Wow! The sonic boom fly!

[Blackwater Virgil 0]

Yep. I tried using a spinner on some flies years ago, and have read about such for a lot of years now. The Sonic Boom just combines a lot of elements in just the right way that I think it'll be a winner. Hanging horizontally at rest is one factor, IMO. Just went to the doc today and will be taking my first shower since the surgery, so maybe I'm not too far from getting "out there" again! THAT will be a True Pleasure! Can't hardly wait!

[Baiter 0]

I keep swiveled blades in my fly box. You can add them to any fly by just adding them to your loop knot.

 

I string 4-5 of them on a bare hook to hold them in the flybox.

[jcozzz 0]

Exactly! And the Road Runners are proven beyond any need to do so further. Yes, the spinner WILL make casting more "intriguing," but if it pays off, who among us would limit ourselves to foregoing it only on that account? The very small size of the spinner blades will make it a LITTLE easier, but it's still a spinner, and not the easiest of things to cast. I need to become a better caster anyhow, so maybe this is a new challenge that I can meet? And BTW, that other Sonic Boom is a good looking fly. Is it for salt or fresh? I'm tying up some flies for the salt, intending to try to learn to catch fish there, too. Never been much of a salt water fisherman, so it ought to get really interesting. Went a few times some years back, and though I didn't know what I was dong, really, still managed to catch a goodly number of fish - enough to make it worth the while - and the fresh challenge and adventure made it a very worthy pursuit. This being retired would be like being a kid again if it weren't for the physical limitations, etc. And it's funny, but given an attentive eye and perceptive mood, it's amazing how easy it is to catch enough fish to "get by" and be at least satisfying enough to keep us coming back. You trout fishermen may have another take on this when they get picky, I know, but anyone who doesn't enjoy getting a tug on his line can't really call lhimself a "fisherman," can he?

not trying to offend but if a tug on the line is all i'm looking for i would use my ultra light and throw a road runner which i do.i also use bait at times.i could probably just as easily cast a small road runner on my fly rod.my opinion a flyrod is for flies.my definition is something that could not he fished properly on conventional gear.i do use some micro jigs and tung bead flies that go about 1/100th.anything bigger i can toss on an ultra light.at some point it is no longer a fly.this is fly tying forum.there are jig tying forums out there lots of em.

[jcozzz 0]

Yep. I tried using a spinner on some flies years ago, and have read about such for a lot of years now. The Sonic Boom just combines a lot of elements in just the right way that I think it'll be a winner. Hanging horizontally at rest is one factor, IMO. Just went to the doc today and will be taking my first shower since the surgery, so maybe I'm not too far from getting "out there" again! THAT will be a True Pleasure! Can't hardly wait!

sorry but i would just go buy some road runners.they are a very good search lure and i have caught many species on them i could probably carve a rapala type body and add a diving lip and paint it all pretty and say its a fly rod lure.but whats the point,i could just go buy a rapala and it would work much better than any contraption i come up with.redears are not smarter.just have a different life style than bluegills.

[Blackwater Virgil 0]

Points well taken. The thing that the sonic boom offers that the Road Runners do not, is a slower fall rate. The eyes can be changed out to bead chain, brass barbells, or lead eyes, thus controlling fall rate, which CAN, at least sometimes, be a large determinant of what fish will bite and what they won't. Like you guys, I've used Road Runners on UL and light spin rigs, but being able to use a lighter, slower falling version on my long rod is very appealing. Hope to let you know HOW appealing soon. My surgery's healing up pretty good, and I'm anxious to get back "out there."

[JSzymczyk 0]

There is nothing new in the fly tying world. There is a pattern called the "Coyote" which has been around forever with a small spinner blade attached exactly the same. I've caught panfish and bass at least 9 years ago on a variation of a Clouser Deep Minnow with a small spinner blade attached the same way. I also attach "normal" spinner blades in front of them and fish them on ... wait for it... spinning tackle. Been making my own spinners since what, 1980 or so. It's no great leap between fly tying and lure making.

 

It was funny when I lived in Alabama, my fishing buddies there called them "Inline Spinners" as opposed to "spinner baits" I suppose... all I ever knew them as were just regular spinners.

 

Anyhow, adding spinners to flies is nothing even close to new. Ray Bergman wrote about it at least as far back as the 1940s. Others probably wrote about it even earlier.

