sparkleminnow

Place the wire form in the body; hook eye first. Work the form in slowly being careful not to tear the foam. If the wire sticks out the tail too far, or not far enough, remove it. Bend the kink in the wire form until it fits in the body with just the eye exposed in front, and 1/16"-1/8" gap between the body and the blade, at the rear.

Use a razor blade to carefully make a slit in the body that is perfectly centered. To say it a better way, make a dot in the center of the tail, and the nose. The blade should hit the dot on both ends; not hit one and miss the other. Anyone can do it. Just take your time, and be slow, and careful. It's not as tough as you might think. Do not cut more than half-way through the body.

Step two) Pre-determine the length of wire form needed by measuring against the body length. It will need to be slightly longer than this to accomidate the blade, bead, and kink in the wire needed to complete the form. I use the 4" pre-looped wire. (One end is already looped.)

Once the length is dertermined, place the bead, and then the blade on the wire. Bend the wire around the center pin of the bending tool. The instructions will say to use the outside pin, but it makes the loop larger than it needs to be. The front loop might not line up exactly with the tail loop. If not, bend the wire to align the eyes using two pairs of pliers.

Now, wrap the 8089np hook with thread. When you reach the back of the hook, tie in a 2 1/2" piece of Hard Mason mono for the weed-guard. You will need to keep the tie in point at less than a 1/4". It should not be on the shank, but the upper side of the bend. This is so that you can attach the wire form to the hook with thread, and you don't want the weed-guard to interfere with lashing it down. You need to wrap along the length of the wire and hook, in loosely spaced wraps, up to the eye. Now, wrap back to the bend, in loosely spaced wraps.

Insert the tag end of the Hard Mason mono through the eye of the hook. If it will not go in, try to push the wire off to one side. When you get the mono in the eye, check the length, and cut it off leaving 1/4" sticking through the eye. Now, melt the mono to make a ball from the tag end. Be careful not to burn off too much! The ball will keep it from coming back through the eye.

Use Zap-a-Gap to coat the thread on the wire, and hook. Set aside & allow to dry. Do NOT use Zip-Kicker to accelerate the curing process! After it is cured (not tacky), use needle nose pliers to put a kink in the wire form. This will expose more hook gap, shorten the wire form's overall length, and prevent the form from twising in the foam body.

Ok, you wanted step-by-step.....Let's see if I can make this work.

Step one) Carve the body using the dremel w/flexshaft, and a 120 grit sanding roll.

This is one reason, for me...

That' a 6" Deceiver and a 15 lber, BTW.

I am planning to use a combination of various glow in the dark materials such as markers, paint, fabric paint, glow in the dark flashabou and maybe a baloon if I can find one. Maybe even glow in the dark impregnatated cheese cloth or such forf the inner organs.

I think you could use a glow-in-the-dark condom for material. :hyst:

I wouldn't use something as large as Flashabou, or sparkleflash in a dubbing loop. If you are going to use material that coarse, you might as well use Estaz. It's far easier. As for getting Angel Hair into a dubbing loop...Check the picture below. The material is lined up after you have cut (cut) it to size, not chopped (people tend to think "chopped" means thrown into a dubbing blender and "chopped up".) The material is cut to the right size, then grasped in one clump, and while the dubbing whirl is holding tension on the loop, insert the material into the loop. Allow the dubbing whirl to maintain tension on the loop, and evenly distribute the material throughout the loop. Pinch the loop with your free hand, and keep tension on the loop with your free hand. Spin the whirl with your other hand, and as it is twisting up slowly and gently relax your grip on the loop. It will twist enough for you to let go of the loop, and it will not fall out.

Well, you might have, in part. The crystal bugger uses Estaz. It is pretty stiff stuff...like deer hair compared to marabou. The Angel Hair is much softer, and has more action. The Sparkleminnow body will also lay down better when swung through the current. It will take on an appearance much like a bassassasin soft plastic jerkbait. But, the body material will also wave & undulate when dead-drifted. I found that a palmered hackle will act like an auger, and twist your leader badly. The dubbed body material has no orientation so it will not twist when swung in the curent, streamer style. The tiny fibers look like thousands of tiny scales of a baitfish vs the one or two dozen larger "scales" appearance of estaz. My take on it, just that only. I can only go by what I have experianced in side-by-side testing against similar patterns.

BTW, Kings looooove the black light pattern!

This 26" 'bow says throw anything, but a sparkleminnow. :hyst:

This 27" Brown agrees.

Day5, send me your email addy, and I can get you the tying directions.

This is how I generally tie it. You don't want it to be too full, or it will kill he action of the body material.

I almost always post the pic of the pearl color, because it's my favorie, but other colors have worked well. The "black light" color is soooo much better than standard black, but I don't have a good answer why. Heck, since there is unlimited space for pics...

