Weekend Flick

No fly rods...No rods... Just use your hands and there's a good reason for it! The Nothern territory  of Australia simply looks awesome!
View in full screen and 4K if you can!

Homemade poppers / part 1

In the next few months, most of my spare time at the vice will be in preparation for that trip to French Guyana. Like i said in previous posts, flies for the aimara need to be noisy! And nothing crates more splash and noise than a good popper!
For this collection i am turning the heads myself...Sure i can buy them already made, but where's the fun in that?
I will have a few foam heads, like the double barrel and Howitzers from Flymen and some home made as well, but i think durability is essential when you chase such an aggressive fish armed with teeth that would put a pike to shame...
So the heads will be made out of wood, not balsa, as i thing its way too soft (even with a couple of epoxy or envirotex coats). So i went for basswood (or known as tilia for others) , a much harder wood than balsa .Yes it's heavier than balsa, but it won't crush like balsa, and that is the key when targeting a fish like the wolf fish!

● Basswood comes in a rectangular shape in different sizes, it's up to you to cut it to size.Using a table saw is safe and gives good, clean results.

● Drill each block to prevent splitting when you will insert a nail in the next step.

 ●To make the sanding an easier task, roughly cut of the corners and shape your heads a little.

 ● Insert a nail and make sure it's a mm thicker than your hole to assure a good grip. But also be sure than the nail fits in you Dremel tool.

 ●Secure the nail in the Dremel.

 ●Spin and slowly apply your sand paper to the wood, start at the narrow side and work you way to the front of the head. Use a coarse sand paper at first and finish with a finer one.

Heads done, just need to apply the finishing touches ( Part 2 )

In part 2 we will do the finishing touches, more shaping and painting.

Here's a video explaining the same steps:
 

The Tying Sessions Ep:31, Jungle series, The Heavy Bunny.

The heavy bunny! Just because it doesn't matter where you go in the world or what kind of fish you're after, a simple bunny will always gives you results.

This model is supercharged! Remember this is to target AIMARA and not to be confused with the ARAPAIMA.

Aimara above not to be mistaken for the Arapaima below

The AIMARA is a top predator , fearless, and would eat anything that moves ( I read stories of aimaras ripping of legs of a dead monkey...)
The flies need to make an impression, especially when they enter the water, a big splash is a dinner bell for the wolf fish. I plan on using the heavy bunny on 10 and 12 weight rods. I will , closer to my departure have an article in details of what gear i will be packing.
A big silicone skirt and a rattle for movement and noise. Only after a week fishing i will know how durable they are. The rattles are easily changeable...

For the zonkers, i have always been a fan of DIY strips. Cutting your own strips from a full pelt will give you nicer and bigger strips. The "magnum" zonkers you find in shops simply doesn't cut it for me. I like using 10 to 12mm wide strips, they move more water and last longer.I have been using them for years for my pike flies. Not the easiest to cast, but it's not intended to be used all day long... This is not a "search bait"...
For the weedguard you can go heavy, double 80lbs fluoro will keep your fly from snagging anywhere, bump it on rocks, bounce it on logs, perfect for inciting a take under heavy cover!
The bite of these fish is strong, they will clamp your fly hard! 80lbs weedguard will give no problem under the pressure of the jaws, making for safe and certain hook ups.

More flies are in the making so keep an eye on the blog and my social media for upcoming models.

The Tying Sessions/Jungle series: The Wurgler

With an upcoming trip to French Guyana next November 2020, i'm starting to create a bunch of flies ready to tackle the legendary Airama!
Loud flies are the main game here, flies that makes a splash when they land, flies that move a lot of water and flies that are strong!
I will upload in the next ten months a whole series of these flies, and some other for different types of jungle fish. From small fish to large ones i will try to fill a few boxes that will cover most situation that we might encounter. A light rod ( 6 or 8 weight) and a heavy set up will be in my suitcase ( ten and twelve weight).
So to start of let's have a look at this topwater/weedless fly: the Wurgler.
I'm still not 100% convinced on my hook choice ( this is the Savage gear one designed for the soft 4play) I like the huge amount of space it offers behind the eye, but not sure about its strength...It feels good in hand but if it opens then it's definitely a no go! So i take this fly as a starting point. It will be fine for pike and bass in smaller size.
If you think you know a good strong hook that meets these requirements please feel free to leave a comment on the blog or on the Youtube video.
The trickiest part is the cutting of the foam, you have to match the foam size and shape to your chosen hook, best is to cut a model out of paper first and adjust it  as you go along.

Fine tuning the fibers under the foam will help the foam to sit at the right height to be perfectly weedless.
As usual, feel free to change colours, sizes (depending on your target fish) and tails.
The teddy bear eyes are very easily got on ebay.
Stay tuned as the next flies are far from being discreet....

Chewbacca 2.0

From this angle, you can understand why it's so hard for a pike to resist!

The rebirth of the awesome fly was long due. I tied this fly for the first time 8/10 years ago, it was my pride, the first fly that i fully designed myself.When i started to fly fish and tie my flies for pike, rabbit was on every flies i was tying. You don't need to be a maestro at fly tying to catch pike, and a simple bunny has caught me sooo many fishes.
Chewbacca was an extension to my bunny army, as i got better with my casting i started throwing bigger and heavier flies with ease.So what's better than a bunny? Well two of them!I didn't invent the concept of having two zonkers as a tail, but i wanted a more buoyant fly. So the mix of deer hair and feathers started.At the time i tied this fly with deer hair on the top of the hook and marabou on the bottom.The pikes liked it so much that they were destroyed in no time, so i replaced the marabou for fibres.

The new version is articulated and has dumbbell eyes to give the fly more action during the pauses.
Yes it's a heavy fly , but it's a fly that i usually don't try to cast far and in open waters. I love casting Chewy in rivers with shorter cast close to ambush points. Logs, drains, weed beds and along high banks are all great spots to throw this fly.I faster water i just let it drift along the bank rod tip a little high and just twitching it with sharp wrist pulls. Keeping my eyes on it at all time, from just under the surface until you can barely see it.The takes are just amazing!
As usual feel free to change colours and  sizes, yellow zonkers and a orange head is an other sure bet for me here.