Swim Jig Hooks

I found some interesting hooks called "Swim Jig", I ordered them in 2/0 and tried to see what I could come up with.

Crayfish

Body - belly, copper, and mother of pearl Gummi Body.

Legs - crayfish silicon skirt tabs.

Collar - natural brown hare.

Wing - natural brown bucktail mixed with copper olive Angel Hair.

Baitfish

Body - belly and mother of pearl Gummi Body.

Collar - fl. red rabbit

Wing - white bucktail, pearl and red pearl Crystal Flash and fl. red bucktail.

Flash Fly

Wing - pearl gold, pearl yellow, chartreuse ice, olive, brown olive, and baitfish Angel Hair.

Collar - olive bucktail.

Throat - crayfish orange Angel Hair.

The hook point rides upward making them "snag resistant".

Canadian Mink

A good friend of mine sent me a picture from her Canadian vacation. Anyone who knows these animals can say they don't sit still long, let alone for photo as nice as this!

Michael

Food for thought....

http://www.env-health.org/IMG/pdf/Fish_consumption.pdf

http://ec.europa.eu/food/food/chemicalsafety/contaminants/information_note_mercury-fish_12-05-04.pdf

1rst Big One for this year

Not the best photo, especially with a cell phone at 10:15 pm. Don't have an exact measure but she went 5 or 6 cm over the meter mark on my rod. Caught her in 30 cm water on a 2/0 White Meatwagon. I tied the flies today with titanium weedguards as I noticed most fish have been in very shallow water and I have little chance of fishing without them. Normally I won't use them.

Opening Day Morning Report

Well the season is finally open again! I was on the water 6 am and got my first fish of the season at 7 am. A nice fish of 80 cm on a Red Head Deceiver. Later letting the fly sink off a drop off I had a slow soft take and missed it, I think it was a zander. I'll be back on the water around 4 pm, if productive I'll post again.

The Size Thing. Is bigger better?

I don't want to get in a "big" discussion here but probably will? Although there will be exceptions, big pike take big flies! In many waters most fish are caught on middle size flies (15-20 cm) and the fisherman are happy. Every once in a while a big pike (10 kg+) is taken. When using big flies (25-35 cm) you will get fewer strikes and catch less but when you do they will be bigger pike! The same applies to trout in lakes on a different scale, I have caught countless trout (50 cm +) on pike flies 15-20 cm long.

There are big pike in every pike water, why are they so seldom caught? Three main factors;

1) Large baits aren't used that often.
2) After eating a big meal they may go a week before feeding again (especially in winter).
3) They haven't lived so long by being stupid!

The flies shown above are 28-34 cm long. Tied in Popovics "Hollow Fleye" style on a extended length of 60 lb mono with Ad Swier Absolute Pike hooks. They are durable, shed water quickly, have little or no wind resistance, and swim perfectly. And yes they catch pike!

The Perfect Spring Day

Nutria and Muskrats




Coots and Mallards (very important as this is "The Year of the Duck")

Spawning Pike (not shown, this site is without parental guidance!).

Heiko's Thunder & Lightning

My friend Heiko has probably waited five years now for this fly. What he doesn't know is that I won't give it to him until we go fishing again!

Below is a quick slide show of the fly as it was dressed. Enjoy.

Still looking back.

It's been a few years since I been in the USA. One of the things I miss the most is fishing with long time friend John Spissinger. The man should charge rates to fish with him! I have spent hours watching him, he is a master with presenting a fly for the given species and conditions. His impressionistic flies mimic life in an irresistible manner.

Looking through some older files I found a video of him and I fishing New York's Sandy Creek. I was fishing the opposite bank and I noticed he had a Coho Salmon on of about 5 lbs.. A fish auditioning for TV Bloopers! First you'll see the spool fall out of his reel (John gracefully puts it into his pocket!), the fish brought on the bank decides it is not ready ( gracefully wiggles back into the water!). John skillfully lands and releases the beast. Enjoy!

Days gone by.

Rogan, Garden, and ...

Perch things.

If I can find some open water I want to give it a try for perch and zander. After playing around with a barred golden olive rabbit strip I came up with these variants. They are very simple "minute flies".

The first is a long shank #6 hook with a gold tungsten bead head, and a peach crystal egg. The rabbit strip is tied in as a tail, then wound forward as a hackle.

