Nortrad Posted June 4, 2011 Posted June 4, 2011 those are nice bugs!!!! Thanks! The ones in front are on a #4 Gamakatsu stinger (hopefully to discourage the dinks), the others on TMC 5263, #6, #8. The bead eyes on the two are some glass ones I had here at the house. The other eyes are red orange craft foam 'critters' from my daughter's arts and crafts shelf, punched out with a leather punch on smallest setting. They all float pretty well, though the glass eye ones are a bit heavier. Hopefully I'll see some top feeding of these. Probably going to use one of these for my indicator and drop something off the back.
Members Adam Snodgrass Posted June 5, 2011 Members Posted June 5, 2011 Double or triple surgeon's knot? How big is the leader above your tippet? I have started tying triple surgeons for my tippet and it seems to be stronger than the double. Excellent report and it's great to hear the fish are rising. May have to bring some earplugs with me when I come down. Hopefully will get some cicada action. I'll try a triple surgeons....been using double. Also, been using 5x leader, 7.5 feet and about 2-3 feet of flouro tippet (6lb test).
Nortrad Posted June 6, 2011 Posted June 6, 2011 Very nice Cicadas, Nortrad. Well done! Did well with this as an indicator, only catching two 'bows on them. Had two fish swirl around it, had another hit/miss. I think that was the #4 stinger. Had 'eye opener' when I fished at Parker after lunch, nice hole above the creek entry, a bow came out of the water and chomped my indicator. I set, and just pulled it out of his mouth, thought I could maybe get him with one of my two nymphs! So I rigged the cicada with a dropper of my design that proved very effective. My comments as designer of these flies, pro/con: they float low as they should, serve well as indicator, western hopper-style; Cons: the amber wing color washed off from the water, my Prisma amber marker didn't hold to the thin, packing foam, it also absorbs water, affecting the float; I had to squish the water, though not much, out of them. And, the nicer, glass bead eyes fell off, apparently the Zap a Gap didn't bond the glass to the foam? The stinger hook flies floated better than the TMC 5263, probably the down hook serving a a keel. So, they have a lot of potential, got a lot of props from guys I ran into down at Parker's. It was cool fishing a 'western' rig. Post a report tonight after I load my pics. Had my best three 'bows ever
Gavin Posted June 6, 2011 Posted June 6, 2011 Those flies look great....had some design issues myself this weekend...bugs too big, double X legs attracted more hits than other configurations, orange & black barred legs worked best. Divided wings worked best....We got a ton of hits on big oversized bugs but we lacked in the hookup department. But I think I'll tie more...seemed to be great fish finders...will be tying some smaller bugs for followup shots. Cheers.
Nortrad Posted June 6, 2011 Posted June 6, 2011 Thanks Gavin. Two sets of rubber legs, hmmm. I'll have to find a solution to the wing color or substitute material. I really love how they tie on and cut. The material doesn't fray and sticks if glued. I'll stick with the stinger I think, they floated the best, righting themselves quickly. There's another hook style that may work also. I tied one Chubby Chernobyl style and it did not do well. I wish Card's Cicada had the recipe posted somewhere. Is there any foam thicker than 2mm at local craft stores? Any ideas on wings? Also, I took your advice on the nymph leader with the 6' of Seaguar fluoro, works much better.
Gavin Posted June 6, 2011 Posted June 6, 2011 I used some Krystal flash for wings...it doesnt fade...and the foam...was black pipe insulation from the hardware store carved to shape...there are some of the bugs that worked in my report from June 4..They were tied on 1/0 Mustad Signature Series Popper Hooks...great splat.the foam is very light..My wife had no trouble casting them on a medium fast 9' 5wt......but the foam was fragile. Heading out of town on biz tomorrow...but our pool is finally warm enough to swim...planning to round up some cicada's and toss them in the pool for some underwater shots next weekend. Cheers.
Nortrad Posted June 6, 2011 Posted June 6, 2011 Cool idea. Ah yes, the research, took some home in a sandwich bag for further study. I wonder what they look like from the fish's POV? Thanks.
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