Seeing Red!

Have you ever wondered what a fish sees when it’s approaching your tube fly?  Well, with the assistance of my TFT Swim Tank…I can see exactly what a fish sees?  Surprisingly, it’s nothing more than a blob of color moving up and down or side to side.  This discovery made “yours truly” re-think some of my favorite leech designs, paying particularly close attention to the back end (tailing material) of the TF!

 Being a student of the sport of fly fishing, I try to pay close attention to other styles of fishing and study their lures of success as well.  Wondering why a certain lure is catching fish and how I can imitate it with feathers and fur!  In fact, the next time you’re in a general fishing shop or store…examine the spinners and casting spoon section.  You’ll discover a significant color used on or along with the treble or single hook at the backend of the lure? 

That color is red!  Red is a predominant color used in dressing a “trailing or trailer” hook on most spinners and spoons made today.   So I decided to give this concept a try!  I cheated by quickly applying a red Sharpie™ Marker to dye the tailing material on some of  my favorite leeches to achieve instant results!  The major lure companies have been do this for decades!  It’s to attract a fish and/or give a fish a target to strike at!  Duh…a way to attract ot trigger a striking reaction from a predator gamefish…brilliant!

 I can say this about “lure like” approach…it’s working on an array of species and my salmonid field testing has just begun!

Bead Fishing…Good or Bad?

With the multiple uses and applications of metal beads, cones and dumbbells being added to our 21^st century fly creations…I ask you this?  Is fishing a plastic bead on your fly fishing rig (either on the leader by itself or built into a fly) an acceptable fishing method as a fly fisher?  I, being from the “old school” methodologies of fly fishing/fly tying, think of fishing flies as creations from feathers and fur on a metal hook and look at plastic beads as an artificial bait.  Sounds pretty hypocritical coming from a tube fly enthusiast who is always “pushing the envelope” in modern tube fly designs!  I guess I’m just curious on how you feel about the matter because I have crossed the line! 

 Bead fishing is not a new “fly fishing” technique, just one that is often kept a secret.  Kind of a “closet case” scenario to those who know about their effectiveness!  Fly fishing with an “attractor” egg pattern like a glo bug, nuke egg or even a “glue” egg (yes, I’m referring too…hot melt glue on a bare hook) is an essential element for consistently catching steelhead in the Great Lakes region.  So why is fishing a plastic bead looked down upon by the masses?  I have a solution…turn your basic fishing beads into tube fly egg beads and “feel good about it”…I have!

 The bead fishing revolution is gaining clout amongst the Centerpin anglers in the eastern reaches of the Great Lakes with astonishing results.  I know this for a fact…since one of the “kingpin” offenders is my best friend and he’s constantly shares his results which are sometimes unbelievable (I have tons of picture proof in my possession)!!  But, I still can not peg a plain plastic bead with bare hook on the end of my tippet and call it…fly fishing!  Sounds crazy but true and this is where converting these fishing beads into a tube fly makes fishing them a little easier!

 I will say this…they’re incredibly affective if presented with a natural dead drift along the bottom!  I’ve been doing a little “field testing” for myself lately (our local silver salmon run has made great test subjects) and will share a few images as proof!  Tube Fly Bead Eggz are now going to be a staple part of my steelhead arsenal from this day forward and I don’t care what anyone says about my new technique…I like catching fish too much!  If you want “yours truly” to stop using plastics beads with plastic tubing (which would be utterly impossible for a tube fly fisher/tier) then you need to throw away all of your beadheads, coneheads and dumbbells in the process!  Don’t worry…I will share the tying (converting) techniques with you soon…I promise! 

 Happy Bead Fishing, Tony Pags

 

Fall Harvest Results!

Seeing is believing… I always say!  These images are results from the cooperation of Michigan Silver (coho) Salmon in the Grand River watershed.  Coho salmon can be very territorial when the spawning ritual begins!  A properly presented streamer can either provoke a response or spook your query into the next county!  That’s one of the reasons why I enjoy swinging larger tubes to salmonids!  If they are going to bite it…it usually happens within the first few casts!