Jump to content
Fly Tying
DarrellP

bream bug weed guard?

Recommended Posts

I put mono weed guards on my bass poppers. I read that you can use a light mono weed guard on Bream bugs. Do any of y'all put weed guards on Bream bugs? If so, what type and what pound test?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I tie a LOT of bream sized flies. Top water and subsurface.

I don't use weed guards on anything size 6 or smaller.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Do you hang up much? There are some places I have trouble. I usually tie on a popper dropper set up and do well. I guess I would rather lose flies than fish...

 

I love fishing for Bream

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I've never been a trout fisherman. Mostly because I've never lived in trout country.

 

Thus, my fishing has always revolved around Sunfish and Bass. I've never used the hopper/dropper system. Well, I can't say never ... since I tried it after reading about it here. I don't like it and don't use it.

 

With a single fly, I can usually maneuver around surface obstructions. I can usually hop a fly over or pull it through the cover I fish. I developed my "Panfish Attractor" to come through subsurface weeds. It uses Raccoon tail as a weed guard.

Aug 2017 Panfish Attractors (1).JPG

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Yes I do....I fish in heavy salad and timber and if you aint casting into that stuff you aint catching fish.

I really dont do it on a size 12 or under but on size 10-8 I use 10-12lb Mason hard mono..

And on my bigger bass bugs I prefer to use double 16# Mason more than 1 20#-25# test guard.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Most of my bream bugs range from size 6 to 10 and most of the lakes I fish aren't that weedy. I cheat with my weed guards when I do tie weedless flies and use the Gamakatsu Weedless bass hooks. The smallest I have are either size 6 or 8 and I don't think I've tied a fly on them. Looks like I'll have to tie some on them to use them up. Here's what a larger one looks like.

 

post-309-0-39662300-1543421263_thumb.jpg

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

For strictly targeting panfish, I'm with mikechell, in that I've used flies that invert the hook point and uses some of the wing material as the snag guard. This would be flies similar to Mike's, patterns like the Crazy Charlies or Gotchas and they've worked well.

 

Otherwise, for panfish, I don't put weed guards on flies.

 

I do use weed guards on bass flies and some saltwater patterns. That's necessary like Mike West said, because of where the fish are found. I use 25 to 50lb Mason Hard Nylon, .015 stainless wire, and 80 or 90 lb nylon coated stranded wire for making guards.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I don't always want to use weed guards so I prefer a temporary method. I have used orthodontic rubber bands. Pull the band through the eye then hook the other end under the barb. Obvious limitations are barbless hooks and eyes that are too small.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I don't always want to use weed guards so I prefer a temporary method. I have used orthodontic rubber bands. Pull the band through the eye then hook the other end under the barb. Obvious limitations are barbless hooks and eyes that are too small.

That's a great idea. I just ordered some of those bands for indicator/bobber rigging but wasn't sure what I was going to do with the rest of the bag.

 

Thanks!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I prefer not to. But I fish some waters that have huge crappie and bluegill but are so shallow that they have weeds to the surface over most of the surface area. If I'm in more open water, I never use a guard.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks for the replies.

 

So Mike, is that American raccoon or Finn? Is it roadkill, trapped/hunted, or store bought. I bought some fox tail on line, and have a hunter killed coyote tail that let's just say is Musky. My dogs and cats go nuts when I use it. Gonna tie some foxy Clouser flies. I digress.

 

I fish a lot of hopper dropper, or popper dropper. The muddied the water, the better the top fly is. I muffled a cast and the hard splat resulted in hook ups. Repeatec. Saved my day. At least on that day.

 

I guess I figured Bluegills have small mouths, so a weed guard would be a fish guard. Gonna try some Charlie type flies.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

So Mike, is that American raccoon or Finn? Is it roadkill, trapped/hunted, or store bought.

It's American ... regular ol' raccoon. One of my tails was from a fresh road kill. All the rest ore from my yard. The "herd" gets too big when I have three or four of those bastards trying to kill the cats. I pop one or two and take the tail. The rest goes to the vultures.

 

I ate raccoon when I was younger. Too greasy for me now.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest

Bo coon, sow coon, kit coon, hill coon, city coon, deer feeder coon. HankyBoy ain't liking him. Contrary to usual behavior I trans located rather than capped this time.

IMG-5438.jpg

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Mike, you've inadvertently given me some pleasant memories of my childhood this morning. My grandpa was an avid coon hunter (he killed enough that he sold the pelts and made some side money from it). Whenever we would visit him and my grandma, he would proudly present my sister and me with either a 'coon or squirrel tail -- his idea of a present. My sister's always had a red ribbon tied around it -- that killed me. :-D

 

Espy was an interesting guy. He would allow us kids to follow him around as long as we kept quiet and stayed out of his way. As long as we did that, he would talk--not exactly to us, but more to himself but with us as his intended audience. Everyone else knew him as a guy who barely ever spoke a word, but he talked a storm around us for some reason. We knew exactly how he felt about everyone in the family and a wide range of other topics, most of which we were too young to understand. He taught us some excellent swear words. :) This was a man who didn't talk unless he had something to say.

 

With the exception of the times when my grandma would drag him to a wedding or funeral, I never saw him wear anything but Binney & Smith bib overalls with a white tee shirt underneath. If it was wintertime, he would layer a thermal underwear top under the tee shirt. He wore a hunter orange cap with faux-fur earlaps 365 days a year. There was always a pack of Lucky Strikes rolled up in his right-hand shirt sleeve, and in the right rear pocket of the overalls lived a pint of vodka. If we found him later in the day -- always in one of three places: his workbench in the garage, his enormous garden, or in the woods--he would have had a few nips from the bottle, and would often greet us by saying, extra-loud, "Aw, here come those DAMN KIDS!" Then he'd wink at us and do a little jig.

 

I had always loved being outdoors, but it was from Espy that I learned to truly appreciate nature. He would bring us along on his walks in the woods, even when he was carrying his .22 pistol and looking to get some squirrels or rabbits for supper. He showed us snakes basking in the sun, or shedding their skins, caches of acorns put away by squirrels, hidden birds' nests with eggs in them, entrances of tunnels leading to rabbit warrens. Always, without fail, when he showed us one of these things, he'd say, "Isn't that a beautiful thing?" Sometimes he'd say, for apparently no reason, "Let's sit down and be quiet for a little bit", and we would do just that. Of course, this was the same man who would say things to a six-year-old such as, "Here, wiggle a stick at that snake and keep him here while I go get my pistol." Then he'd walk off, and might or might not actually come back. Asked if we could go play by the pond, he would say, "Yeah, but there's cottonmouths all over, so act like you've got some sense if you go in there." What his actual motives were, it's hard to say, but we learned that yes, there was some danger in the world, it was generally manageable if you were careful and knowledgeable and respectful of things that could hurt you--in other words, if you acted like you had some sense. :)

 

The last words Espy ever spoke to me, right before he died at 93, were, "You're a good boy, but you couldn't shoot a deer if I held him still for you." He said it through a cloud of cigarette smoke. If not exactly kind, it also wasn't untrue, and it was just the kind of thing he would say. Rather than worry about our feelings, he preferred to just tell the truth as he saw it, and trusted we could handle it. I liked that a lot.

 

Sorry, I'm not trying to hijack the thread here. I just got a rush of memories and felt like reminiscing, I guess.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...

×
×
  • Create New...