Rope flies

[AndrewP]

This idea came from Mike Conners, a flytier in Europe. He talked about using everyday materials around us that are cheap and abundant. One of the materials he has experimented with is polyethelene rope.

I did these flies as an experiment some time ago, so I can't remember the exact size of the rope (1/4 " I think) but as Mike alluded to the material is cheap and you can have lots of fun experimenting.

One of the unique aspects of using polyethelene (as opposed to cotton or natural fiber) is the fact that the rope melts when subjected to hight heat, and it allows some forming. In these following flies, I was trying to create a tail that would wobble (expecially with the shrimp pattern). Not real successful, so still have to do some more experimenting with size/weight, etc.

Here are three examples of flies -- a bluewater fly, a warmwater bass fly, and a inshore shrimp fly (rattle inserted).

Enjoy, and maybe you can come up with you own ideas ....

[ShaneY]

Nice stuff Andrew it's great to see people coming up with new stuff and experimenting.

[Swalt]

Cuda rope fly.
Before and after

[Onshore]

Nice looking flies, Andrew. I'll give those shrimp a try down here on the flats.

[Trarajaks]

Wetwolf - where are you?
Actually pike flies are the easiest flies in the world to tie up. They can be ridiculously crudely tied as pike dont give a darn what they look like LOL They dont represent anything at all - just something wiggling through the water, and make them BIG Use a 9 or 10 weight rig if you have one, although unless its windy even a 6 - 7 weight will throw them out.
Heck, we were going fishing one time and my son at that time in about 8th or 9th grade found he had forgotten all his pike flies, so when we stopped for gas he bought a couple of feet of 1/4 inch yellow rope, unravelled it and stuck a hook or two in it and caught as many pike as anyone using red and white daredevils Fish after fish And he tied them up in a moving car at 65mph, no vice of course We even tied on a chunk of shoelace from an old boot with a couple strips of torn up cloth and that worked well, too Anything that wiggles works. Even tied in some hair from my dog when my fly got torn up one time, without even removing the sort of fly from the leader The dogs name was Rusty so we called that one the rusty nailer
Anything at all gaudy or otherwise on a big hook works well. Be creative They are definitely the easiest ones to tie up and no finesse or equipment is necessary. In fact the rougher and cruder they look the better