to use would be much appreciated.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Kiwi

 

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[Joe Hard 0]

Buy Modern Streamers for Trouphy Trout, Gallop/ Linesman.

The T&A Bunker is tied with a loop of 8 inches or so of Maxima, threaded through the trailer hook, then pulled to kink it, (place the hook around something and pull on bowth ends).

Add three glass beads, make sure the maxima lies one strand on top of the other, tricky. I usually mark one strand with a marker. Once the beads are on you will not be able to see it. the loop is about 1 and 1/2 inches, and is tied to one side of the shank. It is then threaded through the eye of the main hook and then wrapped under with the thread to about the center of the shank. Crazy glue is then applied to the thread wrappings. Then their is a collar of flashabou tied in at the tail of the mail hook that surrounds the beads and mono loop. The flashabou collar only reaches the tip of the trailer hook, and helps keep the marabou from wrapping in the loop.

The Rattlesnake is snelled to the trailer hook and then beads are added. I have loaned out my copy of that book and have never tied a rattlenake. There was a thread a while back about the T&A bunker and a new fly called the swimming Jimmy. I will find it and post it for you. hope this shed some light.

 

here is the link

http://www.flytyingforum.com/index.php?showtopic=6732

[Gilly 0]

I do pretty much the same thing, I tie a 25 lb piece of mono to the trailer hook then crazy glue it, tie the streamer up.

 

[Guest]

I tie the rear portion first, then put a loop of heavy mono through it's eye and tie both ends of the mono to the rear of the front hook, on opposite sides.

 

I coat the thread wraps with Zap A Gap or some other glue and let dry. It's good to makeseveral this way then let them dry so you can finish them all at once. I leave about 1/4 inch between the front and rear flies, this allows for plenty of action when I use 12-20 pound mono.

 

I tie the front fly beginning way at the back so that the two overlap, then finish the front as any other streamer.

[Sean Juan 0]

I don't use a rear hook - I tie the articulated portion on heavy mono.

[cornmuse 0]

Instead of using 20lb mono, try using 20 or 30 pound dacron trolling line or fly line backing. Its just a tough but a lot more flexible - the action you'll get is incredible!

 

Joe C.

[rougetrout 0]

QUOTE (cornmuse @ May 19 2005, 02:04 PM)

Instead of using 20lb mono, try using 20 or 30 pound dacron trolling line or fly line backing. Its just a tough but a lot more flexible - the action you'll get is incredible! Joe C.

Good idea-- I'll have to try that when I get home. I tie the rear hook first and then use 15lb maxima or fluoro to conntect to the front hook. I then use zap a gap to hold the line in place. I like the idea of backing though or even a polymer casting line it owuld give much better action than stiff maxima. I usually tye my articulated flies with stainless hooks to prevent rusting. They seem to rust out worse than single hooked flies---maybe it is just the dressings I tend to articulate.

[whippersnapper 0]

 

 

Hello,

 

Being no stranger to Articulated flies, I would recommend going with any one of the braided lines over mono or dacron. I use berkeley fireline in 80 and 120 lb test and it has superiour abrasion resistence over dacron. For the really big ones, I opt for 300 lb Kevlar.

 

IMHO, those who fish articulated flies with with the hook on the front don't have much faith in thier hook to hook connection. The rear hook is a much better setup once you get the connection down.

 

 

 

keep it deep,

whippersnapper

[rougetrout 0]

QUOTE (whippersnapper @ May 20 2005, 02:57 PM)

I would recommend going with any one of the braided lines over mono or dacron. I use berkeley fireline in 80 and 120 lb test and it has superiour abrasion resistence over dacron. For the really big ones, I opt for 300 lb Kevlar.

How well do the braided lines hold to the hook? In my experience with them they are quite slippery and do not hold well to the hook when tied in and epoxyed, do you have special technique for using these lines?

[Guest]

QUOTE (whippersnapper @ May 20 2005, 02:57 PM)

IMHO, those who fish articulated flies with with the hook on the front don't have much faith in thier hook to hook connection. The rear hook is a much better setup once you get the connection down.

