Bass Cat Popper

The latest Fly Fisherman magazine has a fly pattern called The Cat. It's tied using spun deer hair for the head. I don't mind spinning deer hair, but silicone floatant is not readily available here and I really don't like using it. I used a piece of closed cell foam for the head on my version. The zonker tail really gives it great action. I put one together and went to my local pond to make sure it would float right. It did and got a lot of action, and even bream had a go at it.

Recipe:
#2 Mustaad 34007 hook
Foam popper head crudely fashioned into a head (the bass don't care)
Doll eyes superglued on, then head is coated with Loon Hardhead
3 inch or so zonker tail
Marabou collar
Extra long hackle



Here is a variation using a Rainy's Foam Frog Body:

Deceiver

This is a simple version of the Deceiver fly. It's a great baitfish imitator, great for all species of saltwater fish. I've also caught bass and crappie on it.
#2 - 2/0 stainless hook such as a Mustaad 34007
4-10 hackle feathers
Gold or silver flash
Gold or silver mylar for body
Red bucktail collar
Peacock hurl topping
Black thread
Tie in the hackle, then the flash. Tie in the mylar at the back, extend thread to front of hook, then wrap the mylar body. Tie in the collar, then the topping. Tie cone head, then coat with a couple of layers of Hard As Nails or epoxy.

Inline spinners for fly casting

This is my variation of the Tom Nixon spinner fly: http://laflyfish.com/flies/tom-nixon-spinner.php
I use a long shank #2 - #6 hook. I use about a foot of wire to make it easy to work with. Thread the wire through the hook eye, then wrap the hook 4 or 5 times. Bend a right angle in the wire close to the hook, then hold the wire and twist several times until the wire breaks cleanly at the hook. Straighten the wire so that it is aligned with the hook shank and then put the beads, and the clevis and blade. Then form the eye, it's easiest to do with a small pair of round jawed slip ring pliers. Mine came in a tool kit for bead chain making that Michael's sells for about $7. It comes in a box that is perfect for storing parts. Once you have the eye formed, wrap and break the wire as done on the hook.
A great source for the parts is: http://lurepartsonline.com
I use marabou for the tail and chenille or estaz for the body on freshwater spinners with a #6 hook. On the saltwater version, I use buck tail for the tail and mylar for the body, then coat the body with Hard As Nails clear nail polish.
BTW I learned all this at the monthly fly tying session with the Red Stick Fly Fishers club. Don Richardson demoed it, and even brought a bunch of the Michael's kits and passed them on at cost.

Pfluegar reels

I like my old Pfluegar reels. I'm not really collecting them, I use most of them a lot.
Left to right: CJ 1495, US 1495 1/2 with four spare spools, US 1495 DA, Sal-Trout 1554, two Progress 1774's, Progress 60.

Here's some close ups of the Progress 60.

Little Mo part deux

Second time for me that is.. The Red Stick Fly Fishers made the annual pilgrimage to Murfreesboro, Arkansas for the "Rainbeaux Coalition" trip. We stayed at White Oak Creek Retreat again this year. Friday was below freezing all day, but it warmed up into the 50's for Saturday and Sunday. Many more pictures here: Little Mo 2009.