
Kirk Dietrich
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Everything posted by Kirk Dietrich
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Top Ten or Must Have Redfish Flies Texas/Louisiana Coast
Kirk Dietrich replied to Robert M's topic in The Fly Tying Bench
You're killing me, those are great looking! Are you retired or something? Feather tails on poppers are my favorite and a damn pretty way to finish a bug off even if they are more time consuming that a hank of bucktail and flash. Kirk -
Top Ten or Must Have Redfish Flies Texas/Louisiana Coast
Kirk Dietrich replied to Robert M's topic in The Fly Tying Bench
Denduke, great looking poppers! and other flies of course. With all this talk about redfish flies, has anyone mentioned that presentation is perhaps the biggest part of a fly's success? Reading the fish is part of that to and comes with experience especially when you're fishing alone. When with a guide, he will usually read the fish for you and direct you in the right presentation as far as cadence, position, pause, etc. Robert, look forward to some redfish pictures from you this summer and of flies sooner. Kirk -
Well, for the stuff where you cut a plug or block head where the sheets are perpendicular to the hook and look like barring/vertical stripes and the face of the bug is a sheet of foam, I think you don't have to many forces working on your layered joint except maybe fish eating it. I'm planning on gluing sheets together and cutting a plug or making block heads where the sheets would be lateral, i.e. white belly, green back. So, I'll be drilling my plug into the edge and when the bug is fished, there will be water being pushed at the face during the retrieve. On second thought though as I've become a fan recently of the Liquid Fusion as a soft foam bug coating, that would seal the seam pretty nicely. Speaking of LF, I tried using that to glue the sheets together and you can't pull the sheets apart but found out it only dries along the edges creating a seal and preventing air from reaching the interior surfaces of the foam. When you cut the block in half after a day, the insides are still wet. No air getting to it I guess. Not sure how long it will take for air to permeate the sheets of foam and dry the LF on the inside. Kirk
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I saw the live one first and said, damn, Fred is freakin good. Then I realized it was real and saw the one on the hook and said, damn, Fred is freakin good!
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Thanks for the feedback guys. Yeah Piker, I've just never been happy with the different things I've used. The best luck I've had is the flexible CA by BSI but it is thin and you have to put a seal coat first and you have to use a bunch. Then, I've used Barge cement but that stuff turns yellow. You won't see anything ground breaking from me with this, just want to start making more foam bugs and some Rabid Dogs with the soft foam. Cut one out of the foam I got from Sleazy Steve's and made one and it works great. Kirk
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Coloring Doll Eyes with markers
Kirk Dietrich replied to Kirk Dietrich's topic in The Fly Tying Bench
I bought some of the colored iris eyes like shown above, they do look good. They have a clear plastic globe and the color is on the back like the white ones. When coloring/tinting he dome, can see the color of the protruding dome from the bottom of the bug. Kirk -
Kevin, when you say you use Aileene's and haven't had a problem with it, that means you've fished laminated foam sheet bugs and they stay together? Pete, like Heavy Nets said, I think you'll find on the can that it says water resistant. That is what got me wondering as most things that say resistant aren't waterproof but it seems like that could be different in this case as Flysmallie seems to be attesting to. Fish For Life, are you using the commercial contact cement for laminating formica to make countertops? or the Elmer's craft rubber/contact cement? Kirk
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Is the 3M spray adhesive the best thing for gluing sheets of foam together? I can't find any information on it being waterproof but I've heard people recommend it. Kirk
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Damn Brad, those are nice. I particularly like the popper with the angle below the cupped face. To close the slot, I just hold it closed and hit with accelerator. Man, those are nice bugs. I do like the tail tied on with the thread wraps hidden. Kirk
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Brad, so, you're painting the heads without a hook in them, interesting; do you impale them on a needle/pin/nail to hold them? I've read about and heard of people mounting the hook in their bodies the way you describe but I've never tried it. I've just always cut a slit and mount the hook as close to the bottom of the head as possible. Its just hard for me to break that habit. I know what you mean about CA changing the marker ink color and its odd colors too, like yellow turns red, olive turns black, who knows what you're going to get. Also, if you mount first and paint over the glue, the tone/hue will be different than that of the same color on the adjacent foam head. Guess I have to try that out. Kirk
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Buz, great looking mylar poppers. I've been doing the same with you for the marker colored head prior to painting although I've been using the acrylic paint sealer. I haven't tried dipping but that sounds like a much better option. When brushing if I go back'n'forth to much, the marker will pick up into the sealer on my brush. PJ, I think you hit the nail on the head with this coming down to tradeoffs. I've got to ignore the fish in the park and go cast these up against the concrete bridge. You have rocks, this urban angler has concrete park benches, bridges, lamp posts and concrete bulkheads and bank protection. Kirk
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I updated my observations. After sitting in my hot shed for two days, the 20 min cure epoxy is only slightly compressible but not as stiff as it's big brother 30 min cure epoxy. Flex Coat, still smoothest but the shiny finish dulled down. Could be I put it on to thick. I read up a little afterwards on some rod builder forums and it seems they apply two or three thin coats. Could be the heat in the shed. 30 min cure epoxy is now the shiniest. Liquid Fusion, still the same and most compressible and flexible. Shine would probably equal the 30 min epoxy if given a second and/or third coat. Thanks for the info PJ. Smallie, nice looking slider/diver. Kirk
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Mike, good question. Actually the two that were compressible, the 20 min BSI epoxy and the Liquid Fusion did not crack; they were flexible and easily compressible. I squeezed the two hard ones, Flex Coat and the 30 min BSI epoxy with moderate pressure and they remained solid. My guess is that if I would have squeezed harder or hit them with something, they would have cracked. I don't know the pressure a fish puts on a bug but I think the hard ones would hold up. I always thought that with the soft foam body that the hard epoxy would crack with a little bit of pressure. Now I just have to fish them to see how they make out in the field. These were painted with markers but I think acrylic paint being kind of pliable and flexible would be just fine on the foam heads.
