# If it rains, tie flies



## karstopo (Jun 29, 2009)

The borski slider has been my fly du jour. Seems to be pretty versatile. 
Olive, pink, and tan has been good. Put in a little purple on a few hoping to give those a shot soon.


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## Ish (Oct 30, 2008)

beauties!


is that last one a croaker or a whiting?


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## Popperdave (Jul 9, 2016)

I agree, tie flies while it rains. Here are some of my recent ties. My fly of choice is the Redfish crack fly in verious colors and sizes. The second photo is a fly I used back in July to catch 18 Redfish in IN ONE DAY. They were all low slot 18"-22" no braggers. Looks like it's good for 18 more.


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## karstopo (Jun 29, 2009)

Ish said:


> beauties!
> 
> is that last one a croaker or a whiting?


Whiting


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## karstopo (Jun 29, 2009)

Popperdave said:


> I agree, tie flies while it rains. Here are some of my recent ties. My fly of choice is the Redfish crack fly in verious colors and sizes. The second photo is a fly I used back in July to catch 18 Redfish in IN ONE DAY. They were all low slot 18"-22" no braggers. Looks like it's good for 18 more.


Nice flies and fish. I like to fish and tie redfish crack. They are way more durable than anything with deer hair. What jig hook are you using? I put some shrimp flies on the Mustad 60 degree duratin hooks, but havenâ€™t used them for redfish crack.

















These are some of my favorite colors for redfish crack. Iâ€™ve decided the Black and Tan ones resemble fiddler crabs and the olive ones blennies. Who really knows?

http://txmarspecies.tamug.edu/fishdetails.cfm?scinameID=Hypleurochilus geminatus


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## Popperdave (Jul 9, 2016)

I am using the Eagle Claw 413-2 jig hook( size 2). I like the jig hook for the crack fly because it turns the fly over so it rides point up, making it more seedless, and I like the way the fly moves in the water. When you strip it, it moves up and down in a jigging motion more than the straight line of a straight fly. When it's sitting on the bottom the tail stands up and waves in the water for the fish to see, rather than setting flat on the bottom. The other real advantage is it acts similar to a circle hook, all the fish I caught were hooked in the side of the mouth just like a circle hook and I had pinched the barb and did not loose a fish. I don't use them on all my flies they do have their place. The main disadvantage I found is they tend to pickup vegetation worse than straight hooks. So if I am fishing over heavy vegetation with a weightless fly I will use a straight hook.
This is the best part of tieing your own, you can customize them for where and how you fish


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## karstopo (Jun 29, 2009)

Popperdave said:


> I am using the Eagle Claw 413-2 jig hook( size 2). I like the jig hook for the crack fly because it turns the fly over so it rides point up, making it more seedless, and I like the way the fly moves in the water. When you strip it, it moves up and down in a jigging motion more than the straight line of a straight fly. When it's sitting on the bottom the tail stands up and waves in the water for the fish to see, rather than setting flat on the bottom. The other real advantage is it acts similar to a circle hook, all the fish I caught were hooked in the side of the mouth just like a circle hook and I had pinched the barb and did not loose a fish. I don't use them on all my flies they do have their place. The main disadvantage I found is they tend to pickup vegetation worse than straight hooks. So if I am fishing over heavy vegetation with a weightless fly I will use a straight hook.
> This is the best part of tieing your own, you can customize them for where and how you fish


Iâ€™ve used that eagle claw hook. I use the Mustad hook now for the shrimp I tie as I can find it in a size 4.









The jig hook with the weight so far forward lets the shrimp hop up backwards on the strip just like a shrimp escaping a predator.


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## Popperdave (Jul 9, 2016)

The Eagle Claw 413 is available in size 4 also. I don't think is really matters which brand hook you use. Just find one you like and use it. I'm parcel to Gamakatsu B10s stingers and SC15 wide gap for my straight shank hooks. I particularly like the sc15 for it's short shank in my Bass flies. This is one of my favorite. It's hard to see in the photo but there is a double weedgaurd so I can walk this fly through the heaviest weeds without fawling. I can't do that with a 60 degree jig hook.
Don't be afraid to experiment and have fun, and post your creations.


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## Bird (May 10, 2005)

Tried a variation on my favorite shrimp pattern. Chenille dubbing with pink shrimp brush for body, Hairline epoxy eyes, craft fur and black Krystal flash. Gamakatsu SL13-3H #4 hook. The marshes are loaded with white shrimp and glass minnows.


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## karstopo (Jun 29, 2009)

Great photos. Love the reds cruising down the shoreline. Looks like youâ€™ve figured out fly tying and then some.


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## Bird (May 10, 2005)

karstopo said:


> Great photos. Love the reds cruising down the shoreline. Looks like youâ€™ve figured out fly tying and then some.


