Reading the first paragraph of my prior post shows writing email at
12:08 pm is too late! And I agree that catching those big 'Gills is
much harder... especially around here because there probably aren't
any! But I have caught one monster at Lake Powell. I was fly
fishing one of the back bays for small mouth with no success, but
caught a huge Bluegill... pushing 12 inches vertically and 10 or 11
horizontally. I don't know how big they can get but 12 inches of
Bluegill is a lot of fish.
When I called the ones we caught as a kid "hand sized" I was
referring to an 10 year old hand.
Tom
On Jan 4, 2006, at 12:08 AM, Tom Davenport wrote:
I don't know it the big Bluegill you guys fish for in the warm
water states are smarter than the smaller ones we have in ponds
around here, but it has been my experience that Bluegill will take
just about anything including a bare hook. When I was a boy we had
a pond down the road and I spent many a summer catching and
releasing Bluegill by the dozens. We each had a stick with a
little mono wrapped around the end (and a hook). We'd catch a
grasshopper and start fishing and I don't recall ever having a slow
day. These fish were mostly hand sized, and we each had special
mark that we would make in their tales before releasing them so
that we could we could tell if when we caught a the fish more than
once. Sometimes, just to amuse ourselves, we would put a piece of
leaf or just use the bare hook, and still catch fish.
In the spring when our rivers are blown out I still go out to a
local pond and catch blue gill with dry flies, and they have never
been picky, taking flies of every size and shape. So are those
southern Bluegill smarter, or what?
Now as far as tying the Adams goes, yes, I can remember when it was
hard, and most of the difficulty came from the picture instructions
in the book I was using. They showed two hackle feathers to be
used as wings that had the barbs stripped away till the feathers
were exactly the final size, and I had a devil of a time trying to
lash them on the hook using those two tiny naked quills. Later I
learned (through trial and error) that it is MUCH easier to get two
saddle feathers that were twice as long as the final size, leave
them just as they came off the neck. Put them together back to
back and hold by the butt section (heaviest part of the quill
which will eventually be cut away) straddle the hook over shank
with the wing tips going over the eye and tie the top (wing) end to
the shaft using a pinch loop. Check to see if wings are the right
size. If the wings are two long, just pull the feather through by
the butts until the tips are the right size, if two short, release
the loop and try again. Most of the time I tie them a little long,
then pull them down till they are the right size. Then lash it
with a couple more pinch loops, cut off the the butt end, pull the
wings up, throw some loops in front of the wings to prop them up,
go back and lash down any butt ends that were left from cutting and
your done with the wings. I also don't mess around with using a
figure 8 to prop the wings apart, the opposing curve of the wings
does that anyway.
I typically do everything in this order: Wrap a thread base to the
bend, lash on the tailing material, wrap forward to where you want
the wings to be and attach them. Then go back and dub to the
wings, attach hackles, dub in front of the hackles, bring thread
back to front of wing, wrap hackles and tie them off in front of
wing. Wrap head, pull hackles and wings back with your fingers and
whip finish. Trim off any stray hackles .
And, rather than trying to wrap both hackles at once, it is
perfectly OK to wrap one, tie it off, then wrap the other. As you
gain confidence you won't have any difficulty wrapping the together
if you want.
I hope this helps, it would be much easier to show you than
describe it. If you want, maybe I could make you a little video.
Tom Davenport
On Jan 2, 2006, at 11:38 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
Does anybody know if the Adams fly is good for Bluegills (or other
brim species) during the Spring spawn??? I say that time of the
year, because the rest of the year I usually use wet flies.. Or,
are they are good in another time of the year ???? Around here, it
just seems that the Spring, and Early Summer are about the only
times the Gills surface feed. I JUST now got to where I can tie an
Adams. I know it is one of the most tied flies in the world, but
getting the wings the right length, and in the right place on the
shank, and at the correct angle. Then, when I'd wrap the twin
hackles, I'd always get those tangled up, or run out of room on
the #12 and #14 hooks I am tying them on. But I FINALLY got to
where I can tie them to at least LOOK like an Adams...Also, was
this a hard fly to learn for anybody else??? Thanks, Chuck
