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View Full Version : Baja flies , part 1



David Lee
09-27-2005, 09:47 PM
Here they are , only 400-something to go .

(left to right) Simple Siliclones #2 , Shad Deciever #1 , Silicone Squid #2/0 , Simple Siliclone baitfish#4

http://members.sparedollar.com/fadoe/IM002272.JPG

Kind of a pain to keep a baitfish fly under three inches - I'm shooting for 1-inch to 2 1/4 on average for most of them . This should be interesting .......... :twisted:



http://members.sparedollar.com/fadoe/IM002271.JPG

David

Darian
09-27-2005, 09:58 PM
Hey David,.... I know what you mean about keeping these flies under 3". :x :x The Siliclones'll work great. I found that I could accomplish length and transparency concerns best tying Popovichs Candies series.... 8) 8) Like Siliclones, the colors are easily incorporated. 8) 8)

Hairstacker
09-28-2005, 10:18 AM
David, looks like you're off to a GREAT start, only 478 left to go! Love that squid pattern, by the way. . . . 8) Having said that, they ALL look great!!

David Lee
09-28-2005, 07:33 PM
Thanks , Mike !

They are a challenge - you have to tye the head , mouth , and tenticles on a piece of heavy mono .... slap the eyes on there , then smother it in silicone .
After the sili cures , cut off the head and a few inches of mono , attach it to the hook , then do the rest of the fly . That was my first one , I didn't do so well on it :roll:

Sure looks like a Squid , though ..... doesn't it ??

David

Jasonh
09-28-2005, 07:36 PM
Great looking flies David. I reallylike the silicone head. It gives it a good realistic look.

Jason Hartwick

Darian
09-28-2005, 07:43 PM
Hey David,..... After looking a little closer at the length of the hook you used for your Squid tie, was wondering why you couldn't just tie the head portion directly on the hook shank :?: :?: It does appear that the head is so close that there's little action to be gained using the Mono connection
or am I not seeing the picture correctly :?: :?:

Would you recommend using a piece of, say, Tiger Wire for the connector :?: :?: Seems like a toothy critter might cut a connecting piece of mono.... :? :?

David Lee
09-28-2005, 07:44 PM
It's great stuff to work with , Jason .... I'm suprised that more tyers don't use it .

When are you coming to town for Steelies ??

David

David Lee
09-28-2005, 08:22 PM
Darian -

I'm just following the directions !!!

http://members.sparedollar.com/fadoe/IM002277.JPG

The hook is a 2/0 , 4XL TMC 911S , the fly is Bob Popovics Silicone Squid

http://members.sparedollar.com/fadoe/IM002284.JPG

Pretty cool looking , and it might even tempt one of those nasty roosters :twisted:

David

sculpin
09-28-2005, 09:03 PM
David
Take a look at this pattern for a squid fly. It is pretty easy .

http://www.aswf.org/saltwater_flies_for_web/steve_farrar/squid_fly/squid_fly.html

Mark

David Lee
09-28-2005, 09:37 PM
Hi Mark !

Funny you should post that link ..... I've been looking at ASWF for the past few days . I don't know how much Squid come into play (as far as a major food item) on the beach . Just thought a few with me couldn't hurt .

I'm thinking a cross-cut rabbit strip in white would be an easy , effective body , though I haven't seen one like that yet .

Tying some razzlers at the moment - those Pompano are in deep doo-doo :twisted: :idea: :twisted:

David

PS - how was the food at HPC ??

Darian
09-28-2005, 11:00 PM
David,.... My experience down there with a squid pattern was that it was best over rocky areas..... 8) However, I must admit that most of the fish I caught were Coronet Fish.... :lol: I used an all white pattern, too. 8)

The dead Squid I saw washed up on the beach each morning were anywhere from 6" - 10" in length and had a lot of black/purple in 'em. I've modified my pattern to include those colors but not the length, yet.... 8) 8) 8)

PaulC
09-28-2005, 11:14 PM
Hey David,
Here's another version of squid worth a shot. http://www.garybulla.com/forum/viewthread.php?tid=1807#pid9267
Nice thing is its flexible enough to get out of the way of the hookset.
Food for thought at least from a tying standpoint.
Good luck out there man. I'm sure you'll have a blast.
-Paul

P.S. speaking of squid, they had a cool video of a giant squid attacking some bait from a group of japanese researchers on cnn this morning.
I think you'd need a crane to toss that squid imitation.

David Lee
09-29-2005, 04:31 PM
Thanks for the link , Paul .... I was hoping I'd hear from you .

Like I said , just trying to cover the bases - I'll be working on crabs and lobsters/shrimp pretty quick . I took your Razzler and copied it (kind of .... :roll: ) , using fire-orange for the orange calf , fire orange KF , and pale orange diamond braid on the rear half of the body . It is just a little brighter and smaller than yours , but should fish just fine .

That was the first time anyone has shot a Giant Squid on film - kind of makes ya wonder what else is down there that we haven't seen .... YET :shock:

David

PaulC
09-29-2005, 07:50 PM
Hey David,
I'm sure your perturbation on the pattern should work fine down there. I actually caught a few fish on 1/0 versions of the razzler. Down here we're mostly fishing size 8's and 6's for the corbina,etc. I'm also not the originator of the razzler. A guy I know from the malibu area, Dean, came up with the pattern which is a tweak on many other similar style patterns we fish down south. Its been a great producer tho in my experience on the water.