Thanks. I've watched a lot of tying videos online as well as just thinking about what looks good. Hardest part for me when I'm experimenting with no recipe, is getting the material down in the right order to get the results I want. I have a good friend that has been tying for years that came over and showed me a few tricks. I send him pics of my flies and he critiques them. Some good and some not so good. I have taken a razor blade to quite a few flies...


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## karstopo (Jun 29, 2009)

Bird said:


> Thanks. I've watched a lot of tying videos online as well as just thinking about what looks good. Hardest part for me when I'm experimenting with no recipe, is getting the material down in the right order to get the results I want. I have a good friend that has been tying for years that came over and showed me a few tricks. I send him pics of my flies and he critiques them. Some good and some not so good. I have taken a razor blade to quite a few flies...


Thatâ€™s good to have someone look them over. Iâ€™ve got a box or two of flies that have never seen the water and never should.

Iâ€™ve looked at a couple of well known books of saltwater patterns and have been underwhelmed on how so few patterns seem tailored or even useful for Texas conditions. Thereâ€™s lots of east coast pattern baitfish with hook points that ride down that are mostly a liability in a shallow marsh. I think thereâ€™s tons of room for innovation and improvements to many of the known saltwater flies out there or just coming up with newer and better.


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## Bird (May 10, 2005)

karstopo said:


> Thatâ€™s good to have someone look them over. Iâ€™ve got a box or two of flies that have never seen the water and never should.
> 
> Iâ€™ve looked at a couple of well known books of saltwater patterns and have been underwhelmed on how so few patterns seem tailored or even useful for Texas conditions. Thereâ€™s lots of east coast pattern baitfish with hook points that ride down that are mostly a liability in a shallow marsh. I think thereâ€™s tons of room for innovation and improvements to many of the known saltwater flies out there or just coming up with newer and better.


Best tool in my fly tying kit is my stack of razor blades...:biggrin:
Check out Intheriffle and 239flies on Youtube.


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## karstopo (Jun 29, 2009)

Since itâ€™s still raining, I went for a little tying while watching football.

The little ones are Bullen Merri Specials in the colors suggested for black bream that live in coastal Australia. Iâ€™m not going to Australia, but black bream are close relatives of sheepshead so I want to see if they work on the prison permit.

The others are modified redfish crack and those occasionally get sheepshead. I downsized these some to see if those might work more often.


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## Bird (May 10, 2005)

Tried some new fibers and a few tricks a friend showed me to make this walking Gotcha shrimp combo pattern. I like this one and will tie up a handful of these for sure.


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## karstopo (Jun 29, 2009)

Thatâ€™s interesting. So does the shrimp bounce along the bottom with those stiff looking legs? Seems like it might want to catch on or hang up on stuff. 

I donâ€™t much like weed guards on flies and would mostly rather just deal with the occasional hang up. Most hook point up patterns arenâ€™t too bad about hanging up. I guess some places would be impossible to fish without a weed guarded fly. I use no weed guard hook point up patterns around oyster reefs all of the time and seldom get seriously hung up.


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## Popperdave (Jul 9, 2016)

I us like that about weed guard before. I didn't see a need for them, and in Texas bay's you Don't t need them very often. However since I started Bass fishing and weed guards are a must I have incorporated them into almost all my flies. I haven't seen that they cause me to miss fish, and I can always use my nippers to clip them off if I think they are a problem. 
I am planning a trip to Florida for Snook, and weed guards are a must back in the mangroves. So learning to tie weed guards is an assets.
I found that I like a double guard out of liter material better than a single heavy one. For my flies #4 and larger I use 40# Fluro and tie it in a V shape. For smaller flies I use 20#. I use a double loop type guard for my topwater flies and I use 20 mono for them.
I do agree, there aren't many Texas fly patterns. I think it's because Redfish aren't very picky. If it's about the right size and color and you get it in front of them and moving away, they are going to eat it. But that doesn't mean we can't t come up with bunch of our own patterns, and please share any you like with us. 
Have fun Tying and good fishing.


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## Bird (May 10, 2005)

Where I'm fishing half the time, there is a lot of widgeon grass and it gets wrapped up on the hook without the weed guard. I tied that fly for a specific sandy flat I fish. There is a little gut just off the shoreline that the fish will hang out in right on the bottom. There is no grass, weeds or even shell, just smooth hard sand. I'm hoping it will make little sand puffs as I strip it in. Worth a shot...


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## karstopo (Jun 29, 2009)

Bird said:


> Where I'm fishing half the time, there is a lot of widgeon grass and it gets wrapped up on the hook without the weed guard. I tied that fly for a specific sandy flat I fish. There is a little gut just off the shoreline that the fish will hang out in right on the bottom. There is no grass, weeds or even shell, just smooth hard sand. I'm hoping it will make little sand puffs as I strip it in. Worth a shot...


Absolutely, experimenting is what itâ€™s all about. I got out this afternoon and found a few before the SW wind cranked up and sent me in.























