Crease Flies

[trout fanatic]

There seems to be a growing popularity for crease flies for freshwater use, but I can't recall them being brought up on this site. So does anyone use them? I just tied up a few and tested them out today with mixed results. They are a blast to fish.

I tied up two different test models, one weighted and one not. The weighted one (30 wraps of 20 guage non-lead wire) I fished first hoping it would sink a few inches under the surface but alas it wasn't able to overcome the bouyancy of the foam.

So I tied up the unweighted one and on the first cast-had a strike but missed. So I cast again and had another strike but missed again (dang it). Third cast to the same spot resulted in a 8 inch largemouth. Also had a overachiever of a bluegill take a swipe at it but was unable to get his mouth around the 1/0 hook ha ha.

Plan on tying some more up (seeing as I have a hundred sheets of foam laying around) but was curious if any of you also use them. Any special techniques that seem to work better than others?

[Danoinark]

I thought about getting a few some years back. I didn't want to take the time to tie them though.

Maybe if you used a smaller hook size they might not short strike them.

Dano

[Randall]

Are they that difficult to tie? I know they aren't cheap but I don't think they're much more than a bucktail or streamer hair tail and a folded foam body. Never bought or tied one so I don't know for sure. Anybody want to post a recipe?

[trout fanatic]

They are incredibly easy to tie. I use marabou and krystal flash for a tail. Then fold over a piece of foam that has been trimmed at an angle so when folded it resembles a minnow. Glue it with super glue (zap a gap works well too). Paint the body with glitter nail polish. Add red gills and yer done. You do need an oversized hook though so that the body of the fly clears the hook gap.

I have noticed that the weighted version sits a little lower in the water (duh) and makes a little more of a disturbance when stripped.

Need to experiment more.

[Flysmallie]

I have been fishing them this summer. I've looked at them in fly shops for years but never purchased one. Started tying them in the spring and I love them. They are a blast to fish, anything will hit one. I've been tying a lot of different sizes and have never had a problem with the hook gap. You need the edge of the foam to butt up right underneath the hook shank. Everything else should go up from there.

Plus you don't want to just fold the foam over the hook shank. You are trying to create a cavity that will trap air. Some guys will use a hole punch to cut a circle of foam to fill the front of the cavity. This will seal the interior completely and make it float like a duck. I hardly ever do this. Most times I just leave that cavity open. It makes some great noise like this. Other times I will stick a glass rattle in the chamber for some different sounds.

But the very best way that I have found is to coat that baby in epoxy. This is a cool way to make this fly. The majority of the time I use white foam and sharpies to color it. You can make any fishy pattern you want on the bait. Add some big eyes and coat it in epoxy. These will ride a little lower in the water but that's not a bad thing. You have to be careful not to get too much epoxy in the body cavity or it will start to sink. Are your catching that trout fanatic. I think with a little lead and some epoxy you can find just what you are looking for. You could always use a sinking line to pull it under the surface.

Yeah I have a thing for crease flies. I'll try to post some picks later tonight.

Now if I could just get that deer hair jitterbug to work.......

[Gavin]

I have a couple in my smallmouth box...They seem to work better on riffle water with a frantic splashy retrieve to draw a reaction strike..Cast em out and strip like mad for a fast splashy erratic retrieve...Havent tried it, but I'd imagine it would be a great bait for white bass or stripers busting bait balls on the big lakes. Cheers.

[trout fanatic]

I have been fishing them this summer. I've looked at them in fly shops for years but never purchased one. Started tying them in the spring and I love them. They are a blast to fish, anything will hit one. I've been tying a lot of different sizes and have never had a problem with the hook gap. You need the edge of the foam to butt up right underneath the hook shank. Everything else should go up from there.

Plus you don't want to just fold the foam over the hook shank. You are trying to create a cavity that will trap air. Some guys will use a hole punch to cut a circle of foam to fill the front of the cavity. This will seal the interior completely and make it float like a duck. I hardly ever do this. Most times I just leave that cavity open. It makes some great noise like this. Other times I will stick a glass rattle in the chamber for some different sounds.

But the very best way that I have found is to coat that baby in epoxy. This is a cool way to make this fly. The majority of the time I use white foam and sharpies to color it. You can make any fishy pattern you want on the bait. Add some big eyes and coat it in epoxy. These will ride a little lower in the water but that's not a bad thing. You have to be careful not to get too much epoxy in the body cavity or it will start to sink. Are your catching that trout fanatic. I think with a little lead and some epoxy you can find just what you are looking for. You could always use a sinking line to pull it under the surface.

Yeah I have a thing for crease flies. I'll try to post some picks later tonight.

Now if I could just get that deer hair jitterbug to work.......

Yeah I pretty much due the same thing, only I am still in the experimental stage so each one is turning out a little different.

Next on the agenda is to wrap some weighted wire (heavier this time) only around the end of the hook. My objective is to get it to slightly stand up (walk the dog typeathing). Pretty cool stuff I'll let you know if I have any success. Thanks

[Danoinark]

What would adding a bead head, conehead in various colors do to the action.

Another thought to add weight is to tie in a beadhead at the center of the hook. This would be covered over by the foam anyway. Might let it ride straight but deeper.

Dano

[Flysmallie]

Don't know if the bead in the middle would work. Yes it would be great to really pinpoint the weight but it would interfer with the foam coming together right at the hook shank.

I like the idea of adding weight in the back. That would give it some better movement.

I gotta get some pictures posted of the ones I like so far. Time to setup the fly studio again but I'm not looking forward to that. My bench is a total disaster. Let's just say I'm not that organized. Was out there earlier trying to figure out what happened. I didn't help it out either, now there's a couple empty Bud Light cans