Another thing I would recommend bringing is a stripping basket. LLBean has a nice hard plastic basket with cones for line management. Its like 20-30 bucks and you can just drill drainage holes in the bottom and side.
I also used it in my luggage for reel storage.
I know alot of guys go down there without, but I found it helped with line management while running full sprint after a rooster. No tangles around the feet and I could still wind up and shoot a bunch of line in a hurry.
Granted...you're not going to pick up chicks with it and you look like a lunatic, but hey..it works.
One guy refered to me as the crazy guy running the beach with a dish washing basket. lol.
Actually, its the same one hanging of my waist from that picture to the left.

Crab wise...the turneffe crab with the furry foam is a simple tye, and you couldn't go wrong with some of those merkins. Rug yarn for material...how simple is that.
I also picked up a bunch of smaller reef fish using #2 clousers olive over white with some blue electra flash for side coloring.
And if you start picking up snot sticks aka cornet fish, you're definitely stripping too slow:)
Finally, I noticed that the rooster would spook with sinking lines or weight flies. I had the most follows with clear intermediate and non weighted bucktail sardina patterns. Not that i'm an expert...that was just my observation.

I'd be more than happy to tie up a few patterns and send em you're way if you like. My steelhead box is still full from last season (overtied by 50 flies:P) and the salt down here is slowing down for the winter. I'm entering that tying for spring/summer mode anyhow.
Let me know...
-Paul

P.S. Here's a pic of the drilled out basket. The rod holder cutouts are nice also for when you're tyin something new on or dealing with release of an uncooperative fish.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v715/Cronin/IMG_0198.jpg

David Lee
10-01-2005, 07:30 PM
:shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

A few PaulC flies ... for ME =D> ?!?

What kind of dumbass would pass THAT up :?: :?: :?:

I thank you for the offer , Paul , and am grateful for the advise on lines , baskets , etc. .... I have a mesh JW outfiters stripping basket (don't use it much - river current takes care of my shooting line managment problems ...) - I'll be sure to bring it , if just to keep away the bevy of Bonita Nativas that would surely follow me to the end of the Earth had I gone without it :twisted: :P

Roosters are very much secondary for me on this trip - I am hoping for the classic Baja small game species (Ladyfish , Pompano , Sierra ...) . Mind you , I wouldn't turn Roosters down , per se .... I just hope to tangle w/ the little guys more than the high-stakes big game fish .

The ONLY thing better than going there ?? It would be to have you , and a few board friends by my side for this adventure - Not like you fellas won't be there in spirit !!

Thanks again ,

David

jbird
10-01-2005, 08:11 PM
David

Nice looking flies! You should do well. Make sure to tie up some LARGE baits too. 5-6" range. Even if your seeing small bait, A bigger offering tossed into the bait blitz can draw attention. I tied up a few squid patterns for our trip. They never made it out of the box, but I've been kicking myself for it. Those big roosters and toro had been pressured pretty hard with traditional baitfish patterns. I bet they would have gobbled a squid. I tied some tubefly style, with the tentccles and eyes attatched to the hook and the body tied on a tube.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/jbird35/DSC02152.jpg

If you think youve felt your heart pound out of your chest before, just wait till your languidly casting to some shooling pompano and a pair of 40# roosters come cruising by 10 feet off the beach!

youre going to have a blast. Wish I was going.

Jbird

David Lee
10-01-2005, 08:37 PM
JB -

The hotel is open , rates are super-low ...... go collar Mark and start packin' !!!

I don't know if there's enough bail-money for the three of us , though .... :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

Where I fish most of the time , the American , we see LARGE Stripes almost every trip - I've had fish in the mid-40 lb. range EAT 18 inch Steelies off my line !!

It's a jungle out there , I tell ya .....

David

Darian
10-01-2005, 09:48 PM
jbird,.... Those're some very good looking Squid patterns. 8) Have you ever thought about trying them at the coast around Brookings :?: :?: :?:

jbird
10-04-2005, 05:35 PM
Actually, I really havnt darian. What can you tell me about it? Are you thinking along the lines of t14's and ling cod and such? Or salmon?

J

Darian
10-04-2005, 09:34 PM
Actually, I was thinking about rock fishing near the mouth of Brookings Harbor. 8) 8) Never have fished there but have seen some very big Lings coming out of there..... :shock: According to the Curry-Pilot (newspaper in Brookings), a 20 pound stray Striper was taken in the surf near there about 3 months ago, as well. Both of these fish are prone to eating Squid if available. 8)

Line'd probably be LC13 or T14 for the rocks (hopefully from a small water craft.....) 8) 8) Leaders would have to be fairly short/stout.....

Of course, Salmon would be a bonus. 8) 8)

What do you think :?: :?:

jbird
10-05-2005, 04:57 PM
I think I'll have to add it to my long list of "must do's".

J

Darian
10-05-2005, 09:56 PM
Hay J,.... If you ever fish the Chetco for Salmon, you're close and the equipment would be compatible for both.... Different flies for rockfih and Lings but bright Salmon/Steelhead flies'll work for Redtail Surf Perch, etc. 8) 8)

There's a whole new world oput there to explore.... :D :D :D