New Fly - Chatham Glass Flat

[striblue]

This has been my brain storming this winter and this is the first fly... I will work on improving it but this shows you the versatility of this new flounder fly. I know flounders can change colors to adapt to the sand surroundings so i thought of an all epoxy flat fly. The sequence of pictures should give you an idea... this is Lighter, easier to tie OR make. and does what I want. The difference here is clear. I decided to use Micro Fleck Turkey flats feathers for the fins since they have a realistic "spotty" look on them. On my tub test this sank right to the bottom. The dumbell is epoxied in and will help with kicking up some sand. The eyes are up a bit fron the body. I am calling it the Chatham Glass Flat. I got the concept idea from Juro Mukai.

[striblue]

This is the fly on a tan piece of foam

[striblue]

Here it is on a green bottom or simulated grassy residue bottom.

[striblue]

Here it is on a darker brown estuary bottom. SAME FLY

[striblue]

I create the body by simply dropping a gob or gobs of epoxy on a type of waxy paper I get at Micheals... as it starts to set I simply lay the hook right into the epoxy... the body is very thin...but thick enough to cover the Hook. As it sets the heat disapates from the epoxy and it can be peeled off the paper.It is still soft enough to cut the body to shape... I want the bubbles in it to give it some visuale texture. Here is the first step.

[striblue]

.....Now I place it in the vise... I cover the top with Hard as Hails so I don't smudge it and ruin it's clarity. Strip one side of the feathers and use Goop because it is so sticky it will allow the bending of the feather stalk. see Photo. Put in your UV tan krystal flash and tan rabbit strip with goop...flip over ..put the eyes on... IMPORTANT... You must coat the bottom of the fly as well after with epoxy since the paper you pulled it from does smudge it a bit and does take away from it's "mirror" ability. Trim the feathers down to the size of the fins as compared to the size of the body..... That's it!

[ruge13]

Now that is pretty cool....you never cease to amaze...

[Jim Miller]

John
That is a neat fly. What is most amazing is your "Thinking outside of the Box" in order to mimic the chameleon nature of the flounder! Keep up the good work.

[striblue]

here is a shot of the side to show how thin it is...

[KMM]

Dear John:

Who but but striblue would be best to research, and be successful, on how-to properly pull-the-grip of curing epoxy from paper material? The correct paper too.

Maybe add some real sand to the poxy mix as well? Possible to add "chopped chucks" of Thin-Skin synthetic Turkey print material also. All to help with depth perception and color in the "glass" for the flounder species mottled look.

Best,

KMM

So Cal

[striblue]

Thanks Guys...Good ideas about the sand grains. I will have to test this out this spring...but I have a feeling that this will really do the trick...I am also looking forward to using this on those nice sandy flats

[jjonas]

striblue,
Well thought out concept on many different levels.

I was thinking about doing a crab with ez sparkle using a piece of manila folder super glued to the hook to hold the shape. Saw your fly and wondered if it would work with ez sparkle. Ordinary wax paper from the kitchen. The dried ez sparkle and hook sat all night and then pulled easily off the wax paper the next morning. The black beads where added when the ez sparkle was still wet. The rest of the stuff with a touch more ez sparkle as a finish.

Jason

One more thing... Besides sand, I have also added very fine sparkle powder that you find at craft stores to epoxy. Comes in a bunch of different colors.

[sage fly guy]

One of the MOST innovative fly ideas I've ever seen.

Do these ideas just pop into your head and WHAMMO new fly. It's a gift I think, to be that creative.

chris

[striblue]

In this case the idea of an epoxy see though had been discussed with me by a friend..Juro Mukai. I just took my old Flounder Around pattern and converted it to the epoxy...by using the paper as a way of making the shape.

[Yozuri-Man]

john,

awesome concept yet again. Having never tried a flounder fly, I was wondering just how slow do you strip it in..? Also, what about a larger size flounder, say 4-6" or a bit more of a mouth full.

[striblue]

It is striped in "pops" and anything bigger might effect a proper hook set. Of course trying the body with soft body might allow it to collapse enough to allow a proper hook set.

[Bob Parsons]

If you wanted to make a larger fly with that design. perhaps having the hook towards the tail and use a stiff piece of mono to extend the "eye" to the front of the fly for leader attachment.

[tyguy]

Striblue,

This fly is a really great idea! Hope you don't mind, but I was so inspired by your idea that I am trying it using a soft material for the body. What I am using is a blob of clear elastomeric sealer. I first tied the tail and dumbell in place on the hook, then stuck that assembly into the blob and formed it into something close to the final shape.

Once it cures enough, it can be trimmed to the exact shape and steady enough to install the fins. The only drawback (so far) is that it takes awhile for the stuff to cure. Overnight seems to get it to a trimable stage, while a complete cure will probably take another night.

Thanks for sharing!