Jump to content
Fly Tying
Sign in to follow this  
skeet3t

Tinsel from the tree!

Recommended Posts

I have tied white Woolly Buggers with a tinsel body to imitate blue back herring which come through the powerhouse at Reliance, TN. They die off about this time of year in Apalachia Lake. Trout learn to eat them and look like footballs with fins.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

You can get away with Christmas tree tinsel in freshwater - but it won't do well at all in brackish or saltwaters... Those of us that tie for the salt use mylar tinsel for that very reason... 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Capt Bob,

I guess the stuff I got was Mylar because I’ve used it for saltwater flies and had no issues.

Regards,
Scott

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
20 minutes ago, SBPatt said:

I guess the stuff I got was Mylar because I’ve used it for saltwater flies and had no issues.

I think most Christmas tree nowadays is mylar.

I particularly like the red stuff.  I've used it for years.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest

Don’t think you can find the old type foil/metal tinsel anymore.   Gotta watch out for the “paper” kind and the really stiff stuff.   I pull the little stuff outa the puff balls too.    denFLASHduke....

4B2F3B1B-6831-4ABB-BF1E-3F722AC2CA44.png

89F222A4-2BD4-401A-AAB5-AE86E4B6DE15.jpeg

A437E11C-C300-44FB-A6B3-FD3669808583.jpeg

B2E4B92B-DF6A-411D-BBEB-2EC98C414ADB.jpeg

6F5C6DBF-11AC-45FF-9A42-D8DFE2B775DF.jpeg

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Guess I'm showing my age since when I started tying all of the Christmas tinsels would immediately tarnish if exposed to the salt.  Nowadays, with modern synthetics I guess that's not the case....  One of the very noticeable differences between freshwater and saltwater tying is that those of us on the saltwater side of things rarely tie anything without some  flash in the pattern - but it hardly ever shows a trace in photos... Here's a pattern that has 12 strands of pearl Flashabou it between the white and fl. green bucktail wing - but you'd never know it just looking at the photo... 

ad8UQRa.jpg

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
46 minutes ago, Capt Bob LeMay said:

Guess I'm showing my age since when I started tying all of the Christmas tinsels would immediately tarnish if exposed to the salt.  

Who are you trying to fool, Bob?   When you started tying, Bethlehem wasn't even a town, yet.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

You might be right... one of my early mentors was Harry Friedman - a contemporary of Joe Brooks, who helped popularize fly fishing in saltwaters back in the early 1950’s.  You can see Harry in many of the photos in Joe’s early books on fly fishing the salt.

Harry was nearing the end of his life when I first met him in the late seventies.  His proudest fishing accomplishment with the old Miami Beach Rod and Reel Club was a 72lb tarpon on a 12lb tippet.  Doesn’t sound like  much until you learn that in the early years they thought that a bite tippet was “unsporting”..... I can’t imagine how many big tarpon he had to hook on straight 12lb tippet before succeeding...

 

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Timely.  Just before I read this thread, I ran out of mylar in the size I wanted half way thru a batch of flies.  Turns out our tree has 2 sizes of tinsel. 

I'm not a salt water fly fisher.  What's the deal with the tarpon flies tied on the back half of the hook shank?  Do you snell knot these flies?  I think the extra shank is only more leverage for the fish to use against you?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

For Denduke....

In places with clear waters and badly pressured fish you might need smaller less “flashy” flies to get any response at all.  Don’t be surprised if your guide recommends longer leaders (12’ and longer)... along with lighter and lighter bite tippets.

Remember as well that eyes or extra weight on tarpon patterns might cause them to land a lot noisier than desirable if spooky tarpon are your target... None of this applies in places with dark waters like the Everglades... but fish down in the Keys and many days you’ll go home talking to yourself if your fly doesn't land softly... 