Never tried anything but the Olive borski slider.


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## Popperdave (Jul 9, 2016)

I think the fly looks great. Kind of like a Crazy Charlie on stilts. It should also be good for Sheephead and black drum. I think Redfish have poor vision so I like the big bulky flies like my Crack flies. I Don't think you can throw too big of fly at a Redfish as long as it not too close. I also like my flies to push a lot of water some the fish can feel them moving through the water.
For your conditions, with clean sand along the shore and then heavy grass, I usually use a lightly weighted Crack fly. One with bead chain eyes. That way i can let it sink on the sand or swim it over the grass. It just really hard to have the right fly tied on for the conditions. I know I get really frustrated when I go weightless for grass and the fish are in the cuts, then I switch to weighted and the next fish is cruising over the grass. But that's fishing and why we love it.


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## Bird (May 10, 2005)

Heck of a flattie! Flounder have shown tremendous restraint in eating my fly offerings.


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## Popperdave (Jul 9, 2016)

That's what ir's all about. I think flounder are over looked by a lot of fly fisherman. Yes, you are not going to sight cast to them very often but they can be found in predictable areas. Along rocky bulkhead, drains, mud flats by oyster reefs to name a few. I always like to bounce a fly along the bottom around these areas. And ha That's some good eaten.
Stay safe and stay away from those tailing loops.


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## karstopo (Jun 29, 2009)

I might have to try my Teeny sink tip this year on the flatfish. I havenâ€™t enjoyed using that line all that much, but maybe i might in the right spot. So far, Iâ€™ve only really gone after flounder with floating line, weighted flies, and fluorocarbon leaders. I canâ€™t fish that set up much more than 4-5 feet and hope to stay near the bottom. Iâ€™ll lengthen the leader as much as I can to get a bit more depth. Tungsten weights sink over twice as fast as lead per equal weight, I use small tungsten dumbbells and beads on my fly patterns when I need the fastest sink rate.

Last year, I found a decent amount along grassy and shell dotted shorelines and many of those jumped out of the water after bait. That makes it a lot easier to know where to cast. I didnâ€™t get out in the bay and marsh much this spring and summer. When Iâ€™m out there, I try to hit any edge with water flowing by, pilings, oyster reefs, the edges of channels. But if the redfish are showing up shallow, I might forget about flounder for a while. Thereâ€™s a lot of things going on out there and if the sight fishing is promising that wins every time.

Flounder, in my experience, donâ€™t seem to be too particular about the exact pattern or color. They take redfish crack, shrimp patterns, baitfish patterns, the borski slider, clousers. One thing about the flies is that flounder tend to suck them in better and I donâ€™t hesitate to give a little strip set to them almost immediately after I get the thump. They stay on much better all the way to the net with flies than I ever had them do with soft plastics. The main thing Iâ€™ve tried to really work on is getting the presentation right which seems to be something of a crawl and little hop here and there and some pauses. Iâ€™ve had flounder hit a fly that I wasnâ€™t moving, maybe the current was. I definitely drift flies for flounder if the current is right.


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## lechon (May 11, 2018)

I got some great ideas from the photos you guys have shared, thanks for posting


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## Dallasyoung (Oct 8, 2017)

karstopo said:


> Tungsten weights sink over twice as fast as lead per equal weight, I use small tungsten dumbbells and beads on my fly patterns when I need the fastest sink rate.


I like using tungsten too, mainly because of the smaller size needed for weight, but how do you figure that per "equal weight" tungsten sinks twice as fast? Tungsten is actually more dense than lead so technically speaking the same weight would sink slower. Tungsten is heavier by relative size, allowing less bulk on flies and more weight in a smaller volume.


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## karstopo (Jun 29, 2009)

Dallasyoung said:


> I like using tungsten too, mainly because of the smaller size needed for weight, but how do you figure that per â€œequal weightâ€ tungsten sinks twice as fast? Tungsten is actually more dense than lead so technically speaking the same weight would sink slower. Tungsten is heavier by relative size, allowing less bulk on flies and more weight in a smaller volume.


https://www.manictackleproject.com/flyfishingarticlesinkrateofnymphsinrivers/

Take a look at this article. So 0.6 grams of tungsten sinks in 2 seconds about 5.5 meters. 0.8 grams of lead, more weight, only covers 2.5 meters in that same time period.

Use less weight for easier casting and get the fly pattern down faster, thatâ€™s a win/win situation. Tungsten costs more, but I think itâ€™s often worth it in more fish caught versus alternative materials.


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## Captwood (May 12, 2018)

Looking good.


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## karstopo (Jun 29, 2009)

Steve Farrar Blend Baitfish. I added in some grizzly hackle for a tail as a different twist. Slow sinking pattern for cool weather Speckled trout. Fly rod version of a mirrorlure softdine.


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## karstopo (Jun 29, 2009)




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