Clouser-like tarpon bunny?
 

Hi,

Going on my second trip to Edmund Lake, Manitoba, for trophy pike. BTW,
this is a great fly fishing destination if you are after trophy pike
(41" or more) and a lot of big pike action. Anyway, last year I was
quite successful in using smallish (4-5") tarpon bunny type flies
(rabbit strip with a palmered crosscut strip) and plan to use them again
this year. However, I'd like to tweak them and need some advice.

I'd like to make up a few flies the will ride with the hook up. I have
heard that if I tie on the rabbit strip with the leather side facing up
(away from the shank), that the flies will ride hook up. Is this so?

Also, can I use lead eyes a la Clouser to get the hook to ride up? If I
can, how far from the hook's eye should the lead eyes be (I use Mustad
34007 2/0 hooks)? Although I've tied many, many Clouser type flies, I
have to admit that the hooks don't always ride up; So, I'm trying to
correct my errors.

Thanks,

Adam

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In article ,
Flycaster wrote:

Hi,

Going on my second trip to Edmund Lake, Manitoba, for trophy pike. BTW,
this is a great fly fishing destination if you are after trophy pike
(41" or more) and a lot of big pike action. Anyway, last year I was
quite successful in using smallish (4-5") tarpon bunny type flies
(rabbit strip with a palmered crosscut strip) and plan to use them again
this year. However, I'd like to tweak them and need some advice.

I'd like to make up a few flies the will ride with the hook up. I have
heard that if I tie on the rabbit strip with the leather side facing up
(away from the shank), that the flies will ride hook up. Is this so?

Also, can I use lead eyes a la Clouser to get the hook to ride up? If I
can, how far from the hook's eye should the lead eyes be (I use Mustad
34007 2/0 hooks)? Although I've tied many, many Clouser type flies, I
have to admit that the hooks don't always ride up; So, I'm trying to
correct my errors.

Thanks,

Adam

Use a Keel Hook, or bend a large popper hook keel-style. You need to get the
center of gravity of the hook "above" the eye to get them to turn over reliably.

--
"What it all comes to is that the whole structure of space flight as it
stands now is creaking, obsolecent, over-elaborate, decaying. The field is
static; no, worse than that, it's losing ground. By this time, our ships
ought to be sleeker and faster, and able to carry bigger payloads. We ought
to have done away with this dichotomy between ships that can land on a planet,
and ships that can fly from one planet to another." - Senator Bliss Wagoner
James Blish - _They Shall Have Stars_

Adam,

Good to hear you're getting another trip. I'm skipping that this year in
exchange for a float in Alaska.

As to keeping the hook up, the clouser eyes do a good enough job, but the extra
weight along with the bunny can make the casting even harder. I like to tie in
s bucktail throat, and use flotation to invert the fly. Now that I think more
about it, I haven't used inverted hooks much for pike because their head can be
a bit tender and I'd rather hook them in the lip or jaw.

Why do you want the hook up?

Chas
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chas wrote:

Adam,

Good to hear you're getting another trip. I'm skipping that this year in
exchange for a float in Alaska.

As to keeping the hook up, the clouser eyes do a good enough job, but the extra
weight along with the bunny can make the casting even harder. I like to tie in
s bucktail throat, and use flotation to invert the fly. Now that I think more
about it, I haven't used inverted hooks much for pike because their head can be
a bit tender and I'd rather hook them in the lip or jaw.

Why do you want the hook up?

Chas
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Nice to hear from you, Chas.

Good question about why I want the hook up. Although there will be
probably no weeds when I fish (first week in June), there will be bottom
structure that one can get hung up on. Lake Edmund is not very deep, or
at least the parts that the guides fish when not fishing the shoreline,
probably don't go any deeper than 7-9 feet. I only use a floating line,
but I do recall getting hung up last year. It was just a thought.

