#foam bugs

[panfishonthefly]

Fly Tying With Sheet Foam

Sheets of inexpensive closed-cell foam have long been used for fly tying. This versatile material can be found everywhere and can be used to create an endless variety of flies and bugs for warm water fly fishing. Foam sheets can be found in local craft and variety stores, even your neighborhood Walmart carries the stuff. Of course, your local fly shop will carry sheet foam as well but often with an inflated price tag.

Foam is foam…right?

Is there a difference between the foam you see marketed as “fly foam” in your local fly shop and the stuff you find in the isles of your local craft store or Walmart? In some cases, yes, but that does not justify the exorbitant prices! The foam I have picked up in fly shops over the years seems to be denser and a little more durable than most of the stuff found in craft stores. That being said, craft store foam will work just fine for your fly tying needs. One benefit of patronizing your local fly shops is you can also find foam of varying thickness from 1mm sheets of Razor Foam to big blocks used for popper bodies. In addition, the only way we can keep these places around is to spend a little money in them from time to time! However, if you spend some time looking around, you can also find these products locally without the fly shop prices.

All foam sheets are not created equal, but most will work just fine for your fly tying needs. I did not pay much attention to the differences until I started mass producing bodies for my Triangle Bug pattern. Some foam sheets (denser ones) cut better than others, and sometimes one particular color performed better than others. I am not sure if this is a result of the dying or manufacturing process. If you look through the stacks of foam in your local craft store, you will see the differences for yourself. Over time I have learned to pick out foam sheets that suit my needs as a fly tier. But I’m splitting hairs here. You are not likely to be mass-producing foam bodies like me, so any old sheet of foam will get the job done in most cases!

Tips for Fly Tying With Foam

Before I get into some of my favorite foam flies for warm water, I’d like to mention a few things that make your fly tying go a little smoother when working with this great material.

Thread: All thread is not created equal when working with foam. I prefer a thread that can be flattened like UTC or Danville and tend to stay away from a corded thread like Uni. By untwisting the thread, you flatten it increasing its surface area and reducing the potential for the thread to slice through the foam. Fine corded threads can cut through thin foam like a hot knife through butter. If you don’t have a thread that will flatten you can reduce this risk by using heavier thread. Fortunately, when tying warm water flies, we are not as concerned about bulky thread build up like we are when tying trout flies. In many cases, you can get away with heavier thread. The heavier thread has other benefits besides not cutting through the foam. A heavier thread will allow you to compress the foam easier and with fewer thread wraps. The thread will not break as easy when applying the tension necessary to do this.

Thread Control: When working with foam, the proper use of thread tension is essential. At times light thread tension is needed to softly compress the foam, increasing the pressure with subsequent wraps. This gently coaxes the foam into position without cutting or distorting it.

Use of Glue: Superglue (Cyanoacrylate adhesive) and glues designed explicitly for foam are very useful in fly tying. Superglue works well for fusing pieces of foam together and setting various components of the fly in place. Both thin liquid types of glue and gels have their uses when fly tying with foam. When creating stacked foam bodies made of different colors of foam, I will use a glue designed specifically for foam. It is easier to apply over a large surface and dries a little slower. I find it easier to glue entire sheets of foam together then cut them to shape rather than layering the foam on the fly. If you are not tying dozens of flies at a time, it may make more sense to eliminate this step and just stack your foam on the fly as you build it. I prefer to use super glue that comes in a bottle with a brush applicator when working with foam. I use so much of the stuff I had a friend of mine make me a wooden holder that prevents the bottle from tipping over (which makes an awful mess) and allows me to open and close it with one hand. This holder was once a beautiful looking accessory on my fly tying desk, but it looks pretty gnarly these days as it is covered with dried specks of super glue!

Choosing The Right Foam: As I mentioned earlier, all foam is not created equal. Look for foam that is dense and harder to compress. This type of foam will produce a better floating, more durable flies.

Cutting Foam: A quality cutting mat is essential for cutting out foam shapes for fly tying. I use a large one on the surface of my fly tying desk. In addition, I often use custom foam cutters to create different shapes for fly tying. The foam cutters made by River Road Creations are the best in my opinion and they have a wide variety of shapes and sizes available. Look for the foam cutters I use to start popping up in the store. I have received a lot of requests for them and have custom ordered them in the past, but I plan on keeping the cutters I use on a regular basis in stock If your looking for something particular drop me a line and I can get you are looking for.

The Flies:

I have written a lot about these patterns in the past. The buttons under each pattern will take you to past articles if you would like to learn more about the flies, how to fish them, how to tie them, and the materials list if you want to tie them yourself.

The Triangle Bug

My number one foam pattern is my Triangle Bug. I have fished this fly for decades, and it is hands down my top producer. The unique shape of this fly prevents the small-mouthed bluegill from taking the fly too deeply. The unique hook I tie this fly on eliminates the possibility of the body rotating on the hook shank and interfering with the hook gap, a real problem with a fly shaped like this! Simple foam sheets are used for the body of this fly. The only tricky part is getting the dimensions of the body right. Since everyone has different preferences in hooks, it is difficult for me to give you a standard dimension for the body. If your tying the pattern on my Triangle Bug hooks, the precut shapes available on the website are perfectly sized for that particular hook.

