What's your favorite weed guard type/material

[Kirk Dietrich 0]

I tell ya', I'm not sure anymore what my favorite is. I've used regular mono, single strand ss wire and hard nylon in all types of configurations and kind of found hard nylon to be my favorite with the stirrup and "V" being my most commonly used styles.

Now, recently, I started to play with the multi strand nylon coated wire and in the same configurations and found that it can be bent and stay in position pretty good although hard nylon has a memory that kind of allows that too. I haven't fished any flies I tied with the stuff yet so I can't say if its going to replace the hard nylon or not. It does tie in a lot easier than the nylon. I just hope it doesn't turn in to a fish guard.

Anyway, just wondering what ya'll experience is with different weedguards the types and materials and your conclusions.

 

I guess this could be a poll with material and type as the selection options but I don't know how to set one of those up.

 

Kirk

[tidewaterfly 0]

Kirk, like you I've used different types & materials, and most of the time also now use the 2 prong "V" style & hard nylon. I've experimented with heavy fluoro too, but for the cost it doesn't work any better than hard nylon. I'll use heavy mono when I don't have hard nylon.

 

I'll also still use single strand wire, either as a single guard or doubled & folded so it fits against the hook point which IMO is the best for really heavy cover. The single strand wire works well in places like riprap. I've used the multi-strand wire too as you've said, but only molded into jig heads, and like the way it works and that it can be separated & folded.

 

I'll be interested in seeing what you've come up with with that multi-strand!

[riffleriversteelheadslayer 0]

my favorite for heavy is single strand wire in a v that fits against the hook point as for light to medium cover hard nylon is tough to beat

[Panama Red 0]

Hard mono in a V configuration tied over the hook shank.

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

Like most I've used a variety of materials for weedguards. My favorite for some years is single strand coffee colored ss "trolling wire". I figured out a way to add a single weedguard as just one more component in the production process (and have a weedguard any time I can since most of my stuff is destined for the Everglades one way or the other). Here's a pic of that "component" - it's nothing more than a short piece of #5 wire with a tiny hook bent into one end. That hook is tied in under the hook shank just before the head of any fly is completed. The only hard part is learning to tie and whip finish with that little spike sticking straght out in front of the hook.... Once the fly is complete (but before any finish is applied) a touch of super glue on the thread hardens and locks everything into place. The wire isn't bent down until after the head is finished and dried.... Now for those pics...

 

No, I don't use wire weedguards on bonefish or permit flies and I don't use them on popping bugs or many Keys style tarpon patterns but where you can use them it allows you to put a fly right into mangrove cover and then slide it out and drop it in the water....

 

Tight Lines

Bob LeMay

(954) 435-5666

[Kirk Dietrich 0]

Tide, I haven't field tested yet but so far, the nylon wire is easier to tie in than the hard nylon in either the single strand or the "V". It is just a touch softer than the hard nylon but about half the diameter for the same pound test. I'm doing this on my hard bodied minnows when I prep the hook with thread before gluing them in the balsa and then painting and finishing; it is a very clean look although I have to take a little more care when painting to avoid the guard. I've tried the double stirrup but it affects their action and sticking the material in the underside to make a "V" guard or to anchor the front ends of the double stirrup is kind of tedious and messy.

 

Riffle, I'd like to see some pictures of that single wire doubled back, I think I've seen and even used that method but I'm always uncertain about how far back on the point it should rest and how wide the space between the wires should be.

 

Panama, that is the one I most often use on my sinking flies as well. I'm going to try the nylon coated wire for that next to see if it is easier to tie in and still effective.

 

Capt. Bob, nothing like pre-fabbing to make that tying go quicker! By the way, if you're not using that single wire on your bonefish and permit flies, what are you using?

 

Kirk

[ditz2 0]

I have to admit that I started using Cpt. Bobs wire method. My tying skills are not up to Bob's so I have change methods of attaching the wire to the hook. I set the thread on the shank and then I wrap over a short length of wire leaving a tail on the hook end that is not overwrapped. I then bend the tail back towards the hook eye and then put a few wraps over the folded tail to hold it paralell to the shank. I then tie the fly with the wire sticking out over the front of the fly and afer the fly is complete I bend the wire into shape. I am sure it takes more time this was but for me is neater and I am not a production tier. I have used mono weed guards but I just did no like messing with it as I found it cumbersome to tie and get in proper position. I do like the wire best but I have jabbed my finger with the wire while tying the fly. That stuff is sharp.

