fly design. walk the dog thoughts....

mcswny

Legend
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It also just dawned on me that Kelly Galloup utilizes mallard to get some of his flies to behave a certain way, so I'll have to experiment with that as well.

This works really well. The problem I've had, and he also explains is getting good, symmetrical mallard flank.
He sorts and sells it in his Cougar Packs, but it gets expensive.. Prob ends up being the same as throwing out half of a flank pack in the end though 🤷‍♂️
 

clarkman

average member
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This works really well. The problem I've had, and he also explains is getting good, symmetrical mallard flank.
He sorts and sells it in his Cougar Packs, but it gets expensive.. Prob ends up being the same as throwing out half of a flank pack in the end though 🤷‍♂️
Find a friend who hunts ducks. The others can still be useful for spiders though.
 

clarkman

average member
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Will need to check out the gallop mallard technique.

Tangentially - anytime I see a fly that’s 5-6” I think how great it would be for the waters I fish at closer to 3.5”. But even with good consideration to details, the fly pattern couldn’t be scaled down. Not saying this is your issue but I found it interesting that some styles or patterns are good when the fly is longer than when shorter. And certainly vice versa.
I think that it's a big part of my issue. I'm trying to think outside of my relatively narrow box since just scaling down doesn't really seem to work as well (or maybe I need to focus more on that and working through that)....🤷‍♂️
 

Rob Allen

Life of the Party
I think that it's a big part of my issue. I'm trying to think outside of my relatively narrow box since just scaling down doesn't really seem to work as well (or maybe I need to focus more on that and working through that).keeps,
These are the kinds of issues that made my bass fishing primarily conventional.. if I fished mostly shallow waters and target oriented casting it might be different.
But deeper water and area fishing means covering lots of water.. slso stripping line absolutely destroys my left wrist, especially if I am trying to impart some form of action.
 

clarkman

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These are the kinds of issues that made my bass fishing primarily conventional.. if I fished mostly shallow waters and target oriented casting it might be different.
But deeper water and area fishing means covering lots of water.. slso stripping line absolutely destroys my left wrist, especially if I am trying to impart some form of action.
Yeah, I can see how that would be be case. So far "deep" for me is less than 30' and usually 15' or less.
 

Rob Allen

Life of the Party
Yeah, I can see how that would be be case. So far "deep" for me is less than 30' and usually 15' or less.
I try never to fish deeper than 30 feet, or rather never fish for fish that are holding deeper than 30 feet.. I like 3-15 feer.
 

Billy

Big poppa
Staff member
Admin
Not sure if this helps you at all @clarkman but the poppers I tie that have the most side to side have a heavy back end and sit more horizontal in water column. Almost like the head of the fly struggles against the back end hence kicking it out to a side.
 

mcswny

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Been meaning to tie something like this.
From what I understand, it's still fished sub surface on a sinking or sink tip line.
I know it's not "smaller" but looks interesting nonetheless.

 

rattlesnake

Steelhead
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Swingin D is a good fly. I don’t typically need a fly that large but they do swim well and they work when I want a big minnow. When I tried to downsize this fly I was able to do so by making a head out of that fettuccini foam and the body basically like the Swingin d. I know this is typically fished on a full int but I liked it better on a faster sinking line for where I fish.

I’d also suggest a woodsman too if you’re thinking about a Swingin d.

Edit :Also check out the Alex lafkas brush head deceiver too. Felt like this was easier to fish in the water I like with the lines I typically use and have with me


Sorry for the thread drift
 
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clarkman

average member
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currently going down a Gunnar Brammer tying video rabbit hole where he addresses this. It's basically the original way I would tie these with a dubbed head. Above, I'm trying to accomplish the same thing with that reverse tied fox head.
 

Chucker

Steelhead
I was looking for some coho flies and found this. I think it’s sort of what you are looking for. This thing originally had an excellent walk the dog action. unfortunately that action let to it having multiple encounters with angry snook and then a jack crevalle, which didn’t help it much. It is about 3” long overall and is just craft fur and a little bit of crystal flash. The head was reverse tied and then the shape was made using “3d fabric paint” from the craft store, rolled on using a toothpick like a paint roller. No added weight, but there’s no material attached to the back half of the hook shank, which I think might have helped it swim. It’s pretty much hollow under the head.

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