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Fly Fishing Forum - Page 2

May 20, 1998

Hi Chris,

I was thinking of you last night while fishing a stretch of the East Fork River headwater about 40 miles northeast of downtown Cincinnati. The hybrid stripers are running and of course I'm chasing them but in heavily stained water last night I couldn't get one of any size to accept an offering. I threw every fly I owned at them without any luck. I finally tied on a 1/16 ounce chartreuse jig and got hit by a freight train on the first cast. I pictured the filet on the grill while waging a 5 minute war to land him. Yup. You guessed it. 3 lb carp!! Lost my appetite but hell of a fight though. If I recall correctly, you once told me they were your favorite fresh water hookup and this encounter reminded me why.

How's the fishing been where you are?

Tom Neess

Tom,

Good to hear from you. Thanks for the story about the carp! Carp fishing just got hot here - I've been out guiding for carp - three trips in the past week. In addition to 30 - 40 fish taken in the usual way this past week, my friends, clients, and I have taken about 15 carp on dry flies this week! Biggest fish this week was one of about six or seven pounds taken by my future father-in-law, Bill Dyer at my favorite "secret" flat; biggest one on a dry - about 3 pounds - on 6x tippet!

I hope to see you on the Vineyard in late September...I'm basically having my bachelor party there...stripers not strippers, and hopefully lots of false albacore. I'm headed out there this coming monday, and staying for about 3 days, the blues and stripers are in!

Keep in touch,

Chris Windram

May 12, 1998

Gentlemen

At the Australian National Dictionary Centre we're trying to track down the term 'swoffing'. A search on AltaVista for 'swoffing' took me to your forum site, but I couldn't find the term on the page. The other sites all have Australian addresses. We have been trying to establish whether 'swoffing' is an Australian flyfishing term, or whether it is used world wide. Can you provide any information?

Many thanks

Bruce Moore

Bruce.Moore@anu.edu.au
Australian National Dictionary Centre
Australian National University

Bruce,

Thanks for e-mailing. As far as I know, swoffing is a purely Australian term for flyfishing in saltwater (saltwater fly fishing becomes "swoffing"). Take a look at Chris King's message to us dated August 20, 1997 on our "Forum 2" page. Chris King's message is listed about halfway down the page. The term "Swoffing" may have originated in Australia, but thanks to the power of the internet, it may be a world wide term shortly!! Best wishes to you and everyone at the Australian National University.

Chris Windram

May 6, 1998

Chris,

Thanks for the super delivery. I used one of the chartreuse and white sparkling deceivers last night on a 5 wt LL to catch a 20-22 in. 6 lb fish and in the process won 2 dollars from my fishing buddies in a " First One To The Beach " contest. Some day you have to tell me about the lovely little cigarette boxes you shipped them in. They look like antiques. What is the significance of the numbers or dates written inside the lid of the boxes in pencil? Thanks again. Your work is super and most appreciated here on Nantucket. Have a wonderful day.

Tight Lines (no pun intended),

Bill Pew, Fisher's Tackle; Nantucket Island.

Bill,

Thank you very much for the kind words regarding my fly tying services. The cigarette boxes came from a tag sale; they sure are neat, and you might expect to get a few more flies delivered in these. They do look rather old. I'm not sure what the numbers inside the box are, perhaps the price or something. Keep up the good work, Bill.

Chris Windram

Note: Interested readers shouldn't hesitate to check out Bill Fisher Tackle's webpage.

April 28, 1998

Chris,

I have been fishing all my life and fly fishing for about 5 years, but I never quite got the hook size thing down.

I would like to order a few of your flies such as your sparkling deceiver, sparkling sand eel, deep sparkling sand eel, deep sparkling island squid, and sparkling bucktail.

What sizes should I get? I will be fishing mostly for school bluefish (5 to 10 lbs.) and striped bass (8 o 15 lbs.) around Long Island Sound by Orient.

Please let me know and then I'll send my order with check to you via snail mail.

Regards,

Bill Gerosa

Bill,

Thanks for e-mailing. You are not alone in trying to figure out "the hook size thing"! I thought I would take a few minutes to try to address some of the aspects of hook size, but upon further consideration, I realized that the information needed to explain this subject could easily fill a book (and I'm sure it has).

My best advice to you would be to write to O. Mustad and Son, the world's largest manufacturer of fish hooks. Their catalog includes an excellent discussion of hook sizes, styles, and terminoloy regarding the parts of the hook. I found the Mustad catalog to be an wonderful source of answers to questions about fish hooks, and the catalog depicts many hook styles shown in actual sizes.

As regards the flies that you see in the pages of SaltwaterFlies.com, probably 80% of these are tied on Mustad's 34007 stainless steel hook. A few flies are tied on Tiemco's 800S series, and my sand eel flies and some of the squid flies are tied on Mustad's 34011; a long-shank version of the 34007.

For a look at these hook styles, and others, take a look at our tying materials catalog's hook selection .

