Line maintenance has become a religion for me since moving to the Baltic. At the end of each day I unravel my line and give it a good wipe with a clean cloth before placing it all in a plastic bag to be reeled back on in the morning,and I coat my lines at least three times a week with line butters. You might think this a bit excessive but with fishing in Saline water and as much as I do I need to keep the line in the best condition possible. Yarik shows how its done in this video and there are a number of products on the market that are available. I've been using this combination A line & reel guard spray from Ardent combined with with Ardents Line butter spray. The smaller bottle from Monic is taken with me in my chest pack and used out in the field.
Used sparingly you can probably get around 60 - 80 good cleans with this combination which isn't bad at all considering the cost of fly lines these days. Easyfly stock all Ardent & Monic line & reel cleaning products if your feeling some love for your lines.
I hate paying top dollar for shit when I know I can get it for peanuts.All it takes is a bit of time, and a will to find,out of the way material suppliers and you can save yourselves untold amounts of money.I tracked down a billfish lure manufacturer in Durban the other day and bagged myself these two meter long belts of Pink and white chinese cock hackles for R200 which at the current exchange rate is approx €20, which in my eyes is a massive saving.
The same goes for these three flash materials as well. I bagged 2 meter lengths of chartreuse, Pink & Pearl white for a total of R30 around €3,00 for the lot.........result!
Found this "Birdy chick tail" feather duster the other day wedged between two cupboards at my oldmans place. So being the ultimate tight ass oppertunistic fly tier that I am, I raped four of the best plumes off it.....Result!!,although if the old fella found out am sure he'd have my bollocks on a stake!
What I love about this find is I've never come across natural ostrich hurl in such perfect condition with such long hurls before. I mean this duster was massive and never been used either. Well,Its gone to a good home now!
Here's Steve Edge showing how to extract a hook the correct way. Fortunately I fish with barbless hooks so I don't have this problem.This isn't to say It never happens to me,on the contrary. Last year alone I pulled 13 flies out of my body....Steve your the man!
Top tip.....Never comb out your fly while it is wet! You should never run a fine comb or brush through your wet hair and the same principle applies to the synthetics on your fly. Instead take your used flies home.Run under the tap to get any muck that has matted itself in between the materials away. Then squeeze excess water out and lay on to an old tea towl to dry. Once dry start from the back of the flys tail slowly working your way back down towards the hooks eye. Combing through a wet and matted fly will purely rip chunks off from the hook.
You know the scenario, your being dragged along on another of those pointless grocery shopping trips to the supermarket when something out the corner of your eye catches your attention. Hanging half way up some shelving at the end of one of the isles, "Its a packet of multi coloured rattling mice for cats". Lena also spots them and comments that they would be perfect for those last Ad Sweir 6/0 hooks you've been trying to get rid of that Harmen-Jan gave you at the beginning of the year.....Man I have a top missus!
I don't care what anyone thinks, they look the absolute bollocks, And will be fishing with one of these with Mathias on Saturday. They float really well and are full of tiny little balls so they rattle like hell. I might be just the wrong side of the season to be trying out something as audatious as as a multi coloured rattling mouse surface lure, but hey, If I catch something with them I'll be well stocked! especially on these Ad Swier 6/0's ??????
Here's a tight ass top tip for party poppers. Don't throw them away after you've fired them off, they not only make fantastic action discs for the front of your fly,but also make awesome popper heads for tube flies.
Peel off the wrapping and take a sharp blade and trim the top section from the main body of the party popper,like so.
Place a tube in your tube attachment and build up a decent front end using foam. Take off and place a generous helping of super glue all over the foam, and then slide the party popper head down the tube. Easy and works just as good as an action disc. I've been experimenting with different sizes the last few weeks and they push a lot of water around the fly giving the Marabou hairline and microbarb saddles so much more movement.
Action discs,nothing wrong with them but you can make them for a tenth of the price if you become a tight ass like me.
Steve Silverio was kind enough to send me this image of some of his tube flies he ties using Juice bottle tops to more or less achieve the same effect. Thanks for this Mate!
Dave over at Urban outdoors blog sent me this the other day of a great tight ass top tip regarding rattles. I don't use them, but some chaps do on their flies. Anyway why fork out hard earned cash buying these things when you can make them yourselves for a tenth of the price.
For those that have never used Raccoon Zonker either because your not a natural's Person or because you've heard it gets heavy after 20 mins of fishing with it. well here's a top tip to use before tying onto your hook.
Firstly take your Bone comb and comb through thoroughly pulling out as much of the underfur as possible. Then take a sharp pair of tying scissors and snip away 4 - 5 mm sections along the length of the leather strip. This drastically cuts down the weight by a 3rd. and water is dispersed a lot quicker out of the tail with a couple of false casts. I've also noticed that these gaps in the fur trap air in between them and leave a small trail of bubbles behind as you strip back
And as I've mentioned before if your a tight arse like me, then there's no waste as you have some fantastic raccoon dubbing left over
There are those that swear by raccoon fur, me included.......and there are those that either have their doubts, or just find the material to heavy to cast once its soaked. I prefer to tie a lot more natural materials on to my flies than synthetics especially feathers and Coon fur. The great thing about raccoon fur is that if combed through thoroughly with a very fine comb before applying to a hook, one can halve the amount of weight down as you end up extracting all or most of the underfur or down fur which leaves you with just the long outer hairs & a shit load of dubbing material for free.