The Warm Water Gurgler

The Warm Water gurgler is an example of a stacked foam fly. Two layers of foam create the body on this fly. It can be tied in a variety of sizes to target everything from panfish to pike. For larger sizes, I increase the thickness of the foam to create a larger body. This variation of Jack Gartside’s classic Gurgler is a staple in my warm water fly boxes

The Micro Gurgler

The Micro Gurgler is another variation of the classic Gurgler. This pint-sized version is perfect for bluegills and other species of panfish. It is quick and easy to tie, and fish can’t resist it! I tie it in a variety of colors. For darker flies that are difficult to see on the surface of the water, I add an additional layer of Hi-Viz razor foam on the head. This “indicator” makes the fly very easy to see even at distance.

The Classic Foam Spider

Whether a slow sinking pattern tied with open-cell foam or a high floating topwater bug, foam spiders have been a staple in the fly boxes of warm water anglers for decades. While often tied with molded foam bodies, a great looking foam spider can be tied with sheet foam. Look for an upcoming blog post on how I create these simple to tie, great looking flies. Until then, if you want to check them out, they are now available in the shop.

The Folded Foam Popper

The Folded Foam Popper will also be the subject of a future blog post. By using this folded foam method and utilizing different thicknesses of foam, you can create a great looking, top performing popper without buying preformed popper heads or shaping your own! Size the foam is on both sides of the hook shank like the Triangle Bug, Triangle bug hooks are perfect for panfish size versions of this pattern since it will prevent the body from rotating on the hook shank. On larger versions of this pattern, I have a method of accomplishing the same thing without the use of a specialized hook, but you will have to wait for the blog post to learn about that! If you want to see one right away check out the shop!

The list of patterns that I tie with sheet foam goes on and on. I could probably fill a book with them (that’s a good idea!). I will share more foam patterns with you as we move through this winter’s fly tying season. If you have a foam fly, you would like to share. I would love to see it. If you want to share it with our readers, shoot me an email. We are always looking for patterns to share as part of our Fly Tying Friday feature.

[panfishonthefly]

Fly Tying Friday - The Shimmy Cricket

The fly pattern for this week’s fly fishing post was submitted by Martin Burch a member of the Panfish On The Fly Facebook Group. The fly is called the Shimmy Cricket. The Shimmy Cricket is a topwater foam bug that is easy to tie and has great action on the water. When tied correctly, the fly will dive under the surface when stripped, with a tight wiggling action.

This pattern popped up on my radar some years back. I believe I first crossed paths with the fly on one of the fly tying forums I was active back then. I remember tying up a bunch and enjoying some success with them. But as is often the case when trying out new patterns, it ended up being a flash in the pan. Not because the fly did not perform well, but there were other patterns to try, and there is only so much room in the fly box. After seeing this pattern again after all these years, I have a rekindled interest in it and will be tying some up and adding them to the topwater box this spring. I especially like the way the fly looks on these Firehole Outdoor Hooks. I don’t recall what hook I used when I tied this pattern for the first time, but it did not look as good as Martin’s version tied on the Firestick 315 (it also looks good on the Firestick 317)

Recipe: The Shimmy Cricket (as provided by Martin Burch)

Hook: Firehole 315 size 10

Thread: 6/0 or 140d in color of choice

Underbody: Small ultra chenille in color of choice

Body: 2mm Foam in color of choice but with a River Road Medium Hopper Body Cutter

Legs: Medium Round Rubber

My notes on the pattern:

- Back when I originally tied the pattern, I used the Chernobyl Ant Cutter from River Road

- You can cut the foam to shape with scissors if you don’t have a cutter

- The Firehole 315 is a wide gap Klinkhammer style hook. If you keep the underbody thin, the pattern works on the Firestick 317 as well, which is a standard gap Klinkhammer hook

- Dubbed bodies also work well.

[panfishonthefly]

Red Butt House Fly

The Red Butt House Fly is a floating pattern that can imitate a wide range of terrestrial insects. The pattern is a spinoff of a trout fly I tied to imitate the common green bottle fly. The original pattern for trout fishing lacked the crystal flash tail and was tied smaller on a size 14 hook. It was a good late-season searching pattern when trout were accustomed to feeding on various terrestrial insects. The fly also served as a good imitation of the deer fly, a biting pest found in damp, wooded, or wetland environments such as marshes, ponds, and streams in many locations. On some waters I can add a hundred bodies of this scourge of an insect to the water in a day's fishing as I continually swat at them as they try to bite me! I'm sure some of those dead flies end up in a fish's stomach.

The Panfish Version

The panfish version was tied on a larger size 12 hook (smaller and larger versions will also work) and included the addition of a short crystal flash tail for a little extra bling and movement when fished on still waters. Panfish show a distinct preference for the larger, dressed-up version. These insects often have distinctly colored red or burgundy eyes, so I added them. The red foam eyes on the fly may be overkill, so feel free to omit them. Color and contrast can make a difference in certain conditions. I can't say it makes this fly any more productive, but I go the extra yard by tying it with red thread and adding the red foam eyes. If you believe hot spots trigger a fish to take a fly, experiment with any color you like, or go with black thread and omit the eyes to create a strong silhouette.

The Fly That Saved The Day

This fly once saved what would have been a fruitless day on the water on one of my trout-guiding trips a few years back. It was a very chilly fall morning, and the fishing was off. A few fish were rising to the odd midge, but I like to keep things simple on guide trips, and size 24 flies on 7x tippet seemed like a bit much for the beginner angler I was working with. However, the nymphs and streamers I fish on these waters were not producing as usual.