Last year the ice out was very late, about 4 days before I got there
(also first week in June). This year I expect the ice out to be more
normal, like the middle of may. They say that the ice is not as thick
as it was last year, so with any luck, conditions should be ideal for a
fly fisherman. Because of the colder than expected weather last year,
the top fishing wasn't all that good. This year I expect better and
will bring my light spinning rod with a Zara Spook or Skitter Popper to
test the waters for surface action. As I figure it, I know that fish
can be caught with streamers and the top water action may be tougher, so
I'll first test the waters before using fly rod poppers.

Adam

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Flycaster wrote:
Nice to hear from you, Chas.

Good question about why I want the hook up. Although there will be
probably no weeds when I fish (first week in June), there will be bottom
structure that one can get hung up on. Lake Edmund is not very deep, or
at least the parts that the guides fish when not fishing the shoreline,
probably don't go any deeper than 7-9 feet. I only use a floating line,
but I do recall getting hung up last year. It was just a thought.

Last year the ice out was very late, about 4 days before I got there
(also first week in June). This year I expect the ice out to be more
normal, like the middle of may. They say that the ice is not as thick
as it was last year, so with any luck, conditions should be ideal for a
fly fisherman. Because of the colder than expected weather last year,
the top fishing wasn't all that good. This year I expect better and
will bring my light spinning rod with a Zara Spook or Skitter Popper to
test the waters for surface action. As I figure it, I know that fish
can be caught with streamers and the top water action may be tougher, so
I'll first test the waters before using fly rod poppers.

Adam


Why test with the soinning rod? The flies are every bit as good a test. I
keep two rods ready, one with a dry, the other with a streamer.

Chas
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chas wrote:

Flycaster wrote:


Nice to hear from you, Chas.

Good question about why I want the hook up. Although there will be
probably no weeds when I fish (first week in June), there will be bottom
structure that one can get hung up on. Lake Edmund is not very deep, or
at least the parts that the guides fish when not fishing the shoreline,
probably don't go any deeper than 7-9 feet. I only use a floating line,
but I do recall getting hung up last year. It was just a thought.

Last year the ice out was very late, about 4 days before I got there
(also first week in June). This year I expect the ice out to be more
normal, like the middle of may. They say that the ice is not as thick
as it was last year, so with any luck, conditions should be ideal for a
fly fisherman. Because of the colder than expected weather last year,
the top fishing wasn't all that good. This year I expect better and
will bring my light spinning rod with a Zara Spook or Skitter Popper to
test the waters for surface action. As I figure it, I know that fish
can be caught with streamers and the top water action may be tougher, so
I'll first test the waters before using fly rod poppers.

Adam




Why test with the soinning rod? The flies are every bit as good a test. I
keep two rods ready, one with a dry, the other with a streamer.

Chas
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Well, being lazy, I don't want to chuck the fly-popper for a long time
without any takers. I feel that with the spinning rod, I can more
quickly cover a lot of ground to see if the pike will be coming to the
surface. If they are, then I can switch to the fly rod for the surface
action.

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Flycaster wrote:
Well, being lazy, I don't want to chuck the fly-popper for a long time
without any takers. I feel that with the spinning rod, I can more
quickly cover a lot of ground to see if the pike will be coming to the
surface. If they are, then I can switch to the fly rod for the surface
action.


The best fish I ever had come to the surface was the first fish in the area,
and didn't come back after cleanly stealing my fly and leader without ever
feeling any tension on the line. Sometimes the big guys only give you one
chance, why waste it?

Chas
remove fly fish to e mail directly

chas wrote:

Flycaster wrote:


Well, being lazy, I don't want to chuck the fly-popper for a long time
without any takers. I feel that with the spinning rod, I can more
quickly cover a lot of ground to see if the pike will be coming to the
surface. If they are, then I can switch to the fly rod for the surface
action.




The best fish I ever had come to the surface was the first fish in the area,
and didn't come back after cleanly stealing my fly and leader without ever
feeling any tension on the line. Sometimes the big guys only give you one
chance, why waste it?

Chas
remove fly fish to e mail directly



OK, good food for thought.
Adam

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