crease flies

[zippy]

ebay2,2.jpg made up some with gill slits

[BillyD]

I've never seen that. I'm going put a few of those in my war chest.
BillyD

[BuzFly]

Great Fly. It is a good thing to see the gill slit resurface. I was just reminded of that last night at the Coastal Tying meeting. Did you do the slits through the foam and left the gap open for water to go through?
Brad

[zippy]

yes the slits are through the foam (bubbles)

[zippy]

a couple of macs and a crease head fly

[PSUstriper]

Those look great! How do you get the gill slits to stay open like that?
Thanks!
jan

[zippy]

if you pinch its nose it can't breathe and the gills will open :brow

I put a golf tee in the mouth, if you shave it down on two sides you can turn it to open them up and get it out more easily.... also try to keep the epoxy from getting into the slits. It makes it tough to pull out if it's stuck to the epoxy.

[PSUstriper]

Thanks Zippy ... I figured that's howyou did it :)

[zippy]

Anyone else making crease flies? I would love to see some pics of your work.

[PSUstriper]

Hi,
Again, love those gills! Also, your "hot rod" flies were great, too!

What hook do you think is the best to use? I've used those long popper hooks with the hump in it which makes it easier to glue on the foam, but not sure they provide the best gap between the hook and foam.

Also, what type of epoxy do you like? I used the 5 min type on mine, which have yellowed already ... doesn't matter so much on yellow/green ones, but might look nasty on those nice silver/white/blue colored patterns.

Anyway, here are my first 2 attempts from 2 yr ago (pardon the crappy photo quality) ... don't really like the tails much. Need to try some new colors with those cool gills!

Thanks,
Jan

[zippy]

I use a 2xl shank hook thats offset so it makes easy hook sets.
I also wrap a rattle to the shaft and add a drop of glue that gives it strength and keeps it from spinning on the hook during a fight. I use 20 minute epoxy and haven't encountered a problem with them turning yellow as of yet.

If you would like to get your hands on some I have some up on ebay and there are more pics here http://pictures.aol.com/galleries/zippygas10/
click me (http://pictures.aol.com/galleries/zippygas10/)

flies for sale (click me) (http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZimchamaQQhtZ-1)

Also you can contact me directly at zippygas10@aol.com if you have any more questions you don't want to air on a public forum (stupid questions)

Thanks George

Jan I did a lot of testing with lots of learning along the way, If you need any helpful tips or tricks feel free to ask. As far as I can see your crease flies look great!!

[Jim Miller]

Here's some 1-3" ties and some 10" crease /Yak bunker patterns. Hope to use the bunker/crease pattern in coming weeks! :brow

[brushfly]

I like the idea of adding more bubbles but wouldn't it cause the fly to rip open more easily when tackling big blues on the fly. I find that when their feeding on Peanut Bunker and taking Crease flies, after a handful of fish, say all over 9lbs. the mouth opening starts to tear near the mouth or at the juncture where it meets the shank even with a coating of 5 min. epoxy.
Throw in an open slits on each side and I would think they blow open with gators. ??? Strictly with bass I don't see the same downside. How do they hold up?

[zippy]

Nice flies jim, I like the little yellow one

Blues rip apart every thing and will eat just about anything so why waste a good fly on them. Kind of like feeding your dog steak when it would be just as happy dinning on dog food. I make them both with and without gills and yes the ones with gills aren't as hardy but they are coated with 20 minute epoxy a little thicker than a standard candy coat. I would rather catch a fish and destroy a fly in the process than not catch a fish at all.

[brushfly]

Zippy,

THanks for the reply. Yes, those blues can make a mess of things.

I LOVE THEM!

Where I fish in Long Island i get real skinny on blues that most of the time are more picky and coy than a native brookie on a trout stream. You can see them waking in the water. These fish are double digit to the mid teens' and go well over 30".

Throw them an Egdewater Boliermaker, Bob's Banger or other popper and they tail slap it, tease it, chase it, nip it. Throw them a crease fly and in the words of Emeril "BAM" so I am one for ruining a piece of work for the experience of seeing them coming/ waking and taking the fly and really nailing it. I will try the slits and keep them aside for old pajamas. Thanks for the tip.