The occasional rise of a fish had my client itching to catch a fish. So I had him reel in and took the rod from him to re-rig with a fine leader and small midge pattern. As I was doing this, I noticed bits of what appeared to be hay or straw floating downstream. Whenever some straw passed downstream, the fish began to feed on the surface in earnest, and then it would subside until more straw floated by. I studied the water's surface to identify what the fish were feeding on. When another batch of straw floated by, I observed a dark speck on the water. Following the speck downstream, I watched a nice trout rise confidently and eat it.

I caught the next speck floating downstream and was surprised to find a dead common house fly in my hand. I reached for my sling bag to grab my terrestrial box, only to remember that I had removed it and replaced it with another midge box a few weeks earlier after the first killing frost.

I dug through several fly boxes for an appropriate imitation but came up empty. While putting away my last box, I noticed a mangled green fly stuck in the drying patch on my sling bag among the dozens of other flies residing there. I plucked it from the drying patch and figured, "What the hell, it's worth a try."

The fly was the Red Butt House Fly. I don't recall how or when this fly found its way onto my trout bag, but there it was. I quickly opened my Leatherman tool and used the scissors to snip away the crystal flash tail. The fly was larger than the bugs the fish were feeding on, but it was our only option.

I cut back that long 7x leader to a shorter one that probably terminated at around 5x. I then tied on the fly and returned the rod to my client. A fish rose to the fly on his first cast, but he set too soon and missed the fish. After a brief coaching session, he was at it again, and a few casts later, another fish rose to the fly. He set the hook perfectly this time and landed a nice rainbow trout. We fished that fly all morning, getting interest from almost every fish it passed. Many rejected the pattern due to its larger size, but there were enough less discriminating fish to save the day. The fishing abruptly stopped when a big trout grabbed the fly and was lost during the fight, taking the fly with him.

What took place that day is still a mystery. Just upstream of where we were fishing was a horse farm. The evidence of the bits of straw in the water indicated that there was some stall cleaning going on, and maybe the wind was carrying some of the debris to the water, and along with the straw were the flies either killed or stunned by the cold. There did not appear to be enough straw to indicate that somebody was deliberately dumping it in the river, so I could not say what was happening upstream.

Notes On Tying the Red Butt House Fly

I have a general rule that every fly pattern allows for substitutions of materials. Maybe you don't have a particular material on hand, or you have an idea to improve the pattern for your fishing needs. Always feel free to do so. Working in a fly shop, I encounter many tiers unwilling to swap out material just because a fly pattern calls for obscure or hard-to-find material. In the case of this pattern, for example, maybe an orange or yellow butt house fly is more to your liking. I added the crystal flash tail to add movement and contrast to the pattern, so if you have a color that you feel is more productive on your waters, go for it. The same goes for foam. If you don't have iridescent green-backed foam, use black, as the fish don't see the top of the fly. That material was chosen more for the fisherman than the fish.

The original trout version had an underbody of peacock herl, a delicate material. When I tie flies for panfish, I try to make them as robust as possible so they can withstand dozens of fish before wearing out. That is why I opted for a more durable synthetic herl or other synthetic body material. A list of some alternatives can be found in the pattern recipe below.

Since the pattern serves double duty as a general terrestrial insect imitation, you can change the foam color to whatever suits your needs. Tie the pattern in natural hues or bright attractor colors; I have found them all effective.

The Antron wing is a visual reference for the angler to keep track of the fly on the water's surface. While I use a cream-colored wing, feel free to make substitutions here. A hi-viz wing of yellow or orange can make the fly more visible in low-light conditions, and a wing of solid black gives the fly a good silhouette in high-glare situations.

The point here is to feel free to experiment and have fun behind the vise!

Pattern Recipe:

Hook: Standard Dry Fly size 12 ( feel free to tie the fly larger or smaller)

Thread: Red 6/0 Semperfli Classic Waxed

Tail: Red Crystal Flash trimmed to the width of the hook gap (omit on trout version)

Body: Peacock Green Loco Foam

Underbody: Semperfli Synthetic peacock herl, Semperfli Micro Fritz or Semperfli Straggle legs

Wing: Cream or other colored Antron trimmed to a length that reaches half of the tail

Eyes: Red Chicone's Fettuccine Foam

Hackle: Appropriately sized Grizzly dry fly hackle trimmed flush with the bottom

[panfishonthefly]

The Long Shank Triangle Bug

At the last two fly tying shows I attended, I had quite a few questions about the unique hook I tie my Triangle Bugs on. The hook is constructed with a kinked shank, similar to a popper hook. The big difference is that the kink was formed on a horizontal plane instead of a vertical one. This feature prevents the foam body of the Triangle Bug from rotating on the hook shank. This would occasionally happen when the fly was tied on a traditional hook. After catching several dozen fish, the thread wraps at the base of the body would begin to loosen up.

I discovered this discontinued hook at an outdoor show some years back. The hook was perfect for the Triangle Bug, so I purchased the entire lot. Over the years, I sold thousands of these hooks to customers who tied their own triangle bugs. Eventually, I exhausted the supply of the original hooks. So, I returned to my source. I asked him to scour his inventory of millions of hooks in a desperate attempt to locate some more. While his efforts did not find any more of the original hooks, he did find a longer shank version of the same hook in the same size. The new hook was described as a 4x long hook, while the original was listed as an extra long hook. That being said, there was not much difference in the length, allowing me to continue to tie Triangle Bugs on this hook and offer some to customers.