 

The "spinner bait" type flies I've been seeing with a bit of flashy stuff where a blade should be are missing one extremely important detail... the vibration produced by a blade. They may certainly be effective, but not for exactly the same reason(s) as hardware.

[retrocarp 0]

There is nothing new in the fly tying world. There is a pattern called the "Coyote" which has been around forever with a small spinner blade attached exactly the same. I've caught panfish and bass at least 9 years ago on a variation of a Clouser Deep Minnow with a small spinner blade attached the same way. I also attach "normal" spinner blades in front of them and fish them on ... wait for it... spinning tackle. Been making my own spinners since what, 1980 or so. It's no great leap between fly tying and lure making.

 

It was funny when I lived in Alabama, my fishing buddies there called them "Inline Spinners" as opposed to "spinner baits" I suppose... all I ever knew them as were just regular spinners.

 

Anyhow, adding spinners to flies is nothing even close to new. Ray Bergman wrote about it at least as far back as the 1940s. Others probably wrote about it even earlier.

 

The "spinner bait" type flies I've been seeing with a bit of flashy stuff where a blade should be are missing one extremely important detail... the vibration produced by a blade. They may certainly be effective, but not for exactly the same reason(s) as hardware.

Too true !!!!

[Blackwater Virgil 0]

Amen, J! You nailed it, but there ARE things that are "new" ideas that had simply been forgotten. Nothing's more common to man than going back in time to find something "new." We humans are just funny that way, aren't we? ;^) And thanks for keeping our perspective broadened out enough to include the past as well as the present and future. We seem today to regard the past as something lost, but if that's so, it's in many ways OUR loss. Old principles never die, they just get forgotten .... for a while.

[Philly 0]

I've been following this. Tied up one that I wasn't really happy with. This afternoon I was watching "Sport Fishing on the Fly" on WFN. Brian Chan did a leech pattern tied on a jig hook where he wrapped a pin on the bottom of the jig hook after he hhad slid a bead on it. The body was wrapped on the shank and the extended head. A neat looking fly. I figured I'd see how it would work with a "Road Runner" style fly.

 

 

Now to figure a way to get the head on the fly to resemble the Road Runner head which goes off at about a 45 or 60 degree angle from the the front of the jig with the spinner trailing straight back from it.

[mikechell 0]

Now to figure a way to get the head on the fly to resemble the Road Runner head which goes off at about a 45 or 60 degree angle from the the front of the jig with the spinner trailing straight back from it.

Um ... just buy "Road Runner" jigs and tie them up the way you want them.

[FlaFly 0]

I have some real old flies with spinner blades that I found in my late father-in-law's tackle... also some with treble hooks.

 

Philly...that fly reminds me of a beetle spin, only with a chenille body. You can buy the beetle spin spinner rigs minus the jig head and use it on any number of bodies. Or just pull the rubber tail off the BS jig and replace it with wings, tail, whatever you want. (but in my HO, it wouldn't be a fly because one would be relying partly on the weight of the lure, and not just the line, to cast.)

[Philly 0]

There's no fun in that, Mike.

 

FlaFly

I've done that already. Probably won't get a chance to see if they work for a few weeks. Here's one ofthem.

 

 

This one is tied on an old spinner bait frame. One that was suppose to catch crappie, which it never did. The lead head was removed. The only weight is the frame, spinner and hook. The head is built up Uni-Stretch. I have the several Clousers and other weigthed flies that weigh more than it does. Just a different way to add weight of a fly.

[FlaFly 0]

Philly that looks really cool. Do you think you could cast it with an ultralight spinning rig? I've got some skirts that I bought to use for sili legs, .... I might try one on a beetle spin head. That should attract something.

[FlaFly 0]

Philly... I need to ask... does that thing float with the lure under and the spinner on top, the way BSs do? Looks like the spinner might outweigh the lure.

[Philly 0]

I don't if it is castable with an ultralight. When it had the lead head I think it as either a 1/8 or 3/8 oz spinner bait. I do have an ultralight rod that I use for walleye when I go to Ontario. Maybe if I respooled the reel with 2 lb test it might cast it but I don't think I could throw it more than 10 to 15 feet. I'll have to tie it on and see but I have the reel spooled with 8 lb fluorocarbon right now. Spinner bait skirts should work on the Beetle spin body.

Good question. The blade is size 00 which is as small as they make them. I think the combination of skirts, hook, eyes and CCG coated head would outweigh the blade.