sneektip

No, not intruders, but I think you may be onto something, here. A lot of my warmwater flies are beefed-up trout patterns. I'm especially fond of "oversized" Sculpzillas and other articulated streamers in various colors for my bass and pickerel waters.

Continuous slit, like what they use in the Cliff's Boxes: http://www.feather-craft.com/wecs.php?store=feacraft&action=display&target=HG089

With lots of frogs and fishing pressure on my home bass waters, I wanted a realistic immitation that I could present as quietly as the naturals. This fly will fish on the surface with short little pops, or dive under with long line strips. Recipe Hook: Gamakatsu B10S sz. 1/0 Thread: Danville Flymaster plus Weedguard: 30lb flourocarbon Legs: 2 rabbit zonkers Leg possitioner: 2-part, 5-minute epoxy Under collar: rabbit zonker Over collar: deer hair Head: Rainy's Foam Diver First things first... Attach legs at a downward angle. Hides in, toward each other. Tie in a crosscut zonker and wrap forward. Add deer hair and spin tight. Trim the hair fairly close, and flat on the bottom, just to add bulk to the body, but leave some longer tips on top of the fly. Bring the weedguard forward and push it through the hook eye, then tie it off and clip excess. Orient the fly upside-down, and spread eagle. Mix up a bit of 2-part epoxy and fill the space where the legs, hook, and weedguard meet. Let cure with the legs at a 90 degree angle from each other, 45 degrees off hook center. Fin!

Love the fly. Looks like it'd catch fish on lots of different waters. Keep up the good "work"!

Problem solved. And the winner is... Dip-N-Glow!!! I used the product in marker form. Works awesome. No streaking, no pink finger! Thanks for all the help, guys. I still wonder how the major manufacturers color the tips of thier Merkins' legs, though.

Saran Wrap works well. Nice and shiney, stretches, and can be colored with markers, and folded over to be as thick or thin as you want.

With low water, it's very helpful to try and fish the less presured areas. Terrestrials and High-Vis Parachute Adams. In my Smokies experience, presentation and a stealthy approach were key.

My old fishing club had a saying: "Bring whatever you want... just bring two!" That being said, to truely prove a new fly to myself, I need to catch three fish on it. One is a fluke, two is a hunch, three is a pattern!

Update: I coated the rubber leg tips with two-part epoxy after coloring them red. Thought it was gonna work, but when I streched the leg, the epoxy popped right off like a little sleeve/ tube! Back to the drawing board!

Most of your epoxies are two part and most often, the resin is a translucent yellow in color but when mixed, it becomes clear. All epoxies will yellow and weaken when exposed to UV for prolonged periods but the 5 minutes cure epoxy will degrade and turn yellow the quickest. Kirk I'm not talking about just looking at the packaged product. I mean seeing printed on the label: " Cures to a translucent yellow color."

The longest I've let them sit is one night. And yeah, these are real rubber. All other color Sharpies seam to work great on them... just not red! Maybe it's something in the actual red pigment that causes it to not adhere as well. Thanks for the suggestions.

I also have a hard time finding 30 minute epoxy, ESPECIALLY clear. Lots of yellow out there. That being said, I usually use the 5 minute stuff, which I find at WalMart in the automotive section.

I now own three red markers and such, and none work well. I've tried Sharpie, Sharpie Paint, and the older-style Prismacolors. I just can't seem to find a red marker that doesn't smear right off! I'm trying to color the tips of white rubber legs on my Merkins, and also draw gills on soft foam popper heads and my Puglisi-style baitfish. Please help!!

I make my own popper, slider, and diver heads with these "soft" foam blocks. I even have some special-made drill bits that cut cylinders with center holes. Check out Sleazy Steve's http://www.jvlnet.com/~swinters/

Great flies, guys. I especially like the Opal Caddis!