Every Pike fly-fisherman worth his salt takes full advantage of the Christmas Seasons time for cheap fly tying materials,probably more so than any other fly fisherman. I'm no different in fact I become the ultimate tight arse with regards to all things shiny n sparkly,Especially since the worlds bankers or should that be "Wankers" fucked things up for us and made our pockets tighter than a low flying ducks clenched sphincter. Anyway I have set aside €50 this month purely to buy up as much Xmas decorations that can be used on my flies as I possibly can. Yesterday while sniffing around one of the large supermarkets in Vaasa, I came across these 60 mm long Gold,Silver and holographic tinsel materials for 30 cents each.....So I bought €4,00 worth. Granted on Xmas eve these will have dropped in price to around 5 cents each as retailers try to eradicate unwanted stocks from their shelves,but I just couldn't wait.
I will hold back the urge until then being the tight arse I am, and have allocated some time on the 27th Dec to hit the shops for an hour to snap up any remaining stocks available but until then I may as well use what I got.
I'm a firm believer that less is more with regards to having flashy materials on my flies....but if your going to go the other way,why not take the piss & go the full hog and give those dark waters something to light them up with....I say!
I'm sure many of you either know this technique or even use it on your flies already,but Here's a handy tip to stop that long tail of Raccoon fur,Rabbit zonker, Arctic fox zonker from wrapping itself annoyingly around the hook.
Make a loop with some strong mono,I've used weed strimmer chord here and tie onto the back of the hook or tube like so.
Tie on your raccoon strip or any zonker strip for that matter directly on top of the Loops tie on point.
Here's a popper that was fashioned from that same rig. Click images for larger view.
I like the look of these "Stripping basket inserts". I use a stripping basket where ever I can,even on a boat. I hate having the line around my feet and it protects my line a lot more. They are easy to make if you haven't read my tight arse top tips post I did on them. Must admit after a full season I will be down sizing the wall pins I have to keep the line from tangling to shorter ones and will be looking for maybe small plastic cones to glue on to the bottom instead.
The same company that brought you the Magic heads (Petitjean fishing equipments) also has a fantastic piece of equipment called the "Magic Tool". Now I have to say it is a top addition to any fly tiers bench but to be honest, as I'm the ultimate tight arse, And not prepared to fork out 30 euros for it, one can make something quite similar which will do the same job for practically bugger all.
1st cut yourself a piece of wood some 80mm long and cut a 5mm groove down the center of it.Remember to sand down the groove to make it smooth before use.
Place the marabou feather or hairline with the vein over the groove.
Push the feather down into the groove.
Take a normal office paper clamp and slide over the protruding feathers. Clamp tight.
Pull out of the groove
Take scissors and cut away the feathers vein
You're just left with the feathers which can now be placed into your dubbing loop. I actually saved myself a whopping 30 euros there.
Here's a top tight arse top tip for those that use foam popper heads. If you see the construction they are just your normal EP foam popper heads with a split ring attaching the fly to it. Have been making some enquiries yesterday and most fly shops in the UK are selling 4 in a pack for £5,95...I don't know about you but that's f***ing highway robbery and more fool you if your that much of a tackle tart to part with your hard earned cash for these things. Your fishing for pike for Pete's sake!. These popper heads were'nt designed for snotrockets but for other species.
All you need is some wire, A split ring, 2 small beads,A cork and a terminal clip
Make a loop,slide the bead along he wire. Then push the wire through the cork and add the other bead. Make a loop and attach the slit ring to the terminal clip. Since taking these pics I have removed the swivel thus shortening it slightly.....well it wasn't needed anyway.
And there you have it.I stuck some eyes on for all you out there that like to see that kinda thing on a fly. Now that cost me less that 20 cents to make & is if not just as good as an EP foam popper head. I was able to cast these 30ft the other day no worries and thats all the distance you need to cast poppers anyway. So all you tackle tarts out there that go to your local tackle shop and pay for foam popper heads...yet still complain at the price of them, then maybe give these a try instead and turn any fly in your tackle box in to a surface lure when ever needed.
So several of you have contacted me over the last couple of days with regards to what are the popper heads made from. Well they are just your average small bottling corks bought from your local supermarket. They weigh practically bugger all and are cheap as chips. I get 25 in a packet for Є1.50 which beats a pack of 4 Enrico Puglisi foam popper heads at Є4.25 from my local fly shop. They can be trimmed down quite easily with a sharp blade to suite the size hook you are using as well as cut grooves in the front of them for extra disturbance. They are also extremely durable if attached correctly. I'll show you how tomorrow with a small tutorial. Although I generally just paint mine black one could paint them any colour you desire. Not a bad tight arse top tip If I say so myself!
If your a tight arse like me then this is the fly for you. Xmas garland makes fantastic pike fly material and here's a Fly specifically made from the material.
Looking for the perfect material for your weed guards, then look now further than your local gardening center for some weed strimmer cord. It comes in a variety of colours as well as a range of different sizes. I’ve been using Oregon 1,3 mm now for about a year on my poppers and gurgelbugs and have been very impressed with it. Its thick enough to allow your fly to pass under and over obstructions without getting snagged, and yet its subtle enough for it to allow easy hook ups once the pike has it in its jaws and there is now way in hell pike will cut through it with its teeth.
Used sparingly you can probably get around 60 - 80 good cleans with this combination which isn't bad at all considering the cost of fly lines these days. Easyfly stock all Ardent & Monic line & reel cleaning products if your feeling some love for your lines.