Please let me know if anyone reading this is familiar with this hook and its original purpose. I have scoured the internet, old hook catalogs, and just about every other source I can think of but have never come up with an answer.

The longer hook barely changed the appearance of my original pattern and increased hook-up ratios by putting the business end of the hook further back from the body. The longer hook also made it even more difficult for small-mouthed panfish to swallow the fly, which was the original purpose of the fly in the first place. The longer hook also gave me more real estate if I wanted to dress up the tail a little. In addition, the foam body cutter manufactured by River Road Creations worked just as well on the new hook.

The Triangle Bug was designed to be a simple-to-tie but highly effective topwater panfish fly, tied with just three materials: sheet foam, rubber legs, and tailing material ). Despite the Triangle Bug’s proven record of effectiveness tied just as it was designed, I kept coming back to that little extra bit of hook shank. The fly tier in me could not leave it alone. It just begged to be dressed up a bit.

When tying flies for my box, I occasionally put a little bling on the back of this longer hook in addition to the tail material. I have experimented with hackle and synthetics and have had good results. I can’t say the new flies were any more productive than the original unadorned version, but it allowed me to have a little fun behind the vice, tinkering with one of my favorite patterns.

The day is on the horizon when these hooks will be gone for good. I am down to just a few thousand. I suspect they will be gone in a few months. However, all is not lost, as the fly can be tied on a standard 3x-4x long light wire streamer hook (depending on the manufacturer).

Good fly tying techniques go a long way in creating a fly that will not prematurely fail on you. In addition, I have found that coating the thread wraps binding down the back of the body with UV resin will protect this critical area of the fly and prevent body rotation. If you want to try these kinked shanked hooks for yourself, you can find them by clicking the button below.

I have been out of stock of the Triangle Bug Foam Cutters for a few weeks now. I am happy to announce they are now back in stock! I do my best to keep these cutters in stock, but the demand often exceeds the supply. Grab one before this run sells out! Clicking the button below will take you directly to the shop.

If your looking for other materials like foam, hooks, rubber legs and tailing material visit our shop.

[panfishonthefly]

Fly Tying Friday: The Foam Beetle - Panfish Candy!

For many anglers, dry fly fishing represents the pinnacle of the sport. There are numerous reasons why topwater fishing is loved by so many. For starters, you can see the take of the fish and surface eats are often exciting. In warmwater environments, a fly floating on the surface can avoid fouling when fishing weed-filled waters, making it the only type of fly that you can use in some conditions. I love fishing dries and will do it whenever conditions are suitable for it. Nothing beats the sights and sounds of a big bluegill taking a fly on top!

Visually observing the strike takes a lot of guesswork out of hooking a fish but is not always that easy. Timing the strike, near misses, and refusals can still perplex anglers. Improper timing in setting the hook is probably the number one reason anglers miss topwater eats. You must resist the urge to set the hook the very second you see the take. Allow a second or two to pass before setting the hook. Your hook-up ratio will improve if you allow the fish to turn and head down with the fly before setting the hook. But wait too long and the fish will reject the fly and you are out of business. Over time you seem to develop a sixth sense in regards to how long to wait before setting the hook on a fish.

Whenever you are fishing a floating fly you should be ready to react to a hit the moment the fly hits the water. This means managing loose line at all times, as any slack will reduce your effectiveness in setting the hook. When setting the hook on fish like bluegills and other sunfish simply raising the rod tip will usually do the job. For tough-mouthed fish like largemouth bass, I will usually set the hook using a strip strike. Simply lifting the rod will not move the fly enough to penetrate the hard mouth. Instead of lifting the rod tip, you set the hook with a series of strips, with the rod tip pointed at the fish or simultaneously sweeping to the side.

The take of a fly off the water's surface can be an imperceptible sip, a violent explosion, or something in between the two. Any way they come, surface hits are exciting and will keep you coming back for more.  

Few fish share the bluegill's affinity to eat on the surface. This combination of fishing a dry fly and a fish that can't resist eating it is what makes fly fishing for panfish so enjoyable. But what fly should you choose? The fly fisher who chases panfish has a mind-numbing variety of flies to choose from. Traditional dry flies, hair bugs, poppers, and foam bugs will all work if the fish are looking up.  

Flies tied with foam offer some advantages over other materials. Keeping a dry fly floating, especially after catching a few fish, can be a problem. A properly constructed foam pattern goes a long way to solving this issue. In addition, cleaning off fish slime and re-applying floatant is usually unnecessary with foam flies.  

While foam may not be the ideal material to tie a delicate mayfly or caddisfly, it does a fine job on many terrestrial patterns, particularly beetles. There are somewhere around 400,000 species of beetles crawling around on this planet. In addition, beetles constitute almost 40% of known insect life and 25% of all animal life! So chances are pretty good that a few are going to end up in the water and ultimately in a belly of a fish. 

There are many effective foam patterns for panfish, including my own Triangle Bug, but few flies can match a foam beetle's fish-catching charm. A foam beetle tied with a chunky body made from thick closed-cell foam lands on the water with a fish-attracting splat, just like the actual insect. If there is are any bluegills in the vicinity, they are unlikely to resist grabbing it.

Tying effective beetle patterns

Most beetle patterns are simple to tie. A simple but effective beetle imitation can be constructed by lashing a foam strip to a hook and doing nothing more. However, my love for fly tying compels me to do a little extra work. Adding an underbody, some legs, and maybe an indicator of hi-viz foam or yarn (to aid in finding the flush floating fly) usually does the trick for me.  

