Add beads in between the 2 hooks for added flash - red glass beads are
great.
Along with melting the ball, I also recommend taking flat pliers and
smashing the flouro/mono that you are tying down - it makes it easier to
attach.
On 12/4/06, Kevin W. Machon <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Great explanation - that is the question I was asking but in 3 parts :)
I'm hoping to make a couple test patterns this week and test them next
weekend. Since it's not really streamer season I'm not expecting to hook
anything, but I'll at least get an idea about how they cast, material
fouling, etc.
I'm planning on snelling a trailer hook on 20 or 25 lb flouro as a
starting
point for a medium-size trout streamer. Then either using the double-over
or through the lead hook eye as the tie down plus a little zap-a-gap for
added measure. Seems like that line weight would be stiff enough to hold
the shape and stay away from the tailing materials (rabbit strip or other
hair) but still allow a little movement. I might also try articulated ,w
material on the rear trailer and bare trailer hooks, just to test the
fouling aspects. Guess there's only one way to find out what will
work....
Thanks again, DonO and everyone!
Kev
From: "DonO" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Subject: [VFB] Tandem riggings- 101
Date: Mon, 4 Dec 2006 09:10:38 -0700
Kev,
You're asking almost the key questions here. Attaching a trailer hook can
be more problematical than beneficial, as it can interfere with the
natural
swimming motion of the tail and it can become a place for the tail to foul
up.
As a fly designer, you must weigh all factors in designing your patterns,
or
adapting patterns you already have. Then you must field-test them to see
if
your ideas worked. Are you just casting, or dragging river and lake
bottoms
with weight attached? Are you trolling it by pulling it behind a float
tube
or boat? How good a caster are you so as not to hook yourself after the
backcast? These questions are all relevant. Will you be using a full
sinking line, or a sink tip, or a floating line with an indicator and long
leader?
On my large tandem deceivers (saltwater), the eye of the lead hook (6/0 to
10/0 3X hvy. hooks) is large enough to pass the trailer leader through the
eye and back on itself, so tying it down makes it very secure.
On smaller lead hooks, there usually isn't enough room in the eye to do
this, so you must snell the front of the leader (or two leader tips) to
the
front hook shank, glue down, then tie over the ends to fix the leader
firmly
to the front hook. I've had billfish bend 3X wire trailer hooks, but
never
pull one out with this system. On small hooks, and for smaller quarry,
you
can wire-rib the hook-shank with gaps, then coat with cement. Then
tightly
tie down your leaders to the shank, and if they're mono, melt a ball on
the
tip. The bumpy base and the melted tip will stop the leader from pulling
out.
Once again, you must take your quarry into consideration- if you can get
away with a mono trailer leader or if you need bite-proof. If you want to
be able to change out the trailer hook, you need to use a loop rig that
can
pass through the eye of your trailer hook. If it's too limp, you can furl
it. Don't use a leader material that has a bite/fight memory, i.e. one
that
will get all beat up and out of alignment after a fish gets through with
it.
If the trailer doesn't return to its original position, find a different
trailer leader material.*
*On my marlin flies, I use furled loop-style tandem leaders (Tiger-wire or
similar), shielded in plastic tubing or thin flex-body tubing (Flex-o).
This material is stiff enough to return the trailer back to its original
place, can be slid forward to replace the trailer hook, protects the
leader
from the abrasive bill of the fish, and blends in with the fly. Every
billfish I've caught or hooked so far has been on the trailer hook. Most
dorado have been on the tandem, except the 51 pounder, who swallowed the
12"
fly on the take.
Also, you may want to tie a trailer portion of the fly and a lead-hook
portion in front, so your fly is articulated and two-piece. This leads to
all sorts of fly designing. You could tie a rabbit-strip matuka-style fly
and have a trailer hook passed through the leather half-way back through
the
tail. This would position the hook, keel it down, stiffen up the front
half
of the tail a little, but let the back end of the tail swim freely, with
less chance of foul-up.
I always use a turned up or turned down eye for the trailer, as I'm not
tying to the eye itself, but the shank behind it. Loops and snells will
align the hook in a straight line if it goes through the angled eye back
onto the shank. This gives straight-line hook-setting properties.
Depending on local laws and the fly design, the trailer can be positioned
either in the materials (tail), below the materials, hook up above the
materials, or behind the materials. Lots of choices, but that's fly
designing. Your fishing circumstances and quarry dictate some of these
things (like weed-proofing), but then the rest will be up to just you.
When you use a trailer hook, you can back off on the length of the front
lead hook, and use a short-shanked trailer. This is better for holding on
to the fish and making less damage to the fish.
Depending on the type of fish, the depth, and how it takes the fly, a
circle
hook option is worthy of having. Fly rods are notoriously slow for
setting
hooks, even on slamming streamer-takes. A circle hook does not need to be
set (shouldn't be set), so the take and hook-up happen before you can even
respond to the strike.
I could go on and on for pages, but this should get you started in the
right
direction.
DonO
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