25-11-2005, 11:31 AM (This post was last modified: 25-11-2005, 11:32 AM by taky.)
This is one of the patterns I'm experimenting with.The barbs are not yet sharpened on an attempt to keep my finger tips intact.
I still don't get the balance right for the shrimp to swim properly, and I keep playing with bits of lead and a bucket of water. The first fly was ultra sharp, and believe me there was a lot of swearing and bleeding.
As you can see the hook still there in case a snapper decides to eat some phosphorescent shrimp.
I've try another heavier pattern with my casting rood with results as good as the conventional lures. This one is to try with a fly fishing rood.
Ink can mess up the fly, so next will have a epoxy luminous body and less hairy stuff.
however, i think you may have a poor hook-up rate with the current design.
with the current weight distribution i would have thought that the barbs will end up on the bottom of the lure (as it swims thru the water) and it may therefore be hard to hook the squid!...it may be more effective if the barbs were on the TOP of the fly (as it swims thru the water).
to achieve this, one solution would be to just use a full circle of barbs (rather than the current half circle)....alternatively, you could continue to use a half-circle of barbs but could add a counterweight to make the fly swim the other way round.
i am just thinking out loud...your testing will show what really works the best.
About the balance you're right... this pattern is a variation of my favorite trout fly, where the hook is supposed to ride up, avoiding snags. They are underneath because I'm not sure if it really makes any difference, to help with the balance and because I looks more natural (the legs).
At the moment I can see the squid face the fly for a couple of seconds, then fire the long tentacles and get aggressively the fly to the mouth. The fly is small enough to fit in between the tentacles, and so far I have much better hook ups on a fly than on a jig (I haven't try the razorback). But this is the first one with halve set of hooks... the others ad a double set!
I'll build next one with a full (or maybe a 300ú) set of barbs to compare.
This picture is from my first fly. Is ugly, heavy enough to cast to about 8m and so far a killer: I have yet to miss one...
it looks like you have made the body with epoxy? ...if so, then i guess that makes the fly quite heavy....you might like to try just attaching the barbs with fly-tying thread only (and forget the epoxy) to keep the weight down.
please keep us informed with your squid fly experiments!
the barbs are tied with thread, and a green phosphorescent pipe is glued to it.
There is no epoxy involved... just a bit of superglue.
There is a bit of lead on the head to force a proper swimming pattern. The body and head are done with orange fluo yarn, blue and glow in the dark mylar. A final layer of glow in the dark paint as been apply to the head. I was going to apply eyes... but went fishing instead.
The fly could be cast with a WF7-8. With out the lead a #6 will do it easy... but then it would be hard to fish.
I have a couple more now... one with a 300ú barbs arrangement. I'll see if I find time to get by the water this week.