That's more of a Heddon Tiny Torpedo adapted for fly fishing. A buzzbait will create a lot more commotion than a Tiny Torpedo, though they probably do the same job and catch the same amount of fish. I've never actually fished with a Heddon Torpedo, just buzzbaits. I'm going to have to try and concoct a simpler way of doing your Coffe Grinder. I'd LOVE to have a few of those in my fly box. Maybe I can just buy some foam and use a knife and some sandpaper on the foam?

Well, you're right that it is more like a torpedo. but the smallies in my area love buzzbaits. They don't mind the topedo, though. If anything, mine kicks up more water than the ones you currently buy in the store! Mabe the ones at Wally World are not as good as the originals. Anyway, I studied on trying to make a buzzbait for the flyrod, but I finally came to the conclusion that just using a regular buzzbait was the easiest way. Anything you try to tie to look & act like a buzzbait for spinning gear will just be the same thing, only more expensive.

A dremel tool will be the easiest way to shape a Coffey Grinder. Or, I could sell you some. However, I don't turn out that many. I can usually only average one per day! It's usually best to get one as a pattern, and use it as a guide to making them yourself. I will barely have enough ffor myself come spring!

I'm thinking that this "Spinnie Bugger" thing would be the shizzle. Has anyone tried this?

Actually, what you're describing sounds like a pistol pete. It's a tippet twising nightmareish hell fly. You would have to hold me at gun-point to get me to use one again! There are other options, but I think the most important thing is to counter balance part of the fly, so that it (the fly, itself) can't spin with the blade. Even if the fly only twists once for every 10 revolutions of the blade, it will still twist your leader beyond recognition. You might try winding lead wire on a hook shank, tying it like a bendback streamer, and hanging a spinner blade off the bend of the hook. :dunno: As a spinnerbait substitute.

Dafack01...no real sustitute for a buzzbait?...

http://www.flytyingforum.com/index.php?s=&...ndpost&p=125719

You must have missed this earlier post.

OK, someone here might like this. I wonder who likes bluegills? Hmmm...

Redwings1, a point of note, crawfish don't "bleed". They have no visible red blood (that I have ever seen). If you rip a crayfish apart, you will find that if anything there is a lot of yellow to be seen; both solid and liquid. In another study I saw, it was found that the color yellow was discovered to illicit the greatest feeding response in bass, of all colors! Think about it; they see yeallow in blugills, they see yellow in crawfish guts, they see yellow on some frog bellies, and grasshoppers. I have seen golden shiners with very yellow bellies, bullheads (madtoms) with very yellow bellies....bass gnerally attack from beneath.. What's the first thing they will see, but the belly?

I know it's thought that wounded, easy prey is best to fool bass, and what would indicate wounded better than red=blood=wounded? However, I have actually reduced my catch rate by adding red to an other wise all pearl fly!!! I have had good days with it, though, too. So, I can see where it's easy to think that red on a fly will make it better, but it's not automatically better.

Yet, another study showed that bass preferred a softshell to a hard shell adult. Something about a softshell emitting an amino acid that is alluring to bass, as they know the smell indicates a defenseless...easily eaten crayfish. So maybe a tan or light olive colored tail fly pattern should be on your list to test out.

It's foam. Since I don't usually like to tie & photograph as I go, I don't have a step-by-step yet. However, I can give you the tools list. OK...hope you're sitting for this...

*Dremel tool with flex shaft. This allows more dexterity for precise shaping of the foam.

*Sanding drum for Dremel tool using item #432 - 120grit sanding band.

*chainsaw sharpening stone for Dremel tool. It's the pink cylindrical stone. This is for boring the holes to sink the eyes

*Several wooden clothes pins. A couple with light spring pressure, and 6 with heavier spring pressure. Start scouring the garage sales. You might still find a few.

*Q-tips in bulk. These are used to absorb any extra super glue that squeezes out of the body. I also cut the tips off after they are used up, and use the stick to mix epoxy.

*Sanding sponge. 150 grit is about perfect. I use it to smooth the body, sometimes, but it is for blending body colors later in the process.

*multi-color markers. Wide variety. Highlighters, children's makers, art markers....you might have to experiment to find the right colors you need. Note - I have a more long, drawn out explanation as to how to get the colors that markers, alone, won't give you.

*razor blades - I use the Schick double edge blades to cut a slit into the body for inserting the wire form.

*wire bending tool. - This is a tiny little thing that is sold by Stamina tackle. It's $15 vs the $85-$125 larger wire forming tools.

* drying motor - mine's 7 RPM.

Materials list

* 1/2" Rainy's foam cylidars - available from any fly shop, or you can get them from Clouser's Fly Shop.

*.031" wire with preformed loop at one end. I prefer the 4" long, but they come in 6" long also.

* hollow, metal, 5/32" chrome bead. (for the blade bearing)

* Chrome #1 metal prop-type blade.

* #6 VMC 9908NI double hook for the tail hook...doesn't rust!

* Sz 10 - 8089NP Tiemco nickel hook....doesn't rust!