[CoachBob 0]

A few years back, at the Red Stick conclave in Baton Rouge, I was shown the two strand mono loop style weedguard (loops running from the bend of the hook under the fly to behind the hook eye to with one loop on each side of the hook) and have hardly used anything else since. I find that you can use lighter mono and, because the hook is flanked by loops, there is excellent protection from weeds and woods.

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

That mention of Red Stick day brings back a few memories - I think it's been almost ten years since the one time I was lucky enough to attend that gathering...

 

Kirk, that question about bonefish and crab weedguards does bring up something a bit different. I call it an outrigger or "open arms" weedguard thats specifically designed for flies tied to ride hook point up. For a #4 hook I use 15lb Ande, for a #6, it's 12lb... Take a short piece of mono and double it, the result should be slightly longer than the hook shank. Tie it in with the loop facing forward, then complete the fly and as you're doing the final thread wraps, pull the loop up and get a half dozen turns of thread in front of it before whip finishing (all my whip finishing is by hand - I never use a tool..). At that point you have a finished fly with a loop that still faces forward, but is raised to about a 45 degree angle to the hook shank. Next you clip that loop, centered so that you end up with two "arms" that need one more step before supergluing, then finishing the thread. Each arm will be curved inward, using a thumb and forefinger place your fingernail and carefully un-curl each arm (the way you would when curling or straightening out ribbon for a for a decoration). If you do it correctly you end up with two arms leaning forward at 45 degrees and spread apart 45 degrees. A touch of super glue on the thread locks everything in place,then the finish of your choice on the thread completes the fly.

 

In use that outrigger style weedguard allows you to sink a fly into grass then retrieve it without any snagging it. The outriggers either allow the fly to glide over grass or catch, then actually bounce the fly over any obstruction but aren't noticable to the fish at all... Here's some pics of completed bugs using this style of weedguard.... The "spider crab" is my version of Matthews Turneffe Crab...

I had planned on writing an article on this style of weedguard for some years but these days fewer and fewer magazines are able to pay for any articles that aren't generated by their own salaried types.

 

 

Tight lines

Bob LeMay

(954) 435-5666

[SCOwens 0]

Hey Capt. Bob, whats the recipe for that crab pattern above

 

FYI I like a single 30 or 40lb mono piece, tie it in to long, then trip glue and wrap

Like in this pattern, sure everything will be effective

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

I'll try to post the pattern instructions over on the saltwater board when I can....

[mikechell 0]

Capt. Bob ... don't weeds get caught between the hook eye and the mono? With it facing forward like that, it seems you'd get hung at the mono. I know I pick up weeds just on the leader to fly knot.

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

Yes, it's possible with very fine, algae type stuff - but what happens most often is that the "arms" snag on something and as you pull a bit the arms vault the fly up and over anything that it would normally snag on. What I used to tell my students was to take any fly with a weedguard and drag it as slowly as possible over a lawn and just see how it performs.... where you can actually watch the process with no water present at all.

[Piker20 0]

If you're fishing through soft algae type stuff a small knot or better still a rig ring tied a few inches before the fly will catch the worst of it before the fly gets slimed.

Capt Bob, I agree with the flipping over snags. When I used to lure fish a lot with soft baits, I would use a drilled bullet as weight 18inch ahead of the lure. Fish tight to the weight and when you feel the tap tap of wood or rock, a sharp lift brings the weight and lure over and often the lure got nailed as it settled down on the other side of the snag. Lost very few lures this way even though I was dragging the bottom.

[Kirk Dietrich 0]

We have that slime grass/algae down here in the salt and almost all of the freshwaters. It makes it nearly impossible to fish a sinking fly or I should say a heavily weighted one. You have to weight your sinking flies so they reach the fish as quick as possible without sinking so fast that they dissappear in the gunk.

About the only weedguard that doesn't pick up stuff is the mono guard that is tied around the back of the hook bend and tied off in front. Although like Mike said, even the knot that holds the fly to the tippet will pick up shit.

 

The wire guard that Riffle prefers may work too, haven't tried that style much though.

 

Riffle, I'd like to see some pictures of that single wire doubled back, I think I've seen and even used that method but I'm always uncertain about how far back on the point it should rest and how wide the space between the wires should be.

 

Kirk