I prefer to use a thicker foam for my beetle patterns. While 2mm foam is adequate for designs like the Triangle Bug, flies like beetle patterns benefit from a beefier body. I prefer to use foam like Hareline's 3mm, the 4.5mm foam from Semperfli, or bi-color laminated foam on my beetles. A laminated foam allows you to use thicker foam with two colors. One side to present to the fish and brighter color to allow the angler to see it clearly on the water. Regardless of which type you choose the thicker foam gives the flies that all-important splat when they hit the water and keeps them floating all day long without any assistance.

To aid in compressing the thicker foam without cutting through it use heavier thread. I will not use anything lighter than 6/0 or 140 denier when working with foam. When compressing or tieing down the foam, start with light wraps and apply more pressure with each consecutive wrap. This will collapse the foam without cutting through it. This method is a useful technique, particularly when working with thicker foam.

You can keep your underbody simple (thread wraps can suffice), but I like to add a body of peacock herl, dubbing, Straggle String, or floating poly yarn under the foam shell of my beetle patterns. An underbody can add additional movement or a little flash to your fly, increasing its fish catching ability. While many of the beetles in my trout boxes are tied without legs, I can't resist adding legs to my beetle patterns that I will fish in warmwater. While you can find more complicated beetle patterns to tie, the simple design described at the end of this article is all you need to fool big bluegills.

Tips for fishing beetle patterns

My preferred method for fishing beetle patterns in warm water is to find a shoreline thick with overhanging trees, preferably shaded. I will then cast my beetle pattern back under the branches as far as I can. A chunky beetle pattern works well for a technique I call skip casting. A skip cast lets you bounce the fly off the water's surface and skip it back under cover; it is a valuable technique for fishing structures like overhanging trees and docks. You accomplish this by keeping your cast low and parallel to the surface of the water. I usually add a little haul on the forward casting stroke to accelerate the line and make the fly skip easier.

Once the fly hits the water, let it sit for a while without disturbing it. Beetles are feeble swimmers and do not move much. The key is to animate the fly without dragging it across the surface of the water. You do this by applying very subtle twitches to your fly line. Keep your rod tip low to the water and keep as much line on the water as possible. By doing this, it can help you to keep moving the fly too aggressively. Allowing the fly to sit motionless is usually more effective than actively moving it. Rather than fishing the fly all the way back to you, pick up and present it again if a fish does not grab it after a few twitches.

I have also found fishing a beetle pattern over open water at sundown or after dark an effective technique. Many species of beetles are nocturnal and become active as the sun sinks below the horizon. These clumsy fliers often head out over open water and end up in the drink. Having a big June Bug fly into your hair or down your shirt while fishing after dark while out in a boat or kayak emphasizes the fact that beetles spend time out over open water at night!

Beetles are a staple terrestrial pattern that works well in warm and cold water. If you don't have a few beetle patterns in panfish fly boxes, you are missing out on a tremendous topwater pattern. So tie some up and give them a try. You won't be disappointed.

Pattern Recipe:

Hook: Firehole 618 size 14-8 (the #618 is my go-to hook for many foam patterns)

Body: Sheet foam cut in a strip slightly wider than the hook gap of the hook you are using. Try 3mm, 4.5mm, or laminated foam for a thicker body that produces the all-important SPLAT!

Underbody: You have a few choices here. you can keep it simple with thread alone or add a body of dubbing, peacock herl, Straggle String/Straggle Legs, or Floating Poly Yarn.

Legs: Round rubber or silicon.

Indicator: Hi-vis 1mm foam

If you need materials to tie this pattern please consider purchasing them from our shop. You can use the links in the post or click the button below to go to our store. Thank you for your support!

[panfishonthefly]

Fly Tying Friday - The Brood X Cicada

If you are a fly fisher, the Brood X Cicada should have crossed your radar by now. The Brood X bug is one of the largest and most widely distributed groups of periodical cicadas. They are scheduled to emerge this spring after spending 17 years underground. Living 17 years underground makes them the longest living insect on earth, though much of that time is spent in a form of suspended animation. I recently read a statistic that there could be upwards of 1.5 million cicadas emerging per acre in some areas putting brood population in the trillions! This massive emergence provides a feast for creatures large and small (including fish) and one hell of a mess for homeowners to clean up if they are unfortunate enough to find a concentration of these insects living under their property. Despite the feeding frenzy that is about to occur, the sheer number of insects that are about to invade our world will ensure enough of them successfully breed to repeat the cycle 17 years from now.

Once these giant bugs begin to emerge, we can expect them to be around for 4-6 weeks. Any trout angler will tell you when many insects suddenly appear in the form of a hatch; it can bring on some great fishing. If that insect finding its way onto the water's surface is two inches long, it can be some exciting fishing indeed. That being the case, if you live in one of the regions listed below, you should have a cicada pattern or two in your box.

Delaware

Georgia

Illinois

Indiana

Kentucky

Maryland

Michigan

New Jersey

New York

North Carolina

Ohio

Pennsylvania

Tennessee

Virginia

West Virginia

I have experimented with several different patterns to try and imitate this big bug, and I have settled on an easy-to-tie design to fill most of the spots in my cicada box. Some weeks back, I featured Jack Harford's House Fly in a Fly tying Friday post. This chunky foam fly seemed like an excellent platform to try and build a brood x cicada. The two-layered foam pattern would allow me to highlight the black and orange colors of the Brood X Cicada, and the multiple layers of foam would give the fly a good splat when it lands on the surface of the water. This splat is an essential feature of the fly when imitating an insect like a cicada.