Request a copy of Mustad's catalog at:

O. Mustad and Son
Box 838
Auburn, NY
13021

Best of luck with your fishing this season, and thanks again for e-mailing!

Chris Windram

March 21, 1998

Dear friends of Saltwaterflies.com,

I recently picked up a Richardson Chest Fly Box at one of the trade shows. This box is a great solution to digging around in a vest or chest pack for fly boxes, and it allows the angler to peruse the contents of the box hands- free. This is a great product! Check out the Richardson Chest Fly Box at their website.

Tight Lines!
Chris Windram

March 17, 1998

Chris,

Hello. I wanted to let you know that I landed a nice Giant Herring (54cm) on a Clouser Minnow with E-Z Shape Pearl Head. These fish are more often caught about 1000 k's north, but we still get a few down here from time to time. Real rockets, like a bonefish that jumps 2 metres out of the water. Good fun on a #5 sage! I've been sneaking back to the same spot in the hope of hooking into a full sized one which are normally just over 1 metre long!

Chris Dunham
Perth, Australia

Chris

Great to hear from you! Keep up the good work with the Giant Herring; sounds very exciting to me, especially since we still have a couple of inches of snow on the ground here. Best of luck for a big one!

Chris Windram

February 9, 1998

Dear Sir,

I am a fly fisherman and fly tier (saltwater and freshwater). My name is Graziano Avanzi and one of my best places is the Yucatan (Mexico) at Boca Paila and Ascension Bay; over there I have matured a nice experience in saltwater for bonefish and permit (I have also two "super grand slam" in a week - August 1997- in Boca Paila). I have tested your nice material found in Kaufmann' catalougue, but I have seen only four colors, so I'm writing you to know more informations. This is the right material for my nice crabs with which I have hooked many permit. I hope you write me as soon as possible. Thank you and best regards!!

GRAZIANO AVANZI
ITALY
E-mail: a.avanzi@aznet.it

Graziano,

Thank you for writing. I'm very glad to hear that you have used E-Z Shape Sparkle Body successfully. We have fourteen different colors of E-Z Shape Sparkle Body: Pearl, Silver Scale, Fluorescent Chartreuse, Saltwater Blue, Black Pearl, Sand, Olive, Crayfish (Dark Olive), Gold, Shrimp Pink, Pure White, Pure Black, Pure Red Gill, and Pure Fluorescent Yellow.
In Europe you can get all of our colors from Christian Billard at Earth, Stream & Fly, in Saumane, France. Their address is:

Earth, Stream and Fly
Le Grande large
Saumane, France
84800

TEL 04 90 20 28 83
FAX 04 90 20 28 84

Check out more of the pages on Saltwaterflies.com for more information about E-Z Shape Sparkle Body.

Best of luck, and thanks again!

Chris Windram

February 4, 1998

Chris,

Cheers from dreary MVY (Martha's Vineyard)...MAN have we had rain... Geez Louise!

Anyway...to keep the boredom at bay, I've started tying flies...and lots of them with EZ-SHAPE SPARKLE BODY...but I'm having some difficulties. Got time for questions/tips?

When I apply the 'Sparkle Body, it goes on lumpy. I try to smooth it out a bit with the bottle top/bodkin, but that thins it out quite a bit. By the time I'm done with the bodkin, I've got a thinner application of the same lumpy body. Am I doing something wrong?

I recognize that the liquid "flattens" itself out rather well (it tries to form a continuous surface). But there are usually bends and turns left behind (probably from me messing around with the stuff too much)...any hints on what to do?

I tie off the bucktail/fur/etc. well into the shank, thinking this will add body to the fly, and allow the 'Sparkle Body to form up well (and thick). Should I wrap chenille/yarn/something else to help the sparkle body distribute better across the hook and give a thicker body to the fly?

How many coats did you have to apply to the minnow I saw at Larry's Tackle Shop in Edgartown?

Is there something that 'Sparkle Body won't stick to? That is, could I make a mold (wax/wood/etc) to receive a fly, and pour/mold the sparkle body by filling it into a mold? I love some of the squid-thangs you've done, but don't think I have the time/storage-while-drying to do it layer-by-layer, hour-after-hour.

I'm probably off to Belize for permit in March... Any suggested Sparkle Body flies I should take/tie?

Thanks buddy. I know I'll see you in the spring. By the way, did you know that the Catch & Release this year will be June 13&14?

More later...

Ciao for Niao...

-Thor-

Thor,

Thanks for the opportunity to answer a few of your questions!

In response to your problems with lumpy bodies, the solution is to use the very tip of a needle or fly tying bodkin to drag a little 'Sparkle Body from a high spot to a low one. Using the side of the tool will just "plow" the material off of the area that you want to coat. If you still have lumpy bodies, you are probably messing around with the coating too much. You'll have five to ten minutes of working time with the 'Sparkle Body, but the less you manipulate the material after you have applied it, the better.

You can use a smooth yarn to build up a thicker body. If you want to lay on a heavy coat, you can place the fly on an epoxy turner after application.