The second has a #2 saltwater hook and gold bead chain eyes tied in on top. On the reverse side a rabbit strip is pierced on the hook and a body of orange Estaz Petite is wound in. The remaining strip is pulled over the body and tied in at the eyes. A "muddler head" of olive ram's wool finishes off th fly.

Ferrets don't.....

.....hibernate!

Or,

"Walking the invisible dog"!

Do pike and zander eat eels???

For my birthday I received a copy of Bob Popovics "Pop Fleyes" and many of his saltwater gems have given some thoughts on summer pike and zander fishing (I can only think about it as everything is frozen now). The "Keel Eel" looked like a fly I could easily dance over the bottom along a sandbar drop off in the evening. I have a particular place in mind, a favorite place for eel fishers at night and I know there are pike and zander there also.

For the materials I used black, golden olive, and cream colored Yak hair. I mixed in a very small amount of black, olive brown, and polar ice Angel Hair. The hook, a 3/0 bent back Tiemco 911s. We'll see!

Christmas isn't just for kids

Diablo in full Christmas spirit!

Fun with Bob

I heard through the grapevine that I'm getting a copy of Bob Popovics's "Pop Fleyes" for Christmas. I think he has made more original contributions to fly tying than anyone for a long time. ´The most vary a pattern and give it a new name (lame!). Not him. Any ways I saw this one in another book and had to make one (not to his perfection though). The "Schoolie" as it's called looks like a good zander fly to me. If it gets a strike from a zander or pike I bet they will smash it!

Autumn Slider

In tune with fall colors.

Hook - 4/0 Ad Swier Pike Fly.

Tail - brown, crayfish orange, and black Angel Hair. Tan and orange black barred magnum "Tiger" rabbit strip.

Collar - yellow Finnish Raccoon and orange barred Sili Legs.

Head - brown deer hair dyed fluorescent orange with natural under.

Eyes - yellow epoxy.

Big Zonkers

Movement, noise, weedless. What more could one want?

Attach a glass rattle to the top of the hook shank.

Cover with self sticking foil (here pearl).

Add a crystal flash tail (here Mirage).

Cover the body with pearl mylar tubing.

Pierce a zonker strip (here Finnish raccoon), and a throat of orange fox.

Lay four rubber legs (here 3 pearl and 1 orange pearl).

Add epoxy to the zonker strip and top of the body, then tie it down.

Add eyes and epoxy the head.

A lot of wiggle.

A simple but very lively "impressionistic" pattern.

Hook - Aberdeen with an attached glass rattle.

Tail - A two tone or barred (or as shown, both in one) fur strip.

Legs - Crystal flash and rubber legs.

Eyes - Tungsten and epoxy eyes.

Body - A cross cut fur strip.

Flash with a rattle.

I wanted to add something extra to a flash fly for winter fishing. After reading many opinions on glass rattles I thought it couldn't hurt.

I enclosed the rattle in a length of mylar tubing at the end of the hook. The rest you can see in the sequence video clip.

Quiet German Water

Memories of a one time trout & salmon fisherman.

New York's Great Lakes tributaries offer fine trout and salmon fishing. That is also where I caught my first fly rod pike!

The Good, The Bad, and The ....

It's been a long time since I've posted anything, and I've got some new things ready but would like a little feedback before I get into them. I've done a lot of testing on leader and tippet materials, I would like your comments first.

Tippet materials for Pike and "Predator" fly fishing.

I've tested and have my opinions and results on these materials.

Fluorocarbon

Hard Mono

Kevlar

American Fishing Wire Surflon-Micro Supreme Wire (49 strand)

Tyger Wire

7 strand wire (various)

Titanium Leader Wire

ProLeader

PAFEX Predator Fortress+


Michael

Please read the comments below and feel free to comment on them.

Nothing better to do.

Gave it a try, frozen fingers and no pike. I did see two beavers swimming, how do they do it? Oh well, Merry Christmas.

Michael

Add a little wiggle.

Text to follow.

Somewhere under the rainbow...

lurks a pike! My favorite place for pike is a pair of small lakes in France. These are a put and take fishery for trout. Although they try, the caretakers will never rid the lakes of pike, especially the bigger ones. Smaller pike and perch are the main menu but often the newly stocked rainbows wind up as fair game, especially in winter. I wanted a light imitation that I can fish very slowly in winter. The fly is done "hollow" style.

Hook - Ad Swier Absolute 2/0.

Tail - Misty Black Mirror Image.

Back - Wild Olive Mirror Image and light olive Angel Hair.

Sides - Steelhead Silver Mirror Image, and silver and pink Angel Hair.

Belly - Natural Belly Mirror Image and pearl green Angel Hair.

Gills - Blood Red Mirror Image.

Head - yellow eyes and epoxy.

When is a fly, not a fly?

Looks like one to me!

Floating Buggers

Hook, 5/0 Aberdeen.



Under body, 5mm wide strips packing foam.



Tail, marabou and Krystal Flash.


Body, Estaz chenille.


Hackle, two saddle hackles



I fish them with a fast sinking line and a short leader (50 cm) slow over the bottom. Small versions in sizes 2-4 are my favorites for large trout. An impressionistic perch (and crayfish) imitation.

White Trash

I like the style and action of Ad Swier's "Dubbeldekker" flies, but in very large sizes (25+ cm) I find them very difficult to cast. Mainly due to the wind resistance in the spread bucktail and weight in the large water soaked fur strips. To reduce the weight I substituted materials that would shed more water quickly but maintain the right bulk and silhouette. I use thin rabbit strips (2mm), saddle hackles, and Slinky fibers. For the wind resistance I made up some hair brushes made of fox tail without the underfur (guard hairs). I wound them together with Estaz chenille to allow spacing and a hollow effect. Why the name "White Trash"? I threw in so many materials as compared to the original that I sort of trashed it together. Maybe next time I'll do a jointed version and call it "Trailer Trash". LOL, sorry!

Hook- Ad Swier Absolute 6/0.

Tail- 2 thin rabbit strips (2mm), 4 saddle hackles, Slinky fibers mixed with Angel Hair, Krystal Flash, Flashabou Mirage.

Body- fox tail (with Angel Hair)brush and Estaz chenille wound together, 6 small grizzly saddle hackles.

Head- fox tail brush (with Angel Hair), eyes coated with 5 min. epoxy

Mohair? No less hair!

Looking through my old salmon fly materials I found a rather large amount of Mohair hanks in various colors. Why not for Pike or Walleye flies? In water the semi-translucent colors and the action are superb. Mixing the hair with Angel Hair I was able to tie flies 10-12 cm long on #1 Ad Swier Absolute hooks. With very little hair tied "Hollow Fly" style I was surprised with the volume. They should be very easy to cast.

Weekend Project

I kept myself busy on the weekend. I tied 12 different flies in various sizes (15-25 cm long), all on Ad Swier Absolute hooks 2/0-6/0.

Copper Flash-2/0, 6/0

Silver/Copper Flash-2/0, 6/0

Gold/Green Flash-4/0

Silver/Red Flash-4/0

White/Red, Pink/Purple, Black/Purple, Yellow/Green Bunnies-2/0

Orange/Yellow Baitfish-2/0

Chartreuse/White Baitfish-4/0

By the way, I tied three of each!

Big Flash

Here are a few flash flies I would call big! They are tied on #6/0 Ad Swier Absolute hooks and are 25 cm long. With winter approaching I wanted a fly that is large and relatively light dressed (and they are, believe it or not) that could be fished very slow and offer maximal attraction. We'll see.

Poppers and Sliders

Last week while fishing I noticed the pike were rather curious but not taking and just following top water flies. I started "dapping" and dancing the flies in circles and figure eights and then got strikes! But try dancing a fly with 15-20 meters of line out. I have seen small jointed poppers sold for bass but nothing in the size range I was looking for. I wanted to imitate a sick, wounded or surface feeding fish. After a little playing around with wire, foam heads, and paint I ended up with the ones shown above. I added a split ring and a streamer mostly made of Angel Hair and a little Icelandic Sheep for volume.

What unique about the fly is, that it is tied bent back style on a #1 Ad Swier Absolute Pike hook which should enable me to move the fly through weeds with less hang ups. We'll see.

Another evening, another try

With the unusual summer (cool) we have been having I decided to stop fishing the drop offs and try shallow water. The evening before last I went out for about an hour before dark. I tried the Tiger Fire variations I tied last week and nothing. I put on the large yellow marabou muddler and had to keep it moving quite fast to keep it from hanging on the bottom and in the weeds. After about ten casts a large pike (about a meter long) followed it in right to my feet, then stayed there for about five minutes! I didn't know what to do! It finally swam off slowly and just under the surface. I started casting again to no avail.

I wanted a new variation of this color and came up with this bent back so I could slow the fly down and not hang up. I'll give it a try in a day or so.

Hook, Ad Swier Absolute 4/0, bent back.

Wing, gold Crystal Flash, yellow Icelandic Sheep mixed with yellow Crystal Flash.

Sides, yellow grizzly saddles.

Topping, olive Icelandic Sheep with olive Crystal Flash.

Throat, orange Icelandic Sheep and red Crystal Flash.

Head, deer hair and epoxy eyes.

Whoops!

This has nothing to do with the normal subject matter here, but I want to share it. A few years back I took my daughter to a local park to play. With a new video camera I wanted to record her younger years. If you watch the young boy next to us closely you'll probably find it amusing! By the way, the young boy was not injured. I thought things like this only happened on TV!

Tiger Fire?

I was amazed to see the amount of lures boasting this color combination! Spinner blades, spoons, wobblers, and so on. Is this scheme as good as it's cracked up to be? If anyone reads these things please let me know.

As shown I made three styles to try,

a Polar Fiber baitfish on a 1/0 Sure Set hook,

a Hollow Flye using Craft Fur and Angel Hair on a 4/0 Ad Swier hook,

and a bent back using Slinky Fiber and Angel Hair on a 2/0 Ad Swier Absolute hook.

If I get the time I want to give them a try. With these materials they will be very durable and easy to cast.

Ferrets don't....

....eat small children.

Flash Baitfish

Last winter I did very well on trout and pike with the lower fly shown above. Tied with Angel Hair (10 cm long) on a 1/0 Sure Set hook and fished very slowly (hand-twist retrieve) it got strikes when nothing else moved a fish. The negative sides are, as with circle hooks you cannot strike when a fish takes, if you do you will miss them every time. The fish takes, turns, and hooks its self. After six takes in a row and Polaroid glasses I finally looked away and then caught the 6 time, 65 cm Char! Also there is absolutely no need for a barb on these hooks, they hold extremely well without. Almost every pike I caught took the fly deep and it was hard enough getting the hook out without a barb.

I am now trying the same fly only this time with a larger hook (5/0) and Flashabou instead of Angel Hair. The new versions are a little over 15 cm long (the upper fly shown).

How did I do with the DNA flies? Not a fish moved! I did get three walleye (40, 46, and 62 cm)on the Fox Hollow.

Another Redhead

Keeping with tradition?

Every once in a while I like to tie and use an old favorite pattern. The Yellow Marabou Muddler is a fly with which I have caught trout, salmon, bass, walleye, and why not pike? Probably because I never gave it a chance or didn't tie it big enough! This one is on a 6/0 Ad Swier hook, should be big enough!






Tail (extended body and wing), furled gold tinsel chenille, yellow marabou (2), and peacock herl.



Body, furled gold tinsel chenile.

Wing, yellow marabou (2), yellow grizzly hackles (2), and peacock herl.

Head, deer hair and tungsten eyes.

Fox Hollow (Holo)

Here is another of my simple variations that is easy to cast. Why the name? The materials are long Arctic Fox tail (4"), holographic Angel Hair, and the wing is supported by a section of xxxl mylar tubing as a spreader. This hollow wing has volume but no bulk to soak up excess water. A detailed description will be given soon.

DNA

A while ago I ordered some of the DNA Flash/Wing materials and today I sat down and tied a few examples. It takes a while getting used to them, you have to use them lightly as the fly will bulk up quick. I think these materials are a little over rated and perhaps a fashion thing. We'll see as I'll give them a try for pike and walleye this week.

A Joint for Chris

After an email discussion over large flies, long shank hooks, and the leverage problems that go along with them I suggested jointed flies. We also talked about "flash flies", hmmm what could I make? I thought about those huge spinner bucktail combinations that are so popular for musky, I think they are called "Musky Killers" (Mepps???). Anyways here is a very simple example of a jointed fly.

Rear Hook, Long black Steve Farrar's Flash Blend tied in at the rear of the hook and on top.

Fold it under to the rear and secure.

In the middle of the hook repeat the same proceedure using hair 2/3 the length of the first.

At the eye of the hook repeat the proceedure again using hair 1/3 the length of the first.

Finish off.

Front, Take an Aberdeen hook and cut off the bend. Form a base of tying thread, then double secure a length of 0.5mm braided wire to the bottom of the shank.

Bring the other end of the wire through the eye of the rear fly and double secure it as above.

At about 1/3 down the shank make a collar of copper Flashabou.

At the eye of the hook make another collar of copper Flashabou and Crystal Flash. Finish off.

Action, flash, big, and no leverage problems!

Faces only a mother could love.

Ideas from Ad Swier

For along time I've read about the success of Ad Swier and his flyfishing for Pike. His fly the "Dubbeldekker" is frequently mentioned in articles and various examples by him and other fisherman are shown throughout his book "Passion for Pike". I finally took some time yesterday to make a few for myself (yes of course, Ad Swier Absolute Pike Hooks #2/0) and maybe give them a try this evening. I won't go into the dressing as he gives an excellent one here. More information about Ad Swier can be found on his website.

Ferrets don't....

Share!

The Black Flash Fly

The Hook; 2/0 Ad Swier Absolute Pike Hook with a 6mm copper Tungsten Conehead.

The Tail; a collar of long black Flashabou and strips of purple Mirage Flashabou at the sides.

The Body; a collar of medium length black Flashabou in the middle of the shank.

The Collar; a collar of short black Flashabou on top, and purple Flashabou at the sides.

Trim and taper with thinning shears.

The Throat; red Holographic Flashabou.

Coat the conehead and 2mm behind with Soft Head.

Max

Max was a hybrid Ferret and European Mink cross. I've had her for over four years now. She was plagued with Cancer of the Adrenal Glands which spread throughout her abdomen. With five operations, three for tumor removal behind her she passed away this week at the age of 6 1/2. She will be missed.

First Pike of 2007

The Pike here spawned early this year, starting in February and were finished by the middle of March. I waited a few weeks to let them recover and yesterday I gave it a go. With full sun I tried a Black Flash fly and got this 70cm fellow! He came out of nowhere into the flooded grass bank like a torpedo and hit the fly within a meter of my feet. About a half an hour later I had a much larger one on (I guess at 90-100cm!) and after a ten second battle it was gone. I also caught two Trout one Brown and one Rainbow (45-50cm) on the Flash fly, they and the Pike I caught had scars from other Pike attacks. This tells me they are really hungry and aggressive after spawning. Black Flash fly pattern to follow.

Ferrets don't....

.... get along with Mink.

Bentback Perch

Bend the hook shank slightly back.

The Gills, Crystal Hackle at the bend.





The Throat, white Arctic Fox tail.




The Beard, fl. orange Arctic Fox tail.




Veil with pearl Crystal Flash.





The Wing, yellow Icelandic Sheep.




Then, vellow Crystal Flash.




Then, golden olive Yak.






Then, olive Crystal Flash.





Then, black Icelandic Sheep.




The Sides, golden olive grizzly saddles.

The Cheeks, lemon Wood Duck flank.




Trim wing.

The Eyes, yellow wiggle eyes.

A Red Head

One of many variations of this favorite color combination.

The Hook, Ad Swier Absolute Pike Hook

The Tail, white Arctic Fox tail strip and opal Mirage Flashabou.


The Body, a collar of white Arctic Fox tail in the middle of the shank.


The Collar; white Arctic Fox tail, pink Mirage Flashabou, fl. cerise Arctic Fox tail, pink Mirage Flashabou, fl. red Arctic Fox tail, red Holographic Flashabou.


The Eyes, Wiggle Eyes covered with epoxy.

Simple Pike Fly

For the first post here is a very simple and durable Pike fly.

The Head, a tungsten bead an oversized "Crystal Egg".

The Tail, pearl Crystal Flash, several (4) long white zonker strips and a shorter cerise one.

The Body, pearl Estaz Grande.

The Wing, fl. red marabou.

The Hackle, fl. red schlappen.

The Eyes, finished!

The same fly with a plastic diver lip.