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The Bluegill Bug

This is one of my favorite bluegill flies.  This little floating triangle with legs has been doing a number on panfish and bass for over a decade.  The unique shape is perfect small mouthed panfish like bluegills.  The thin profile at the business end of the hook allows even the smallest fish to take it with ease but the broad head prevents the little buggers from taking it to deeply.  If you have ever tried to remove a deeply set hook from the mouth of a bluegill with out harming it you can appreciate this.

I tie this fly in small sizes (10) for panfish and larger sizes (6-2) for bass in a variety of colors.  My favorite colors are black, green and chartreuse, yellow and black,  and frog (white bottom green top).


Pattern Recipe:
Hook:  4x long streamer hook
Thread: 6/0 or 3/0 Uni color to match body
Body: 2mm foam trimmed to the shape of a diamond (for the bluegill fly pictured here I start with a rectangle of foam 1" long and 3/8" wide before trimming)
Tail: Bucktail
Legs: Round rubber color of choice


Tying up these flies could not be any easier.  Start by cutting a piece of foam into a diamond shape.   I use 2mm foam for the smaller flies and thicker stuff for the bass flies.

Tie in your buck tail and lash down the butts along the hook shank.

Tie in your rubber legs.

Take your bodkin and poke a hole in the center of the diamond shaped foam.

Slide this hole over the eye of the hook and coat the hook shank with super glue.

Squeeze the top and bottom together to form the triangle and lash down the back with your tying thread, tie off and your done

Bugs

Gizzard Shad

I caught a new species on the fly rod...Gizzard Shad.  The day had started out as a trip for panfish.  I went out to a local lake at first light to play with some bluegills.  I heard a bit of splashing down in the creek below the lake's dam.  I went down to investigate and found water filled with good sized Gizzard Shad.  I forgot all about the blue gills and spent a few hours with these guys.  Caught a mess of them up to about 18"-20" long.  They put a serious bend in my 5wt Hardy glass rod.

Fly Detail 

Got one before all hell broke loose...

I managed one fish this evening before the skies opened up and the mother of all thunder storms sent me scurrying for my car!

Old Split Tail on Tenkara

A good fish on Tenkara...

We picked up a bunch of fish today plying the waters with tenkara rods and flies.  Landing fish in the 20" class with these rods is still the glass ceiling.  I fished the 13' Ayu today, the added length allowed me to cover even more water but really did not assist much with the big boys.  Rick does a good job playing this fish.  The key to landing larger fish is to keep them close once they run out on you and force you to lower the rod tip your done...

My friend Rick with a good fish on Tenkara.

Tenkara USA Ayu

I fished the Tenkara USA Ayu this week.  I took this 13' rod down to a local pond and had a blast tearing up the local panfish and bass population.

Since fish in small ponds are oriented to shoreline structure there was not too many areas I would normally fish that were out of reach.  Playing bluegills and crappie on this rod was a lot of fun. Even a 4" bluegill put a serious bend in the rod.  That same rod had no problem landing largemouth bass up to about 16", which is pretty amazing.  I did lose one bass about 3-4lbs but I think I would have lost that fish even if I was using traditional fly tackle.  I was not looking to target bass on this particular trip but they showed a fondness for a black foam spider that was meant for panfish.

These 12"-14" bass were a blast to catch.  I was surprised that I was able to leverage them away from cover with this rod, but it worked just fine.  As I said earlier,  I had a bass between 3 and 4 pounds blow up on one of those foam spiders and he parted that 4x tippet like it was sewing thread.
One disadvantage to fishing such a long rod from shore is the overhanging cover.  You definitely have to pick your spots if you are fishing a shoreline with a lot of trees.  I can't wait to try this rod from the kayak.  With the 13' of rod and 18' of line and leader, there is no place I can't reach.  I find on average I probably don't cast more than 15 to 20 feet in these situations anyway.  In addition, I may have found the perfect set up for crappie.  I did not lose a single fish today.  The ultra flexible rod keeps the flies from tearing out of those paper thin mouths. More on that later...

Free Fluorocarbon Leader Material

Ohero is giving away free flourocarbon leader material.  We're not talking 6x tippet material but if your a warm water or saltwater angler and can use 10 free yards of 15lb test or greater check out the above link and get yourself some.

The minimalist approach of Tenkara

One of the things I like the most about Tenkara is the simplicity.  Rod, line and a handful of flies is all you need.

 Over the winter I picked up this simple set up with Tenkara in mind.  This handmade lanyard/fly holder is made by Goertzen Adventure Equipment.  They make two types; one with a fold out fly patch and one that will hold a standard Wheatley fly box (or similar sized box).   This simple accessory holds all the flies you need for a day on the water, extra tippet, tools, and what ever else you feel the need to attach to it.  I have two of these set ups.  The one pictured above is set up for pursuing bluegills, the second one holds my traditional Tenkara flies.

Open up the fly patch and grab what you need.  The design holds wet and dry flies without crushing hackles.  If you lined them up nice a pretty you could carry several dozen flies no problem.

Singlebarbed's Sixth Finger Scissor

I have been using the original version of Singlebarbed's Sixth Finger Scissor for several months now and love the design.  My one complaint was the delicate design of these scissors.  They work great for most materials but I would not use them of the heavy stuff.
Shortly after receiving my original pair Keith announced the next generation of the sixth finger scissors.  Same design in two sizes the original and a general purpose.  These new scissors sport tungsten inserts in the blades.  I picked up a pair of each but the larger general purpose scissor is quickly becoming my favorite.   I think Keith's words describe it best.

The “Big Dawg” has finally arrived, equipped with the same adjustable screw, larger and heavier jaw, and the obligatory tungsten carbide edges that allow it to chew through the awkward and ungainly.
We preserved the same sharp tip, which allows the large size to reach and cut with the same delicacy, and added the longer, heavier jaw to resist deflection, and allowing more force on the cleave without tearing up the screw hole.
The fingerhole spacing is identical to the 4.5” scissor ensuring the same amount of scissor protrudes above the hand as its smaller cousin. Interchanging the two models will not require any adjustment in the user’s grip.
Having spent the last four months testing and retesting finger placement, shaft lengths, and “dogfooding” all those really clever ideas that proved less so – I’m very much pleased by the final product.
I call these the “General Purpose” model, 5.5” inches in length and designed to be the scissor for all your flies, not merely the small or delicate. The larger blades allow for larger chunks of material to be cut in a single snip, and should plow through those awkward or large materials that cause the smaller blade to deflect.
I still wouldn’t cut bead chain with them, that’s the job of a heavy shear style scissor – not something with a refined point. Everything else is fair game.


Awesome scissors at a great price!

Hatches Fly Tying highlights one of my favorites...The Flymph

Photo by Hatches Fly Tying Magazine

The Flymph is one of my all time favorite panfish patterns.  Hatches Fly Tying Magazine blog is featuring this pattern and showing step by step tying instructions.  Simple but oh so effective...