E-Z Shape Sparkle Body does not adhere well to bare metals, so you can make shapes on aluminum foil, then, peel them off and stick them onto the hook. Wax paper will probably work too. All of the flies that you may have seen at Larry's are made in one coat, including the squid-thangs (Sparkling Island Squid). The "fin" structure on the "squid-thang" is supported by a yarn underbody. See the article on my Crab fly for an example of how to make a flattened body shape using yarn to create a supporting underbody.

The largest flies that you can make are best placed on a "rotisserie" while drying. E-Z Shape Sparkle Body will not drip or sag when used to coat average-sized flies, but there is a limit to how thickly you can coat the fly. Placing the fly on an epoxy turner can help you to make some of the larger flies.

If you are going south to Belize, the Windram's Sparkling Crab and Windram's Sparkling Shrimp would be good patterns to take. The shrimp fly is very simple; the crab fly is a little more challenging.

Thanks for the tip about the dates for the Martha's Vineyard Striped Bass Flyrod Catch and Release Tournament. I hope to see you there!
Later, Thor!

Chris

January 28, 1998

Dear Chris,

I spend my summers up in Nantucket Island (right across from where you like to do your fishing), and I spend all of my time up there fly fishing. I go through flies like crazy. The bluefish, stripers, bonita, and albacore just tear them up. I have had great success with sand eel patterns like the hard body shiner, and with clousers on the flats between Smith Point and Tuckernuck Island. I'm not sure how familiar you are with Nantucket, but it offers some great flats fishing for bass. Anyway, after reading your article in On The Water magazine, and checking out some of your information on E-Z Shape Sparkle Body on the internet, I decided to purchase a few bottles and tie some sand eels to save some money; since most flies are about $5 apiece in stores. I was wondering if you could recommend any other flies that can be made with the 'Sparkle Body, and would work well for bluefish, stripers, bonita, and false albacore. If not, could you recommend any other flies that you have found to work well? This would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you very much,
Teddy Obrecht

Teddy,

Thanks for e-mailing! Sounds like you're having a pretty good time out on Nantucket. I've heard about the flats fishing from Bill Pew at Bill Fisher Tackle, but haven't seen enough of it myself. I did get over a couple of years ago for a spring run of blues at "The Fingers"; that was fantastic!

As far as some other patterns for our Northeast gamefish go...try coating the head of a Clouser Minnow with E-Z Shape Sparkle Body; you can use one color (like Fluorescent Chartreuse) on top to match the color of the bucktail wing, then use the Pearl color on the bottom to match the white bucktail. Use the E-Z Shape Sparkle Body to fill in the spaces around the lead eyes. This makes a very durable and attractive fly. You can make an attractive two-tone head on a deceiver in much the same way, then use our Pure Fluorescent Yellow and Pure Black to add the eyes. Another very, very effective fly that you can make, especially for flats fishing, is my Deep Sparkling Sand Eel. Check out this link for the article and tying instructions for this highly effective fly. This is one of the most popular flies that I sell on the Vineyard. This fly is basically a weighted sand eel fly which drops to the sand after every strip when fished in shallow water. The little puff of sand that the fly makes as you start or stop your retrieve really attracts the attention of the bass. As you'll see from the article, the albies love it too!

If you are looking for a good source for high quality flies at reasonable prices, e-mail me with your address, and I'll send you my catalog. I tie all of the flies myself, and many of the patterns are designed for our Northeast gamefish. Even if you don't order anything from the catalog, you might get some more ideas for flies that you want to tie yourself.

Best wishes for a good season in 1998, Teddy.
Chris

January 20, 1998

Hello Chris,

I thoroughly enjoyed browsing through your home page; keep up the good work. I am interested in purchasing a video on fly casting; is there one which you would recommend? (there are a couple advertised on the internet). I fish exclusively in saltwater (Eastern Cape coastline, South Africa) and intend tying some of the flies listed in your home page. I get the impression there are more species of fish that will take a fly off the American coast than off the South African coastline, unless we are still too new to the game and have not experimented enough. Do you have any knowledge of our fish species or any fly fisherman (South African, American or other) with fly fishing experience along The South African coast? I would like to correspond with them if possible. Thank you

Regards,
Ian Gaylard ian.gaylard@eskom.co.za

Ian,

Great to hear from your side of the world. Thanks for the kind words. In response to your questions...Check out any video by Lefty Kreh, especially those that feature demonstrations of his "Modern Fly Casting Method".
There are quite a few species of fish along the American coastline; in the Northeast where I live we commonly fish for striped bass, bluefish, bonito, and false albacore. In the Mid-Atlantic region flyrodders cast for bluefish, seatrout, redfish, and false albacore. In the Southeast (including the Florida Key a great variety of species can be found, including bonefish, tarpon, snook and many others.
I'm not too familiar with the species along your coast; perhaps there are other anglers who might know a a bit more about your area.
Anyone who knows more about saltwater flyfishing in South Africa should feel free to send Ian an e-mail at the address given above.
Tight Lines, Ian!

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