Rather than repeat the tying steps here, I will refer you back to the original blog post to find step-by-step instructions for tying this pattern, or you can check out the video below.

To tie my cicada version of the house fly, I made a few changes to the original pattern. The first change was the hook; as this fly is tied to imitate an insect that can reach two inches in length, a larger hook had to be used. I chose a size 12 bass bug hook (bass bug hooks don't follow the standard sizing criteria). The larger hook was the perfect platform to build this big bug. I have tied some cicada on even larger hooks that I intend to use solely for bass, but the #12 bass bug hook is small enough to hook large bluegill yet large enough to effectively imitate the insec, and catching monster panfish on these big bugs is a goal I have set for myself this year. I also added eyes to this pattern as the bright orange eyes of the natural insect are such a prominent feature. Their large wings are also an important feature. While the spent insect is likely to lay on the water with its wings spread out to the side, casting a fly with a two-inch wing sticking out on each side is likely to be problematic on a 4wt fly rod. I opted for a swept-back wing profile with a lot of sparkle to imitate the light reflected by the insects' large transparent wings.

Pattern Recipe:

Hook: Size 12 Bass Bug Hook

Thread: 6/0 Semperfli Classic Waxed Thread (Fl. Orange and Black)

Body: Black and orange 2mm Foam

Legs: Black and orange silicon or round rubber legs

Wing: Semperfli Semperflash or other suitable flashy material

Eyes: Orange ball headpins cut to length, inserted, and glued into the foam head

[panfishonthefly]

Fly Tying Friday: The Wee Frog

When it comes to topwater flies for panfish, anything goes. That is one of the things I love about warm water fly fishing. Panfish, bass, and other warmwater predators like pickerel and pike are not concerned that your offering is not an exact replication of the last thing they ate. If it looks alive and can fit in their mouth, they will often have a go at it. 

The lack of demand for realism in fly patterns is one thing that sets warmwater fly fishing apart from trout fishing. We are far more concerned with matching the hatch and delivering a proper presentation in the trout world. Warm water fly fishing is a more rough and tumble affair. Fly selection based on whim and fancy can be just as effective as attempting to match what the fish are currently eating.

Looking into one of my warmwater fly boxes, you see a lot of whim and fancy. Garish colors like chartreuse, fluorescent yellow, bright pink don't often occur in the natural world. Based on the contents of my fly boxes, you would think that panfish live in a world filled with psychedelic colors. There is no doubt that these brightly colored, un-natural looking flies work. If they didn't, they would not take up so much room in my fly boxes. However, if you look close enough, you will find more natural-looking flies mixed in with that kaleidoscope of colors. 

Maybe the decades spent chasing trout keep me coming back to more natural-looking flies that imitate the things that panfish eat. I enjoy tying and fishing patterns like damselflies and dragonflies, two essential food items for warm water fish. Also mixed in with the odd-looking foam and hair creations, you will find a smattering of flies that you can readily recognize as terrestrial insects like hoppers, beetles, and ants. The natural-looking flies that stand out the most are the frogs. My frog patterns are instantly recognizable as the amphibians that are meant to represent.

Everyone knows a bass or a pickerel has a hard time ignoring a properly presented frog pattern, but panfish? You can make the argument that most adult frogs are too big of a prey item to be eaten by most panfish. However, there are smaller species of frogs whose habitats mix with that of panfish. In my area, the Northern Cricket Frog is one such example. While technically a tree frog, it does not take to the branches but prefers a more aquatic existence. They are often found along the muddy banks of ponds and slow-moving streams. As an adult, they range in size from three-quarters of an inch to an inch and a half, which firmly puts them in the size range of something big bluegill would try to eat.

If you search the pages of this blog, you will find several small frog patterns that I tie and fish exclusively for panfish. Most are created using a foam or preformed body. The fly pattern in today's post has been teased in a few recent posts and on social media. Each time I show a picture of it, I receive messages and emails requesting more information on the pattern, so I figure it is high time I share it with the world.

This pattern is tied using flat foam. I have tied small frog patterns using flat foam in the past but have never been entirely satisfied with them. Thin 2mm foam does not have the bulk needed to imitate a chunky little frog, and the thicker foam I have worked with in the past was tough to work with on the small scale in which these flies are tied.  

After joining Semperfli's team of fly tiers, I was introduced to a new type of foam. Semperfli's flat foam is a closed-cell foam, but the air pockets or cells are larger than what is found in most fly tyers foam. This characteristic means the foam compresses easily. Their foam is also remarkably strong and resists tearing quite well. Because it compresses so well, I can use thicker foam, in this case 4.5mm, to create a frog body on hooks as small as a size 12. Combine a body made from this thick foam and Pat Cohen's Creature Frog Legs; you have the perfect panfish-sized frog pattern.  

You could tie the fly very simply with just those two materials, but I like to add an underbody that adds a little sparkle and movement by using a material like Semperfli Straggle String or Straggle Legs. It gives the fly a finished appearance along with added color, movement, and flash. Rubber legs are a must because a topwater bluegill fly without rubber legs doesn't feel right.

I have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of warmer weather and the return of my favorite pastime, topwater fishing for panfish. There is something about bluegill taking a fly off the surface that puts a smile on my face every time. Finally, it appears my wait is over, and mother nature has warmed things up to the point that my favorite fish have returned to the shallows and a looking up for their next meal.

One of the things I love about fishing tiny frog patterns for panfish is the take. Bluegills often slide under a topwater fly and suck it off the surface with an audible slurp. Not the case with a frog pattern. They seem to know that this type of prey can elude them if they're not careful, and they grab them off the surface with a vengeance, more like the take of a bass. I am often surprised when a big bluegill comes to hand, mistaking the violent take for a bass.  

Fishing Frog Patterns

When fishing frog patterns, I prefer to cast parallel to the bank instead of casting out into the middle of the pond. Frogs are found along the bank, seldom straying far from it, and this is where I find these flies to be most effective. My favorite way to fish them is to slip on a pair of hip boots or waders and walk out a short distance from the shoreline. I then slowly make my way along the shore, casting ahead of me as I move. My first cast will put the fly as close to the bank as possible. I then fan out my casts until I reach a point 10 -15 feet from shore. I will then move down the shoreline a short distance and repeat the process. Fishing from a float tube or kayak is also a good option for this type of fishing as you can bring the watercraft close to the shoreline and use the same method. Fishing from the bank is usually problematic as there are generally too many obstructions to grab a fly line or rid tip.

A plus side to fishing frog patterns for panfish is that you will attract predators like bass and pickerel. Even though a size 12 frog is not much of a meal for a bass, they seem to recognize an easy snack and seldom pass it up. I have found that pickerel are so fond of these tiny frogs that I refrain from fishing them in waters where they are present in good numbers as I lose far too many flies to these toothy predators. If tiny frog patterns are not part of your topwater panfish arsenal, they should be. Give them a try; you won't be disappointed!

Pattern Recipe:

Hook: Size 10 or 12 Firehole 618 or comparable hook

Thread: 6/0 Semperfli Classic Waxed Thread in the color of choice

Frog Legs: Cohen’s Creature Fog Legs size micro or mini depending on hook used

Underbody: Semperfli Straggle String or Straggle Legs

Legs: Round Rubber

Body: Semperfli 4.5mm Flat Foam in the color of choice cut in a teardrop shape using a foam cutter or trimmed by hand with scissors, craft knife, etc.

Thread Treatment: Solarez Bone Dry UV Resin or Solarez Bone Dry Plus UV Resin

Tying Instructions:

The first step is to prepare the body. You want an appropriately sized teardrop shape piece of foam. You can cut the shape out by hand, but I like using a spider body foam cutter. The largest size spider body cutter produces a perfectly sized body for a size 12 frog.

Start your thread on the hook shank and wrap it down to the bend of the hook. At the bend, tie in your frog legs. Note: I add color to the legs before tying them in. I get the best results using fabric markers as the colors will not fade even after repeated dunkings in the water.

Optional: Before tying in the frog legs, you can add a small loop of stiff monofilament. This loop may help keep the frog legs from fouling on the hook shank (something that is seldom a problem on a fly this small), and it gives you a convenient tie-in point for adding a dropper. The legs are then added on top of the loop.

After tying in the frog legs, I bring the thread back towards the eye, stopping an eye length or two from the front of the hook.

Capture a small piece of the wide end of the foam body with thread wraps and lash it down to the front of the hook. When working with foam, don't use a lot of pressure on the first few thread wraps to avoid cutting the foam. Lightly trap down the foam with a wrap or two, then increase the thread pressure with subsequent wraps to further compress and secure the foam. Semperfli foam excels here as it compresses easily without bulk.

Once the front of the body is tied down, tie in a short piece of Straggle String right at the tie-in point for the foam.

Leaving the Straggle String in place, advance the thread to a point mid-shank and tie in a pair of rubber legs, bringing the thread back to the bend once the legs are secured.

Wind the Straggle String down the hook shank, careful not to tie down the rubber leg material. When you reach the frog legs' tie-in point, you can tie it off and cut away the excess.

The final step is to fold the body back and lash it down. Once secured, trim away excess foam (if using a foam cutter there will be a small tab of foam remaining), whip finish, and cut away the thread. A drop of thin UV Resin like Solarez Bone Dry protects the thread and keeps everything in place.

Note:  There is probably no need to color the body as the fish likely only see the underside of the fly. Despite that, I always add some froggy-looking spots to the fly because I think they look better, but I doubt the fish care. I usually add custom colors once the fly is completed.

[panfishonthefly]

Fly Tying Friday - Working With Foam

Sheets of inexpensive closed-cell foam have long been used for fly tying. This versatile material can be found everywhere and can create an endless variety of flies and bugs for warm water fly fishing. Foam sheets are available in a wide range of colors and thicknesses. Although a relatively easy material to find, sometimes finding the right color or thickness can be a challenge.

Foam is foam, right?

Is there a difference between the foam you see marketed as "fly foam" in your local fly shop and the stuff you find in the isles of your local craft store or Walmart? In some cases, yes! I once wrote something to the contrary, and my readers called me out on it! There seems to be a wide range of inconsistencies in the quality of foam that is out there.

The foam I have picked up in fly shops over the years seems to be denser and a little more durable than most of the stuff found in craft stores. That being said, most craft store foam will work just fine for your fly tying needs. One benefit of patronizing your local fly shops is you can also find different kinds of foam like a product called Chochlette’s Loco Foam which has a wild, multi-color, metallic finish on one side of the foam. You can also find foam of varying thickness from 1mm sheets of foam for tiny bugs or indicators on larger flies to big blocks used for popper bodies. The only way we can keep these places around is to spend a little money in them from time to time! If decide to go with your local craft store variety of foam products just be sure to inspect it closely to be sure it meets your needs.

