ShoneFly 0 Report post Posted May 24, 2014 FTF Fly Pattern - Bullhead fish - Shonefly Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FlaFly 0 Report post Posted July 4, 2014 Shone I just ran across this. Wondering what you used for the head. It's really cool looking. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
add147 0 Report post Posted July 12, 2014 FTF Fly Pattern - Bullhead fish - Shonefly Stonefly, My grandfather used to live up in Arnold's Park, Iowa and they caught bullheads all the time. I live in East Texas and we call those type of fish Mud Cats and we do not eat them down here cause they just taste like crap. Anyway my grandfather took his fish to a smoke house I can remember as a kid and they were very good to eat with crackers and cheese. I'd like to give that fly a shot on making it. Would you care to share to pattern or tell me where to find it? Brings back good memories of my Grandpa...He was a good man, I miss him , he sure loved to fish and fish he did!!!! To bad he lived so far up north and I grew up in Texas. I missed out on a lot of fishing with him. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FlaFly 0 Report post Posted July 12, 2014 Add147 I posted a question several weeks ago... seems shoney isn't checking for replies. I used black bullheads in my research for my Master's thesis. I've seen herons eat them, but hard to imagine any game fish eating them. I have to wonder whether shoney has actually caught anything on the fly. BTW I agree... they taste like mud. I've seen restaurants try to pass them off as channel cats (look for the square caudal fin... a dead giveaway since channel cats have a forked caudal fin). Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fisherboy0301 0 Report post Posted July 12, 2014 I hooked a small bullhead on a rat l trap, and pulled it by a bass bed on the way in, the big female hit it so hard it died! Sadly she didn't get the trebles though... They might not eat them but for largemouths, and I assume smallies too, it would work good in spring. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mikechell 0 Report post Posted July 12, 2014 Look up "Fish Skulls" Sculpin helmet. That's what is used for the head on this fly. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
add147 0 Report post Posted July 15, 2014 Add147 I posted a question several weeks ago... seems shoney isn't checking for replies. I used black bullheads in my research for my Master's thesis. I've seen herons eat them, but hard to imagine any game fish eating them. I have to wonder whether shoney has actually caught anything on the fly. BTW I agree... they taste like mud. I've seen restaurants try to pass them off as channel cats (look for the square caudal fin... a dead giveaway since channel cats have a forked caudal fin). I know that large flat heads and blue cats will eat mud cats. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Piker20 0 Report post Posted July 15, 2014 As mike says, its a sculpin head. I'm not sure the fish take these patterns as anything other than minnows. The heads help them sink down to the fish and fish hook up so less snags but I don't think the fish take this in preference to any other fish like streamer. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
troutguy 0 Report post Posted August 3, 2014 Brown trout eat madtoms ( http://www.hsu.edu/pictures.aspx?id=1195 ) all the time. Smallmouth and largemouth bass love them. In a pond or lake if you explore the weedy areas in the spring you can find schools of small cats. Baby cats have softer spines. Madtoms and stonecats have sharp spines and an adult may only be three or four inches long. If you lift rocks in a stream you may catch a glimpse of one. Coloration varies from black to mottled like a sculpin. I like the sculpin heads for tying, but a good lead dumbbell head can tie a good imitation too. Nice fly ShoneFly. Always look at your work. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites