Category Archives: Panfish

April 27, 2016 · 8:31 am

Spring and FrankenFly!

So spring is finally here! During the show season this year, I heard a lot of positive feedback about people visiting the website and that’s awesome! Besides tying a lot over the winter and hitting shows, I’ve been working on blending some new dubbing and it’s going very well. Right now, the plan is to come out with 3 types of dubbing. There will be a general purpose, nymph, and monster dub. The monster dub will be a longer streamer type dubbing. You will be hearing more about all of those very soon.

Mama’s Cornbread

Recently, Orvis has picked up another one of my fly patterns. This time it is Mama’s Cornbread. This is a smallmouth fly pattern that I designed to fish deep. I plan to be posting a step-by-step of the pattern soon. It will be available from Orvis in 2017. You can find it in the FrankenFly online store, here.

Bart-O Minnows

I just finished a large order of 300 Bart-O Minnows that are headed to Wisconsin and have designed a fly for another shop up that way. This little 1.5 inch streamer will work in small creeks, but it still needs a lot of testing.

Mad River Outfitters hat and Simms Jacket

Mad River Outfitters has sent me a new Simms jacket. This will be a dream to wear on the stream. The water just beads off of this jacket. Check out the photo of the water I poured on it.

Simms jacket with water added.

I hit the water for the first time this year. Did some creek fishing and some small pond fishing for panfish. It was nice to just get out and cast and be outside again.

Finally, since spring is finally here, I picked up a new kayak. It is a Perception Sound 10.5. I have been working on outfitting it and will be heading to some local waters. It should be a blast! I already tied up an articulated Zudbubbler to throw out to some Bucket Mouths. It sure is nice when Spring rolls around. I don’t know about you, but it gets me all pumped up and ready to fish!

-Paul

Articulated Zudbubbler

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Filed under FrankenFly, Panfish, Smallmouth

September 9, 2015 · 12:02 am

The Kintner Boy

Tim Flagler shows you a cool fly you can use for bass and panfish. I like this change of pace from Tightline Productions. Very cool!

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Filed under Largemouth, Panfish, Smallmouth

June 30, 2015 · 5:00 am

Flies Around the Net – 6-30-2015

Showing some fly tying from various fly tiers around the Interweb!

tied by Mark Angus

tied by Paul J. Beel

Havard Eide

Clark Pierce – Bluegill-Crappie Slider

tied by Edmond Roller

Joe Nicklo – HMG Sulfur Dun

tied by Olexandr Kalyniuk

Joel Peck – Pond Snake

tied by Robert Strahl

Steve Silverio – Long Tailed Pompier

Scott Patterson – St Joe Favorite variant

William Ensiferum – Oligoneuriella rhenana

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Filed under nymphs, Panfish, Realistic, Streamers, Trout flies

December 14, 2013 · 5:18 pm

Beadhead Mini Woolly Bugger – Andy Satanek

AMS Beadhead Mini Woolly Worm Brown w Burnt Orange Butt 14

The Beadhead Mini Woolly Bugger. A host of advantages accrue to the angler targeting panfish (bluegills, pumpkinseeds, redears, crappies) who actively moves the Beadhead Mini Woolly Worm in low-light conditions. Stripping the fly creates a life-like movement and bulges for the panfish to home in on … along with telegraphing light strikes. One of my favorite and productive tactics is actively working the fly just below the surface film when fishing outside edges of submerged weedbeds and timbers draws the fish’s attention and prevent hang-ups. Don’t be surprise if you hook-up and battle a largemouth bass … I have caught a good number of largemouth bass with this tactic.

Beadhead Mini Woolly Worm, Brown (size 14 shown above)
Hook – TMC 100 (standard dry)
Sizes – 12 to 16
Beadhead – Gold
Thread – Dark Brown
Butt – Burnt orange Antron yarn
Rib – Gold extra-fine wire, countered wrapped
Body – Brown rabbit dubbing
Hackle – Grizzly saddle dyed brown, tie-in at the front and palmered back

Andy @ amflyfishing.com

Beadhead Mini Woolly Worm 14

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Filed under Largemouth, Panfish, Smallmouth, Trout flies

December 4, 2013 · 6:00 am

Woolly Bugger – Andy Satanek

The major key to the Woolly Bugger’s success for catching fish is this pattern imitates a wide vary of food sources … baitfish, crawfish, hellgrammites, leeches and nymphs (damsels, stoneflies).

When fishing the Woolly Bugger, vary the retrieve until you find what works best to draw the fish’s attention and strike. On ponds and lakes, I usually start with a steady strip-strip-strip-pause (2 to 3 seconds) and repeat retrieve. In moving water systems (streams and rivers), I have been successful getting fish to strike a Woolly Bugger on the swing, dead-drifting, steady continuous retrieve and strip-strip-strip-pause retrieve … be flexible with your presentations.

In tying and fishing Woolly Buggers for over two decades, keeping the palmer hackle length equal to the gap of the hook and the marabou tail length ranging from 1-1/2 to 2 times the body length is critical and has clearly produced more hook-ups. Also, a countered-wrapped wire rib protects the palmered hackle and adds flash.

