Fly patterns for the most common fish ?

[cyclops2]

 

  Gobies !!

[flyfisher]

there are ton out there but my favorite is super simple.  Cross cut rabbit, rabbit tail and sculpin helmet.  Takes longer to get out hte materials than the tie itself really.  Which is a good thing becasue I seem to lose them all the time.

[Further North]

Those flies work...but man...I dislike that much metal in the heads of my flies.

Bass/smaller Esox: Murdich Minnow

Larger Esox: Bufords and variations.

Here's some "Senko" and "Ned Rig" flies I've been playing with this winter.

[TnRiver46]

Muddler minnow, or anything with the name sculpin in it. There used to be a fly we used called rag sculpin that was a smallmouth and trout killer, spun deer hair head and zonker strip rabbit fur tail 

[cyclops2]

Thanks TN

 

 Muddler Minnow is what I used 50 years ago. Thanks for the help. 

Rich

[TnRiver46]

1 hour ago, cyclops2 said:

Thanks TN

 

 Muddler Minnow is what I used 50 years ago. Thanks for the help. 

Rich

They still eat them! Some fish never learn 

[Fallser]

We don't have gobies here in SE PA.  A muddler minnow or a sculpin pattern would probably be the the imitation.  I'm going have to check the coloration and size for both sculpin and gobies.  I've been tying bucktail, hair and marabou jigs on 1/32, 1/20 and 1/16 oz jigs over the winter.  Haven't really considered doing them in sculpin colors.  I tied some ned flies over the winter on 1/20 oz jigs.  These might work for a sculpin or gobie.

 

I dropped them into a jar of water with a relatively flat bottom.

[cyclops2]

I can tell those are all males.

[TnRiver46]

3 hours ago, Fallser said:

We don't have gobies here in SE PA.  A muddler minnow or a sculpin pattern would probably be the the imitation.  I'm going have to check the coloration and size for both sculpin and gobies.  I've been tying bucktail, hair and marabou jigs on 1/32, 1/20 and 1/16 oz jigs over the winter.  Haven't really considered doing them in sculpin colors.  I tied some ned flies over the winter on 1/20 oz jigs.  These might work for a sculpin or gobie.

 

I dropped them into a jar of water with a relatively flat bottom.

I need a report from those baits!

[Further North]

4 hours ago, Fallser said:

We don't have gobies here in SE PA.  A muddler minnow or a sculpin pattern would probably be the the imitation.  I'm going have to check the coloration and size for both sculpin and gobies.  I've been tying bucktail, hair and marabou jigs on 1/32, 1/20 and 1/16 oz jigs over the winter.  Haven't really considered doing them in sculpin colors.  I tied some ned flies over the winter on 1/20 oz jigs.  These might work for a sculpin or gobie.

 

I dropped them into a jar of water with a relatively flat bottom.

Very cool...that's a lot more weight than mine.

What's the material. and how did you wrap it on the hook?

58 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

I need a report from those baits!

They'll work...

[flyfisher]

6 hours ago, Further North said:

Those flies work...but man...I dislike that much metal in the heads of my flies.

Bass/smaller Esox: Murdich Minnow

Larger Esox: Bufords and variations.

Here's some "Senko" and "Ned Rig" flies I've been playing with this winter.

I hear ya.  I have switched to primarily unweighted flies and sinking lines if possible but these really get down in the heavy current fast when I am wading and want to only take one rod.  This is my first year using them and only been out once and I didn't have any issues casting them.  Many people complain that they are rod breakers but at the same time, I haven't hit a fly on my rod in a long long time, probably because I learned to fly fish as a poor college student and only had a 4wt that I used for everything from mountain stream brookies to 20lb carp and everything in between.    Now it is which 7 or 8wts I am I gonna take

[cyclops2]

I have almost gone over completely to roll casting when joints allow.  Then I have no need for back casting.

 

 Plan  for the worst.  And the good happens.   

[Fallser]

2 hours ago, Further North said:

Very cool...that's a lot more weight than mine.

What's the material. and how did you wrap it on the hook?

I can cast a1/32 or 1/20 oz jig with my 6 wgt.  And the lightest Ned jigs are 1/20 oz.  No heavier than some of the Clousers I use.  The material is called "Predator-9 Worm" soft chenille for bass.  The only place I've seen it is in the Feather-Craft catalog.  The single strand would work well with the flies you posted.  What I do is take the single strand, put it around a thin piece of wire, then twist the strands together till I get a piece 3-4" long, slide it off the wire.  Tie the twisted piece on the hook shank in front of the bend.  Lay one tag end on the the shank and wrap it down with thread, then wrap the other tag end over it.  That's it.  I brought the white material, then used permanent markers to create the color patterns.  It comes in other colors.  I'm going to order a couple of different ones.  It will cut down on the amount of coloring I need to do.

  I haven't fished them yet, probably won't get a chance till sometime in May.  I'll be targeting largemouth then.  I'm headed up to a lodge in NE Ontario at the end of August and that's the main reason I tied them up, for the smallies.  TnRiver46 since I went to UT Martin, I'll make a note to post a report when I catch something with them.

 

[Further North]

4 hours ago, flyfisher said:

I hear ya.  I have switched to primarily unweighted flies and sinking lines if possible but these really get down in the heavy current fast when I am wading and want to only take one rod.  This is my first year using them and only been out once and I didn't have any issues casting them.  Many people complain that they are rod breakers but at the same time, I haven't hit a fly on my rod in a long long time, probably because I learned to fly fish as a poor college student and only had a 4wt that I used for everything from mountain stream brookies to 20lb carp and everything in between.    Now it is which 7 or 8wts I am I gonna take

Your application (single rod wading) make sense.  I almost never do that.  I'm either in a drift boat on a river, or a bigger boat on a lake...so I;ve almost always got more than one rod.

Some variation of the Belgian cast - a continuous tension cast that comes back low and goes out high - helps to not break rods...but sooner or later I'll either forget...or the wind'll foul me up...

1 hour ago, Fallser said:

I can cast a1/32 or 1/20 oz jig with my 6 wgt.  And the lightest Ned jigs are 1/20 oz.  No heavier than some of the Clousers I use.  The material is called "Predator-9 Worm" soft chenille for bass.  The only place I've seen it is in the Feather-Craft catalog.  The single strand would work well with the flies you posted.  What I do is take the single strand, put it around a thin piece of wire, then twist the strands together till I get a piece 3-4" long, slide it off the wire.  Tie the twisted piece on the hook shank in front of the bend.  Lay one tag end on the the shank and wrap it down with thread, then wrap the other tag end over it.  That's it.  I brought the white material, then used permanent markers to create the color patterns.  It comes in other colors.  I'm going to order a couple of different ones.  It will cut down on the amount of coloring I need to do.

  I haven't fished them yet, probably won't get a chance till sometime in May.  I'll be targeting largemouth then.  I'm headed up to a lodge in NE Ontario at the end of August and that's the main reason I tied them up, for the smallies.  TnRiver46 since I went to UT Martin, I'll make a note to post a report when I catch something with them.

 

Thanks...that's an FNF material, very similar to the FNF Creeper I used on my flies above.  I"ll get some on order.

I'd love to see pictures of that process...I think I understand it, but I'm not sure.

What I was doing, on the Ned Rig flies, was tying in about an inch of FNF Creeper at the back of the jig hook, then tying in another hunk of it...advancing the thread to the eye, wrapping the FNF Creeper forward to the bead, whip finishing, and done.  They take about a minute...

The "Senko" flies are three strands of FNF Creeper Braided together...the material you're using might work better for this...

...and if you're not already using these, give them a try:

https://www.feather-craft.com/empty-chenille-spools-6-pack

 

[TnRiver46]

6 hours ago, Fallser said:

I can cast a1/32 or 1/20 oz jig with my 6 wgt.  And the lightest Ned jigs are 1/20 oz.  No heavier than some of the Clousers I use.  The material is called "Predator-9 Worm" soft chenille for bass.  The only place I've seen it is in the Feather-Craft catalog.  The single strand would work well with the flies you posted.  What I do is take the single strand, put it around a thin piece of wire, then twist the strands together till I get a piece 3-4" long, slide it off the wire.  Tie the twisted piece on the hook shank in front of the bend.  Lay one tag end on the the shank and wrap it down with thread, then wrap the other tag end over it.  That's it.  I brought the white material, then used permanent markers to create the color patterns.  It comes in other colors.  I'm going to order a couple of different ones.  It will cut down on the amount of coloring I need to do.

  I haven't fished them yet, probably won't get a chance till sometime in May.  I'll be targeting largemouth then.  I'm headed up to a lodge in NE Ontario at the end of August and that's the main reason I tied them up, for the smallies.  TnRiver46 since I went to UT Martin, I'll make a note to post a report when I catch something with them.

 

Martin? That’s cool! You’ve probably told me that before and I forgot……. I’m noticing a pattern. I believe another fly fishing enthusiast went there, @bulldog1935

[bulldog1935]

@TnRiver46

My UT was in Austin - in Tennessee, my school was Vandy - so long ago, it was the year we beat the Vols at Thanksgiving. 

 

Also,  I never fish weighted flies - always sinking lines - slime lines and Teeny lines. 
Have caught mackerel on TS-250 and suspended snapper on TS-350. 

Inshore, if I'm fishing more than mid-thigh deep, I go to slime line, or in tide passes with strong current, the TS-250. 

 

However, I always tell others this about my salt finesse - they make salt fly rod obsolete - with this, I can cast 1/16 oz to 130'

 

This whistler pattern works for both gobies and sculpin

we have gobies in our limestone creeks

[cyclops2]

60 ?  years ago I had my first fly tying drive.  So I tried to make Wooly Caterpillars.  I had more fun laughing at the fishes reactions as they grabbed them.. Right thru the busiest pool. It was fun even If I did not have hookups.  All parts of fishing can become fun if we give it a chance.

[Further North]

2 hours ago, bulldog1935 said:

Also,  I never fish weighted flies - always sinking lines - slime lines and Teeny lines. 

With the exception of very lightly weighted flies...same here.

When a "fly" becomes heavy enough to throw with gear, it's a jig in my head...and I throw it with gear.  I don't see any reason to throw it on a fly line...there's no benefit, for me.

 

2 hours ago, bulldog1935 said:

However, I always tell others this about my salt finesse - they make salt fly rod obsolete - with this, I can cast 1/16 oz to 130'

I also have a few rods set up for BFS...for the same reason.

[cyclops2]

I was popping off weighted flies too easily. 

[bulldog1935]

and if you want to imitate gobies, sculpin, killifish (mud minnows), you have to be bottom-bouncing. 

 

Any time bottom-bouncing takes fish, the fly pattern is just about irrelevant - except you need it to keel hook-up. 

They want the mud balls.  I've seen 5-lb bass following a bottom-bounced fly on clear flagstone bottom, slamming their head sideways into the bottom over and over trying to eat the fly. 

Teeny line, T-130, etc. 

When our tailwater is crowded, I can go to the deep tannin pools no one else fishes and bounce-up big rainbows on a cats whisker. They follow the fly forever and pick it up when it's sitting still. 

. 

 

 

same with white bass

[PaulVE64]

https://images.fiberglassflyrodders.com/u/1/pb/TStif/Wilderdilch.jpg

Small mouth bass and trout. Also known to get the unwanted attention of passing pike and walleye.

[Further North]

25 minutes ago, PaulVE64 said:

 

Small mouth bass and trout. Also known to get the unwanted attention of passing pike and walleye.

That'll work.

...and that's why I have steel leaders on most of my fly rods...

[cyclops2]

??