* 20lb Hard Mason mono (for weed-guard)

* 6/0 Uni-thread

* Zap-A-Gap

* 7/32" stick-on, domed, prizmatic eyes ....colors to suit your taste. I prefer silver or gold.

* Flex-Coat 2-part rod finish.

* Saddle hackle feather for tail dressing

Most of these materials are available at staminainc.com

Tying directions...

I'm lazy. I'll get to it later..

:dunno:

nice, i love the fly...help us out

I always had a problem with the idea of tying a white popper, streamer, whatever, and adding color with a marker on stream. The problem is that I never did find a marker where the color stayed put. It would always wash off...even "permanent" markers. Now, the markers could give you the right color, right where you wanted it, but how to keep the color...? Well, I decided to coat the body with rod finsh. Bingo! Now whatever I dream up for a color pattern, it will stay.

So, luvinbluegills, you think a bluegill pattern next?

Perch pattern...

Flytire, the concrete wall is where the fish are. If you get more than 12" away from the wall (retrieving parallel with the wall) you don't catch squat. The closer you get to the wall, the more hits you get. 7 years experience at this location. Also, I'm hitting the wall as a result of switching winds blowing my back-cast off track. I am making 80-100ft casts as well. The epoxy blowing apart when hitting the wall only highlights a concern about the durability of the epoxy material. The incident is not an ever-other-cast occourance.

Softex users, will the Softex get "Bass thumb"? By that I mean, if you land enough bass, the skin on your thumb will get shredded by the bass' tiny needle teeth. Will the Softex respond in the same way?

mb82, Yes, too much hardener will make it more brittle. I was suspecting that the 5-minute epoxy was not as durable as regualr epoxy for the very reason that it cured fast. No facts to support that hypothysis yet, though.

I had used 5-minute epoxy for streamer heads, and they worked. However, the heads would blow apart if the cast caused it to hit a concrete wall (fishing a spillway). You would think, "What's so suprising about that?" Well, If it had enough give to it, I would think that it would dent, but not crack and fall off.

I am trying to coat foam, and while I don't anticipate hitting any concrete, I do want the coating to not crack. I have a Crease Fly that I bought from a fly shop. It has an epoxy coting, and it does flex. I would have thought that if it were epoxy it would crack the instant it was flexed, but it doesn't. I bought an epoxy/fly turner from Flex-Coat. The catalog inside the box recommended using the rod finish coating. I have some Flex-Coat rod builder's epoxy glue....it is not rod finish. Will it still work as well, or should I save it for something else?

That yellow popper (That does have a bit of orange at the front, doesn't it?), would be deadly on the wipers where I fish.

It would be a tough call for me. To compare apples to apples you have to have caught fish of the same size. An example of what I'm talking about is my call for the hardest fighting fish is a wiper. The problem is that I've caught salmon that fought hard, but most of them were over 20 lbs. Most wipers I've caught were closer to the 10 lb range. I have caught salmon of 8-10 lbs, but they were coho, not kings. I'm not sure if they would be the same for fight if they were the same size, or not. Anyway, comparing what I have caught for salmon, and wipers I would say that it's very close, but I'll go with the wiper as harderst fighting. Salmon as a close second. Steelhead as third, and smallmouth as fourth. Steelhead are bullets, while smallmouth are just tough. They aren't the bullets that steelhead are. And finally, as has been stated before, if bluegill grew to 6lbs, no one would fish for anything else! They are super tough for their size. I would love to, once again, have a place to regularly take them at 1lb each.

I haven't caught enough saltwater species to speak to their fight, but a wiper is half striper, and striper are saltwater fish. If that is any indication, I would say that freshwater fish can't hold a candle to saltwater fish, for fight.

Trout flies do work on bluegills, but I find that they can shred them in a hurry. An exception might be the Elk Hair Caddis. This fly seems to take a lickin', and keeps on tickin'. Also, I found that if the water you are fishing is loaded with a particular insect, you will do best with it. I was slaying with a caddis larva immitation tied using Hare-Tron, light #1. I lost my last one, and the only thing I had left was a hare's ear. They would not touch it!! I switched to a scud tied with the same material, and caught fish after fish. I tied the hare's ear back on.....nothing! I later found that this lake has an abundance of scuds, and caddis. As long as you used patterns resembling some life cycle of this forage, you were in the money. Another odd thing was how these particular bluegills would not touch black. If you found a black ant, and threw it in the water over fish....nothing. A black cricket thrown in amongst them....nothing! A black fly of any kind....nothing. A sz 6 yellow wooly worm with a red tag...deadly! Can't figure out what it was supposed to represent. It must have looked good, though, because I also took an 18" crappie out of this place with it!

Gotcha covered. I use either Fletch-Tite, or Sticks-on-Contact. Both dry flexible, clear, water-proof, and hold like iron. Sticks-on-Contact is $1.25 per tube at W-Mart, and Fletch-Tite is available at W-Mart or any archery shop. Fletch-Tite, as the name might imply, is for attching fletching to arrows.

Been using this one for smallies for about 12 years, now.