I get this question asked frequently, “what your most productive color pattern” … my “go-to” color patterns are Purple or Black for stain and slightly tinted water conditions, Brown or Olive for clear water conditions.

Woolly Bugger

Beadhead Woolly Bugger

Beadhead Egg Sucking Woolly Bugger

Woolly Bugger, Purple (size 6 shown)
Hook – Mustad R74 (4X long, 2X heavy)
Sizes – 12 to 4
Weight – lead free wire (optional)
Thread – Black (UTC)
Tail – Purple marabou blood quill (Hareline)
Rib – Gold wire, countered wrapped (UTC)
Body – Purple chenille (Hareline)
Hackle – Grizzly saddle dyed purple,
tie-in at the front and palmered back (Keough)

Creekside Tidbits & On the Vise at http://www.amflyfishing.com

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Filed under Largemouth, Panfish, Smallmouth, Trout flies

September 25, 2013 · 6:54 am

Griz’s “Mr.Maggoo” Foamy Poppers & Divers

Tied & Created by Todd A.Schotts

Hooks: Gamakatsu S10 Stinger Hooks for 3/8” & 5/16” – Natural Bend Nymph Hooks for ¼”
Tail: Silicone Skirt Material #360750 from Jann’s Netcraft (See Below for Colors)
Hackle: Whiting Black Laced Soft Hackle (See Below for Colors)
Body/Head: Cylinder Foam – Sizes ¼”, 5/16”, and 3/8” (See Below for Colors)
Eyes: 5mm (for 3/8” & 5/16”) 7mm (1/4”) Doll Eyes (color is optional)
Jigs: Gary Krebs Popper Jigs (Bass/Panfish) from River Road Creations, Inc.
To Finish: After I attach the eyes; I coat the entire surface of the foam with Sally Hanson’s Diamond Strength, Hard as Nails Clear.

Tail	Hackle	Foam
Purple/Fuchsia#202	Red/Black	Black
Chartreuse w/Silver Flakes#005	Chartreuse/Black	Chartreuse
Brown w/Orange Flake #091	Orange/Black	Yellow
Orange Pepper#348	Orange/Black	Orange
Clear w/Blue & Crystal #066	White/Black	White
Purple/Fuchsia#202	Red/Black	Red

I use to trim these with a razor blade while holding the foam, and after a lot of nicked fingers and deep cuts, I started using the Jig set that was created by Gary Krebs. It did make cutting the foam a lot easier and saved my fingers. A good tip, normal razor blades do wear out really fast when cutting foam cylinders. I have switched to using surgical razor blades, they last longer and stay sharper a lot longer; and giving a cleaner cut.

To create a popper or diver, it is just turning the foam in the jig when trimming. Both styles work really well. As for the Tail/Legs instead of using marabou or any other feathers on the back, I prefer to use Silicone Skirt Material. The Silicone Legs hold up a lot better than feathers (especially with bluegills), and they give the fly great action in the water. The name for this fly came after the eyes were attached. The finished fly reminded me of the cartoon character.

schottsielogo

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September 14, 2013 · 7:19 pm

Orange wet fly

I haven’t tried this fly, but it looked like a nice little fly by Krystian Niemy. It is to be tied on a wet fly hook. Krystian recommends this fly for perch or rainbow trout.

Materials:
Hook: Hanak 260BL no. 8 (any wet fly hook in a size 8)
Thread: black UNI 8/0
Eyes: silver Twin Eyes
Tail/body: orange marabut
Dubbing: black Hareline Angora Goat

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July 6, 2013 · 12:03 am

Jitterbee – Randy Leonpacher

I’ve been fly fishing for bluegills lately so I’ve been looking around to see what other flies people are using. Actually, I’ve had good luck with nymphs. I caught a bucket load on an Adams Nymph a couple weeks ago.

I noticed this nice looking little pattern while searching the net today. It’s called the Jitterbee and it’s a simple tie, which is nice. This particular Jitterbee was tied by Larry Offner, but the fly is originated by Randy Leonpacher.

Materials:

Hook: Eagle Claw Baitholder #080 in size 8 or 10. The Eagle Claw 181 baitholder hook found at K-Mart can be used as a substitute. Both are 2X heavy and have large eyes suitable for the large metal bead.
Head: 4mm 10K gold plated metal bead (I prefer the Halcraft brand found at hobby stores).
Body: Medium chenille or fine chenille (vernille) in black, red, burnt orange, or chartreuse. The medium is right for the size 8 hook, the fine is perfect for the size 10 hook.
Tail: Black silicon rubber skirt material (used for spinner baits).

Note:

The materials above are what Randy uses. You could easily use a nymph style hook instead of the baitholder hook. If you have fly tying materials, normal rubber legs would work for the tail. It would be the same as skirt material. I just wanted to make a note of this, especially for beginners. Great little pattern!

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Filed under Panfish