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Spoken like a true Cajun PJ! Now, I may have gone a little off tangent with some of that post but I was actually serious about the body of that fly; I know I asked you once and you posted but I can't find nor remember. You mind sharing that again? Kirk
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Coloring Doll Eyes with markers
Kirk Dietrich replied to Kirk Dietrich's topic in The Fly Tying Bench
I'm sure he has a better shot with the big dude in red. -
I remember doll eyes used to come in colors and they still may, its not something I use often so I haven't really checked. Tha's just as well though as I'd probably wound up buying all the colors available and have more of what I don't need. Anyway, I had this pack of the traditional white doll eyes around that I decided I wanted to use on some foam bugs but I didn't like the way the white iris looked but liked the bug-eyed look. I had just got finished painting some bugs with my Copic and decided I'd color the doll eyes and just paint a black pupil on them. Well, the first color I tried didn't color the clear plastic dome completely, the marker I was using is transparent and wound up tinting the clear plastic allowing the black pupil to show through. I tried a few more colors and the light colors remained transparent, but for some reason, the Flourescent Yellow/Orange was opaque so, I just painted a pupil on with the black Copic marker by hand like I had originally thought I'd be doing.. I guess you could glue them on first and color with the felt tip marker but I decided to do a bunch and stuck them to some doubled over masking tape and used the Copic Airbrush markers to color a batch. Kirk
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Ya'll didn't realize PJ is really a 16 year old Girlscout that sits by the computer crocheting beanie caps for the troop and keeps entertained by posting fly related pictures from her uncle's photobucket account to get a rise out of us. Great looking flies PJ's uncle, I've seen you post those before and I know you got the recipe from your uncle but I can't remember how you made the body. Care to look that recipe up and share it with us again? Thanks, Uncle Kirk
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I was wondering who invited the firemen to my last birthday! Damn nosy neighbors.
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Not a problem PJ, its all good information. I'll have to try it without watering down to see if dries thicker. Thanks for the input. Someone as old and experienced and old as you is an invaluable resource. Kirk
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Jeff, not sure how long the LF takes to cure but it does need a turner. I tried some on a bug that I just hung up and it ran down the back of the bug onto the hook shank. I think I shut off the turner after about an hour. I wasn't touching the bugs and testing the cure time but it is the thinnest of the coatings I used. I did water it down a little based on some experiences I read about from other tiers; they recommended 1 part LF to 1 part water 50/50. I decided to do 2 part LF and 1 part water. I makes it easier to spread. I think one more coat, two more for a total of three would be the most you needed. The one thin coat could be tough enough, not sure. I do plan on giving it a second later this week when I coat up a batch of bugs I'm working on coloring right now. That 20 min BSI looks pretty good, it remained unbelievably flexible and was thick. I'll have to see how it holds up or if it yellows (have to put it on a white bug when I do the batch later in the week). Kirk
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Thanks Bugsy and Piker. I've been wanting to do this for a long time. Kirk
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I did some testing on some soft foam, the Live Body foam heads. I'm not sure about durability, this is just about what remains flexible and the quality of the coating. I've got results by each of the pictures. Now, I'll have to see if a flexible coating on a soft bug is more or less durable than a hard coating on a soft bug. Kirk Used four different finishes on Live Body soft, close cell, foam popper heads. Top left: LIQUID FUSION (LF) watered down 2 parts LF/1 part water, foam is compressible but finish could use a second coat. Top right: FLEX COAT rod builders epoxy, foam is not compressible but finish is thickest and smoothest of them all, after sitting in shed for two days, the shine has dulled; after reading a little on rod builder forums, I may have put on to thick of a coat - seems that rod builders prefer putting on two or three thin coats. Bottom left: BOB SMITH INDUSTRIES (BSI) 20 min cure epoxy, foam is slightly compressible but not as flexible as LF, coating is thick and smooth. Bottom right: BSI 30 min cure epoxy, foam is not compressible, coating is thick and smooth. Live Body foam not compressible - that's my fingers flattening out. Finish is 30 min BSI epoxy. Live Body foam slightly compressible - that's not my fingers flattening out. Finish is 20 min BSI epoxy. Live Body foam compressible and most flexible - that's not my fingers flattening out. Finish is Liquid Fusion. Live Body foam not compressible - that's my fingers flattening out. Finish is Flex Coat Rod Finish.
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You gotta give away all the secrets don't'cha. I do that on a lot of stuff I tie just to lock it in but it does have the effect you are talking about I just couldn't figure out how to describe in words how to do that when I wrote my post above. Good tip AGN. Kirk
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I'd like to see a picture of your fly. Could be saddles aren't tied far enough down the shank or to far down into the bend, etc. Mono is not a problem but if it continues, it could be a casting problem too. Could be the bucktail collor doesn't flow back enough. You could put a little bucktail down first as a sort of tail and put the hackles on top of that. Kirk