How To Tie A Weed Free Fly?

[harleyhunter 0]

Hey Yall,

 

I getting into fly tying in the near future. I seen a bass bug with a "weed free" monofilomint line to help prevent weed tangles. I would like to know if any of you guys can help me learn this cause I'm excited about getting my first big mouth bass with my bug I'll make in the future. After I learn fly tying almost as well as you experts on the forum. All the flies I seen on the forum are absolute art forms. Thanks for the help ahead of time.

[Guest]

Harley,

 

weed guards are fairly simple. First you want to cut a piece of heavy mono. Burn one end of the mono and tie it in on top of the shank right where the bend is. The "bulb" from the burnt mono keeps it from sliding out. After that tie your fly like you normally would. Once your done with the fly make sure the mono is the right length and burn the other end and tie it in at the eye.

 

No fly is gonna be 100% weedless but besides using a wire guard that is gonna be as good as you can get.

[harleyhunter 0]

I may sound like an idiot, but do you have pictures of this process? I'm a little confused. What do you expect from a tying beginner? LOL

[Guest]

Nope sure dont. All you want is to have the mono loop down underneath the point of the hook. That helps keep the weeks from getting to the point of the hook.

 

Think of it like this

 

1. Tie the mono in at the rear where the bend of the hook is

2. Tie your fly like you normally would

3. Tie the other end of the mono at the eye of the hook

[atroutbum2 0]

Ok, here is a little tutorial

 

Melt a small ball on a length of mono secure it to the rear of the hook, before you tie the fly. I wrap the thread arround the bend of the hook, securing the mono, then i tie whip finnishes up the length of the loop and secure with glue

 

 

I then size the loop, you want the loop outside the point of the hook, the size of the loop depends on how big you want to make it.

 

 

After i sized the loop, but befor i cut it to size, i flatten a 1/8 to 1/4 in of the mono, this part of the mono is going th be in the eye of the hook. the pic shows the flattened section

 

 

I then feed the mono thru the eye of the hook to the flattened section , fold the mono over the hook, and tie off with an unflattened sections above and below the hook shank, pull the flattened part of the mono against the rear of the eye of the hook, Cut off the excess mono and your done.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

remember, somewhere between step one and step four, you gotta tie the rest of the fly

 

Hope this helps, For a more indepth treatment of weedguards, i suggest "The Flytiers Benchside Refrence" byLeeson and Schollmeyer

[Kodiak Commando 0]

While on the subject of weed free flies i tie them a lot even when i am not fishing in weeds. I have found when driting a fly with a heavy mono weed guard through lots of fish such as salmon the hook has a harder time snagging fish and when you do the usually come off.

[harleyhunter 0]

Hey Guys,

 

Thanks for the great advice. I also wanna thank atroutbum2 for taking time to post the photos. This board will be my best fly tying investment of time. Thanks again.

[Joe Hard 0]

I thought you were talking about the gods. You are right F.T.F ( I am sory Will the f only comes out normal) is a great place.

[Ralph Jones 0]

I'm a day late and a dollar short, but I tie the same weedguard, with different test monofiliment for fifferent sized flies. I add 6 lb. to size 6 & 8 poppers, and 4 lb. to wet flies, size 10 & 12, I use for Bluegill. I can cast and fish them anywhere I expect to catch fish without having to worry about hangups. I read about this in, I forget which magazine, in the early '70's. It helps when you catch a limb, too.

 

[NikRose 0]

There is someone that kindly explains step by step how to dress another kind of weed guard? Sorry for my little English, I'm Italian.....Keep in touch! :yahoo: Nik

[JJD 0]

I hate weed guards. It's irrational and I don't know why. Ive been tying bucktail bendbacks for bass with a little by of Flexament worked into the leading edge of the bucktail with a bodkin. Stiffens them up just enough to get through the weeds without an extra weed guard.

 

Weedguard pictures from Branham's Site

http://www.branhamssaltwaterflytying.com/f.../weedguards.asp

[NikRose 0]

Probably you haven't never fished with jig and sinking line in the weed for catch large bass. In this situasion the weedguard is essential! . I don't like bucktail weedguar, becouse is not resistant! Tnx for your help....Nik

[dsaavedra 0]

i also like (and prefer) a wire weedguard over a mono one any day. its alot stiffer and not only protects you against weeds, but its stiff enough to deflect logs too! it is the two prong style where two wires are tied in at the head, and face rearward, above the hook point, and are curved down at the very tips. very trusty. for the wire, i just take a twisty tie (the kind you see at the grocerey store to tie your fruit bags, they also come in garbage bag boxes), and burn the plastic off of them. inside is a nice, stiff but not too stiff, thick but not too thick, wire. makes great weedguards. also can use them in place of lead wire. not as heavy though.

[dsaavedra 0]

the one i am describing above is just like the second to last weedguard on the link posted above, only there are two wires instead of one.