So to sum it up, all foam sheets are not created equal, but most will work just fine for your fly tying needs. I did not pay much attention to the differences until I started mass producing bodies for my Triangle Bug pattern. Some foam sheets (denser ones) cut better than others, and sometimes one particular color performed better than others. I am not sure if this is a result of the dying or manufacturing process. If you look through the stacks of foam in your local craft store, you will see the differences for yourself. Over time I have learned to pick out foam sheets that suit my needs as a fly tier. 

Of course, foam sheets are not your only options. It is possible to find precut bodies that only need to be lashed to the hook. My favorites are bodies designed to tie bugs and spiders. They come pre-formed in a variety of sizes. I only use two colors black and white, coloring the white foam anyway I want.

Tips for Fly Tying With Foam

Foam is a versatile material that is easy to work with, but there are a few things that make your fly tying go a little smoother when working with it.

Thread: All thread is not created equal when working with foam. Some threads work better than others when it comes to working with foam. I prefer a thread that I can flatten out to reduce the possibility of cutting the foam. When you untwist the thread, you flatten it increasing its surface area and reducing the thread's potential to slice through the foam. Fine corded threads can cut through thin foam like a hot knife through butter. 

If you don't have a thread that will flatten, you can reduce this risk by using a heavier thread. Fortunately, when tying warm water flies, we are not as concerned about bulk and build-up when tying trout flies. 

A thicker thread has other benefits besides not cutting through the foam. A heavier thread will allow you to compress the foam easier and with fewer thread wraps. Also, the thread will not break as easily when applying the tension necessary to do this.

My thread of choice for working with foam is Semperfli 6/0 Classic Waxed Thread. It has all of the properties I mentioned, and it comes in a wide range of colors.

Thread Control: When working with foam, the proper use of thread tension is essential. At times light thread tension is needed to softly compress the foam, increasing the pressure with subsequent wraps. Doing this coaxes the foam into position without cutting or distorting it.

Use of Glue:  Superglue (Cyanoacrylate adhesive) and glues designed explicitly for foam are useful in fly tying. Superglue works well for fusing pieces of foam together and setting various components of the fly in place. Both thin liquid types of glue and gels have their uses when fly tying with foam. 

When creating stacked foam bodies made of different foam colors, I will use glue designed specifically for foam. It is easier to apply over a large surface and dries a little slower. I find it easier to glue entire foam sheets together then cut them to shape rather than layering the foam on the fly. If you are not tying dozens of flies at a time, it may make more sense to eliminate this step and stack your foam on the fly as you build it.  If you don’t want to be bothered with all of this you can find laminated foam that combines two or more colors together, eliminating the fuss and mess of gluing them together yourself.

I prefer to use superglue in a bottle with a brush applicator when working with foam. I use so much of the stuff I had a friend of mine make me a wooden holder that prevents the bottle from tipping over (which makes an awful mess) and allows me to open and close it with one hand. This holder was once a beautiful looking accessory on my fly tying desk, but it looks pretty gnarly these days as it is covered with dried specks of super glue!

Choosing The Right Foam:  As I mentioned earlier, all foam is not created equal. Look for foam that is dense and harder to compress. This type of foam will produce better floating, more durable flies. Recently I discovered the foam currently being offered by Semperfli. This foam looks and behaves a little differently than your basic craft store foam. At first glance, it appears to have a more open cell structure and seems somewhat fragile. This is not the case!  While the foam is lighter than other foam of comparable thickness, it is tough stuff! It compresses easily and is a real pleasure to tie with. I have some on the way to the shop, so check it out when it arrives!

Cutting Foam: A quality cutting mat is essential for cutting out foam shapes for fly tying. I use a large one on the surface of my fly tying desk. A simple exacto-style knife and a straight edge such as a thin metal ruler are the best tools for the job. If you are cutting a lot of foam, a paper cutter from your local office supply store works great for making uniformly sized strips of foam.

I often use custom foam cutters to create different shapes for fly tying. In my opinion, the foam cutters made by River Road Creations are the best out there. They have a wide variety of shapes and sizes available. Lately, they have been a little challenging to come by due to COVID-19's effect on the manufacturing world. If you're having a problem finding a particular foam cutter, drop me a line, and I will try and find it for you.

Coloring Foam:  If you can't find the exact color of foam you what for your flies, the good news is that you can easily color it with permanent markers. The color may wear a little thin with repeated dunkings in water if you don't lock it in, but I doubt the fish care. I use Loon Soft Head Finish on flies that I apply color to in situations where I don’t want it to fade. It dries transparent and flexible and will not cause your colors to run if you have drawn an intricate pattern.

It should be noted that all of the foam we have discussed in this article is of the closed-cell variety. Closed-cell foam floats indefinitely even if waterlogged. There are open-cell foams out there but they are not too common. If you come across some considering adding some to the material stockpile as well. They make great slow-sinking sponge spiders that bluegills and other panfish love!

Foam is a material that is versatile, easy to work with, and can be found almost everywhere, from fly shops to crafts stores to the padding that protected your last order from Amazon. If you're not tying with foam you should be. What are you waiting for!

As always the materials to tie this versatile pattern can be found in our shop! Please consider supporting us the next time you need to purchase materials for your fly tying endeavors!