All of us need to think through not only what we’re tying - but how and where we’ll be using it. The only tarpon patterns I use with large beadchain eyes are meant specifically for fishing giant tarpon laying near the bottom in waters six to ten feet deep... But for baby tarpon in less than three feet of water many of my flies will be small bonefish style beadchain eyed Maribou patterns... just enough to keep the fly at mid depth in very shallow waters... where those tiny tarpon hang out... 

For WJG... 

Originally tarpon flies tied to the rear of the hook were done to minimize as much as possible that tail from fouling around the rest of the hook on your cast... Nothing touches a fouled fly and with the very few shots you might get tossing flies at big tarpon - every advantage was sought... As years went by, and still long before the advent of fluorocarbon leader material - the heavy bite tippets everyone was using were always a problem since the "memory" in heavy mono meant it was very difficult to have a perfectly straight leader at the bite tippet end with 80 or 100lb mono that was all that was available.   Various means to deal with it were used including straightening short sections of heavy leader by dropping them into boiling water before using them in a leader system,  and/or using a leader stretcher so that you could rig your fly and leader then place the heavy bite tippet under tension to straighten it - and keep it straightened....  That worked fairly well except when the fly itself turned in the knot and you couldn't present it properly to an oncoming fish... The solution back in the mid-eighties was to snell the bite tippet to the fly - and flies were designed back then to be snelled from more than one tyer (and I was one of them - I'm still drawing royalties all these years later from the flies we came up with back then - here's a sample....)...

SgitLp0.jpg

The Sand Devil

Hook:  Owner Aki size 2/0 up to size 4/0

Thread:   Danville's flat waxed nylon, fl. orange (#503)

Spreader:  orange calf tail, tied in just forward of the hook bend then rolled around the shank before securing with a few turns of thread

Tail:  six wide, webby neck hackles in ginger variant or red chinchilla, splayed outwards three on a side

Flash:  Flashabou Accent in pearl six to ten strands kept short and centered over the spreader

Collar:  three wide webby ginger variant or red chinchilla saddle hackles with as much of the lighter colored "fluff" left in place as possible

Head:  built up with tying thread then super-glued

Eyes:  Painted in place onto thread then coated with FlexCoat - a rodbuilder's finish... 

 

As the years went by fluorocarbon became available and one of it's chief advantages is that any coiling with heavy bite tippets became a thing of the past so flies no longer needed to be snelled (and those neat looking tarpon fly stretchers were no longer needed either).  All you had to do was tie up your leader to the fly then stretch it under hard tension for a moment or two and any "memory" was simply gone... What folks learned as well was that those old tarpon flies tied on only part of the hook - still worked just fine without being snelled at all and that's why you still see them today... (and tyers like me are still drawing royalties on them... ).  With a loop knot attaching fly to leader the problem of flies cocking against the leader disappeared as well... 

Hope this helps...

 

"Be a hero... take a kid fishing"

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Good points, Bob. Only used a guide once on his shakedown cruise to get feedback from me and another guy on his performance, suggestions, etc. Water can be cloudy or muddy where I fish. Some mountain streams are clear but I don't use flashy flies there. As for tarpon, etc. I have too many places within two hours drive that are calling me. So much water, so little time.😟

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Just think though... when at home you're dealing with ice, snow or rain, and almost zero fishing opportunities... down here we're complaining if the weather is under 70 degrees and with just a bit of mild weather we're in fish so big that the first time you see one laying motionless in three to six feet of water - your mind will take a moment to realize that it's actually a fish you're looking at - and not a log... 

 

and as always... "Fly anglers wanted..."

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I fish all year in East Tennessee. Just as soon as deer season is over next Sunday, I'm going to concentrate on squirrel hunting and see what prospects are for carp fishing at my secret spot. We have big fish here in Tennessee. The guy who owns the guide service is a friend.

https://newschannel9.com/sports/outdoors/lightning-strikes-twice-for-trophy-catfishermen

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...
Sign in to follow this  

×
×
  • Create New...