[zippy]

New finish fresh off the vise this should provide some protection from those nasty bluefish. I haven't tried it with the gills but the fabric plus the epoxy should give it a fiberglass like strength to keep them from getting shreded but will still get chewed up a bit. Anyone else have any crease fly pics to post?

Thanks guys

[Jim Miller]

Now that is very cool! :-%
Nice job Zippy..... I'll take a dozen!

[zippy]

Thanks Jim, if you would really like a dozen let me know

I will be listing some very soon on eBay Under Imchama

[zippy]

new mac in fabric finish

[houdini]

I'm looking for the foil that you can apply to them. Anybody have a source for it?

[zippy]

yes, yes I do

[houdini]

Ok, Zippy - please, what is the source you have?

[zippy]

Most of the time I use just plain old silver leaf and for the holographic jones tones foil. And most recently I've been experimenting with fabric..
I hope this helps and would love to see some of your work--127-3-

[PSUstriper]

Hi,
Thanks for all your info and tips in the prior posts, Zippy. Jim, your flies are awesome, as usual! Would be glad to email you with more "stupid" questions, but maybe someone else can learn from them here. I like the rattle idea, was thinking of that too.

You mentioned the 2XL offset hook ... do you have a brand you could mention? Will plan to try the 20min epoxy next time, too.

Also found 2 other crease flies I made ... smaller ones for FW fishing ... don't ask what I was trying to imitate there with the colors! :)


Thanks again,
Jan

[zippy]

Thanks PSU

Those little buggers look great..... Not sure what they are trying to imitate either.

I use eagle clow 066n-3/0 for most of the ones I tie
and have them in 1/0 thru 5/0

the n is for nickle plate they also make them in ss but too expensive to sell them on eBay. They are also 2X long so the flies dont look stubby although I do tie them on regular shanks as well. I also use gamakatsu in hd for tuna flies.

If you use the 20min epoxy you should get a drying wheel if you don't have one
Good luck

[PSUstriper]

Thanks Zippy ... I think I was just experimenting with the marker colors and covering up some mishaps :rolleyes: Oh,well, I'm sure some SM bass or crappy would eat one .... you never know!

Thanks for the hook info, too.

I have an old rotisserie motor from a grill that I sortof rigged up as a drying wheel, though haven't used it on the slower epoxy. Will let you know how it goes. Thanks for sharing your pictures and expertise. Your flies are great!

Jan

[zippy]

The fly doesn't have to look like anything real unless you are targeting trout which tend to be pretty picky where you are off by size, color or even what larval stage their target food is in. What worked last week may be way off today.

Thanks Jan the rotisserie should work just fine. I bought a battery opperated motor on line and screwed 8 aligator clips to a coffee can lid and have been using it for 3 years I think the whole thing cost 10 bucks. The only 2 problems I've had with it was there was some play in it so when the wheel was unbalanced it would spin forward and when a heavy fly would pass 1 o'clock and then bang to a stop and sometimes throw the fly off the wheel what a mess and when taking off or putting on a fly the whole rig would spin when I stopped the wheel. So I made a drag clutch out of some sticky foam and it cured both problems.

[PSUstriper]

Thanks for the feedback, Zippy.

I think part of the reason I use the 5min epoxy is because of the loud, annoying motor! ;) Can be fixed, I think!

One more question, hopefully not a stupid one....when using the 20min epoxy and drying wheel, do you apply the epoxy right after you mix it, or do you wait a few minutes 'til it thickens a bit?

Added some popper photos to your other post, too.

Thanks!
J

[zippy]

the 20 min is not a true working time you get maybe 5-6 min before it starts to set. I start right after mixing and I'm able to get 2 large ones or 3 of the smaller ones done before it starts to gel up. Once on the wheel I wait a few minutes and stick on the eyes when it's still wet but starting to thicken. Too soon and they will slide around and end up uneven. A wet finger (yes spit) can be used to smooth out any rough spots. The stuff is toxic so try to keep it off the hands. Do a search on the big bay for rpm motors

http://cgi.ebay.com/Battery-motion-display-animation-MOTOR-2-D-cell-4-RPM_W0QQitemZ160109043937QQihZ006QQcategoryZ71400Q QrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem