salmobytes 0 Report post Posted March 3, 2015 The finger nail flies at the top of this thread are very cool. I'm going to have to try that soon. Here's another take: ....made with a small Indiana style spinner blade. File two notches at the front end of the blade either side of the clevis hole. Sand the concave face of the blade with 220 sandpaper so a later gluing step will work. The "cheaper quality" the spinner blade is the thinner and lighter it will be. So cheaper is generally better than expensive for flyrod lures. Bend the front up a bit. Wrap a hopper hook with thread of some kind. Add a trailer to the hook if you want (not done here). Lash the hook on using the notches. Put the assembly on the bench, hook up. Soak the thread wrapped hook shank with a big gob of ZapAGap. Breath on it a few times (moisture helps kick the ZapAGap). It will be hard five minutes or so. Fish it with a swivel. Else it will twist the line. Is it fly fishing? Not an important question to me. In Montana, where I live, there is no fly fishing only water. Not on public waters anyway. On hot sunny summer days when the rivers are low it's common to see fly fishermen drifting downstream in a drift boat, banging the banks with any manner of dry and wet flies. Getting skunked. At the same time it's also common to see rowdy locals drifting down the middle of the river playing CW music from a wilderness blaster, drinking beer and not paying much attention to the two Thomas Cyclone spoons they're trolling off the rear end of their raft--into the deep fast water in the middle of the river. "Hey there easy money. Get me some beeer! We are gonna catch us some fish tooooodaaay! EEEEEEHHHHHHHHHaaaaah." At the end of the float those guys have often caught a dozen or more fish, on days when the fly fishing is tough. I'm just saying. Not advocating. That the way it often is. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shoebop 0 Report post Posted March 3, 2015 No I have not yet used them. As I said, I am just experimenting with making them at this point. I hope to give them a serious workout this summer. Others have made similar spoon flies and even some with fingernails like these so I am assuming some measure of success but that could be totally off base. I make no claim as to their efficacy. The thing I like about them at this point is that they are small and lightweight enough to easily flycast. I HOPE they perform and have the movement in the water that I am looking for AND catch fish. I see no reason why they won't but that remains to be seen. Just to clear the air, I think it is silly to try to adapt spin/bait casting methods to fly fishing. It is simply a matter of practicality. I would never consider trying to throw a Daredevil spoon with my flyrod. Neither would I try to cast one of these spoons with spincast gear. It wouldn't go more than a few feet. I see these spoon flies as just a different type of streamer that we all use from time to time. This whole experiment could end up a bust but I have high hopes at this point. I will keep everyone posted. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shoebop 0 Report post Posted March 3, 2015 Actually, I think yours, Shoe, would look a whole lot better if you put a few layer of clear on them. Give them that shiny look. Probably won't fish any better, but it would catch more anglers. Actually, they have quite a few layers of clearcoat on them Mike. They are quite shiny. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mikechell 0 Report post Posted March 3, 2015 Oh, sorry. Didn't see that in the photos. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kirk Dietrich 0 Report post Posted March 3, 2015 Mike, funny! Ditz must have only seen me in the presence of women. I use them mostly in saltwater, but as someone mentioned, the Johnson's Silver Minnow was originated for Bass and a pork trailer was very popular, caught a number of bass on them. I've used down to a size #6 in freshwater and have caught panfish and small bass on them, never fished the larger ones in the fresh. Kirk Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Striperknight 0 Report post Posted March 3, 2015 Fishy fullum has a section on spoon flies made from dollar store fake fingernails in one of his books. Fishy was making these at the fly fishing show in Somerset when I was chatting with him. He makes a pretty cool little fly out of fake nails. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites