Guys and Gals of the VFB,
Howdy! I'm after some ideas and discussion for a fly to target a
fish species that I've been meaning to target since I've learned to
fly fish but have yet to do so. Hopefully I'll still have some
chances before the river freezes up before next spring to try any
ideas that we come up with.
The species I'm targeting is GAR. Not your Texas 4'+ long 6"
diameter house of mean-ness toothful critters. I've seen pictures -
my luke-warm water doesn't grow them that big up here, it's just too
short of a growing season here. They don't really get over 3' in
length and rarely are 2" in diameter. Their mouths are still full of
teeth and are more crocodilian than alligator-ish -- Long and thin
vs. short and wide. They're somewhat surface feeders -- I've had
them hit on a flat-head minnow that was floated 12" under a
bobber. The first run was semi-impressive at 30-50 feet before
they'd stop to try to eat the bait. The hardest was not coming back
with a fishhead and that's it.
I know there are flys out there that target gar and other toothy
critters that really don't need a whole hook, the hook is just what
the material is attached to and the material is the hooking/holding
agent. I've been thinking of variations of saltwater/epoxy flys, but
know I DON"T want to use epoxy b/c that kind of kills the idea of the
materials hooking in the fishes teeth, I think. Though I think I
semi-thing body shape will be needed. And I'm thinking of using a
short-shanked egg hook (tiemco) as the base hook.
I'm not sure what else to try or use, that's why I ask you all!!!
-->Garry