Most streamers emulate baitfish, baitfish are taken by prey head first. This is the reason the first hook is the most important, I'd bet that of ten fish caught on an articulated streamer 8 are caught on the front hook and the other two fish missed their target. I have tied fly's with Ray Schmidt a few times, The designer of the Rattlesnake. He told me that other than at tying demonstrations he does not put the rear hook on anymore. He said that is just makes the fly much more painfull to tie because the only thing the rear hook ever caught was him.

[rougetrout 0]

QUOTE (Sawcat @ May 21 2005, 08:41 AM)

He told me that other than at tying demonstrations he does not put the rear hook on anymore. He said that is just makes the fly much more painfull to tie because the only thing the rear hook ever caught was him.

I tend to disagree with this statement as I have found 30-40 percent of my larger fish hitting on the trailer hook. I keep a written record of each fish I catch and what fly and in the case of tandem flies which hook the fish took. I think that the larger fish, esp. sight feeders tend to hit from the side and *often* take the prey "head first" but in a fair amount of cases they take the rear half of the bait and hook up on the trailer hook. They aren't any harder to add than a non hook articulation and they will increase the fish caught.

[Guest]

QUOTE (Sean Juan @ May 19 2005, 02:41 PM)

I don't use a rear hook - I tie the articulated portion on heavy mono.

How do you attach it to still get good wiggle?

[Sean Juan 0]

For a subtle wiggle - which I use for larger flies. I tie a tail of marabou and then a few applications of bucktail tied in like the Hollow flye - then simply attach the heavy mono to the main hook. This gives a nice dying baitfish sway. This attachment can be from 6 - 9 inches long so it has plenty of action.

 

For smaller flies - or ones where I want a more aggressive presentation I merely loop a section of lighter mono to the heavier - although I believe I will try Cornmuse's idea of backing. Keep in mind the connection doesn't have to be as strong as it would be to a hook since this isn't a fighting connection its just for presentation. I've never had a tail bitten off - could happen I suspose but who cares.

 

Keeps the fly lighter and easier to cast - hardest part is learning to tie on mono. Step one take a long length of it and hang a weight off of it overnight to kill any memory. I hang lengths off my deck.

 

 

 

 

 

[Adams 0]

So does anyone have tips for tying on (as in tying the material on the extension, not connecting) the extension ? I tried to knock out a few articulated fatheads this weekend, and really had trouble with the extension.

 

Adams

[whippersnapper 0]

Hello All,

 

So many questions, so little time!

 

I've been a fan of articulated flies since my lost days of youth throwing jointed rapalas. The jointed/ articulated action really drove those predatory fish crazy!

 

As some people have questioned the integrity of the looped connection, I can tell you that I had a buddy of mine pull-test some flies of mine and the 80 lb. mono that was tied to the fly broke (at 76 lbs) before the rear looped connection did.

 

I tend to make my articulated flies in batches of 6-12 at a time. I start by tying the tails, and then make my knotted connection, and then complete the front part of the fly.

 

What I do is use a foot long section of braided / woven line and tie it down to the hook shank, then further bind using half hitches to create knotted bumps on the hook shank. Then, alternating between both ends of the line, I continually half hitch and knot down the front hook shank with the remainder of the connecting line. This helps to add bulk to the front of the fly. I then put down at least two thick coats of nail polish to bind everything down. One distinct advantage of the woven lines is that the increased surface area really wicks up the nail polish.

 

I will also take care to smooth over the metal burr caused by snipping the front hook by a drop or two of nail polish. If there isn't anything hard or sharp to snag or abrade the looped connection, it will last much longer.

 

I have tried string leeches that had zonker strip wrapped around the hook-to-hook connection. Some came unwound after a few fish, and I ended up lightly coating the connection with flexible cement, but it stiffened up the action. Now I just opt for the rear hooked articulated flies.

 

Let's not forget that different species of fish have different means of foraging for food. Browns will attack from behind and short strike more so than rainbows, whereas pike will hit prey (HARD!) from the side, momentarily release the stunned prey, then swallow prey head first.

 

I've done my own "studies" comparing rear and front hooked articulated flies, and the only good thing I can say about the front hooked flies is that they are easier and cheaper to tie. That being said, I'll go the extra distance when re-stocking my boxes because I only replace the flies that work!

 

 

Keep it deep,

Whippersnapper