SOTSOG Fly

early reports have stated that stripers (schoolies and a few keepers) are everywhere, and now is the prime time to catch them before the blues arrive.  while clousers and deceivers will more than suffice, where's the fun in only using those flies?  since water temps have warmed up earlier than usual, i'm sure the blues will also arrive earlier than usual.

after watching the videos the Fly Fishing the Ozarks have posted on tying Kelly Galloup's articulated streamers, i have been mesmerized by their action in the water.  after doing some searching, i found Ward Bean's Jointed Minnow.




anyways, i got to thinking...why aren't there more of these types of flies for saltwater?  Dave Seller conceived his SST to add more motion to the fly, so why not create a jointed striper fly to impart additional movement?  so, Standing On The Shoulders Of Giants, or SOTSOG, was conceived.  (i haven't stumbled across a fly that is similar, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist.  please let me know if it does.)

i wanted to create a fly that utilizes a secondary hook in the jointed fashion, but also rides hook up so that it is weedless.  a la Bob Clouser, i used dumbbell eyes to invert the hook.  i also didn't like using a normal stinger hook or octopus hook for the trailing hook because their hook eyes are horizontal.  when tying the wire to connect the two hooks, the second hook is slightly misaligned because the wire cannot sit perfectly on the bottom because the hook bend is in the way.  to avoid this problem, and to create a more side to side action versus the up and down motion (like Galloup's streamers), i used a 60 degree jig hook.  the wire is symmetrically tied on both sides of the hook, and the jig hook eye's vertical position allows for more side to side motion. 

here's my recipe:

Thread: Danville Flat Waxed Nylon (White)
Front Hook: Gamakatsu SS15, size 1/0
Back Hook: Eagle Claw 413 (60 degree Jig), size 2
Eyes: Painted Lead Dumbbell eyes
Connection:  Beadalon 7 Strand .024 inches
Tail: White Polar Fiber
Wing: Pearl Angel Hair
Coloring: Prismacolor Chartreuse, Prismacolor Olive

one other thing to note is that you must use heavy enough lead/tungsten eyes for it to invert both hooks and material.

if there is enough interest, i'll post step by step tying instructions.

Close Call

on a string of moderate fishing success, i went out to the pond again to see if i can feed more white perch.  i went with low expectations, because weather/water temperatures have dropped about 5 degrees, and the wind had picked up to 21 mph.

i put on a chartreuse and white clouser, and within two minutes i snagged another minnow.  what are the chances of snagging a minnow?  but two in a week?  this time, it was a silverside.  it's amazing how pretty they are and how different they are in comparison.  i think the one on the left is a banded killifish.





after i 'released' the silverside, i caught a small striper.  i could tell immediately that it wasn't a white perch, just by how much pressure was being put on the line.  the striper's more streamlined body creates less drag in the water.  after that, the activity died down completely, so i decided to switch flies.  i put on a glow in the dark, size 8, clouser and managed to fool a white perch.

the wind had started to pick up considerably, so i decided to make one last cast.  on the back cast, a gust of wind flared and my fly flew straight into my right eye.  ouch!  wincing in pain, i tried to pull the fly out, but it was stuck. just touching the hook caused pain.  i started to freak out.  there was no one around, and the sun had already set.  i tried to remember if i had crushed the barb.  i thought about calling my wife, and then driving directly to the emergency room.  i managed to cut the leader and navigating with one eye, found my way back to the car. and then using the visor mirror, i inspected the damage.  i was lucky, the fly hook had not pierced anything, but was just trapped between my eye and eyelid.  i carefully removed the fly and drove home.  whew, what a close call!

during daylight, i usually wear sunglasses when i fish, partly to remove the glare but also for eye protection.  when there is little light, i don't wear anything on my eyes.  what do you guys do?  any suggestions?

Pepe Le Pew

channeling Penelope Pussycat, i finally gave Pepe Le Pew the finger, and caught my first fish of the year.  the skunk is gone.  i have been after the white perch in this local, brackish pond, and they have gotten the best of me in my first four outings.  i was rank with the stank of self disgust and failure...but no more!

per usual, i went to the pond around sundown the day before yesterday to get in an hour of fishing.  the fish were swirling less than 20 feet away and i was struggling to get a take.  switching flies, i tied on a What's Up Doc? fly by Daren Selznick of Ole Florida Fly Shop.  then bam!  i got my first bite...and then wham! i lost it.  then shazaam, i got another bite!  my first fish of the year was landed.

the best part of it all, was that i learned from it.  i knew the white perch were feeding off of tiny minnows, and i had a general idea how small they needed to be.

armed with that knowledge, i went to the pond again yesterday evening.  for some reason, the What's Up Doc just wasn't producing and i was left saying, "what the #$%* is up, fish?" 

as luck would have it, i ended up snagging a minnow that gave me an indication of the size of bait they were chasing.  anyone have any idea what kind of minnow this is?  pretty cool looking.

then i tied on a size 8 clouser minnow in chartreuse and white.  within 30 minutes, i had 5 bites, and landed two of them.  i also caught a small striper which was pure icing on the cake.

i'm sure i can think of some life lessons learned from all this, but ehhh, that just wouldn't be me.

stay salty,

XXA

Not So Perfect

so far this year, i've been out fishing 3 times, and still haven't caught my first fish.  i've been trying to fly fish for white perch, but those buggers are getting the best of me.  i start fishing about 30 minutes prior to sundown, and the timing is great because they really get going, starting to feed in shallow water.  the fish are nearly 'boiling' around me, with swirls less than 10 feet away.  yet, i can't get any bites.  i've tried a plethora of flies, including clousers (almost every color possible), shrimp flies, dry flies, woolly buggers, and even Prater's Hushpuppy nymph on a variety of setups, but i got hardly a nibble. i don't think they're on bait because i am not seeing the typical spray out of the water.  for some reason, i think they're eating the insects on top that have recently hatched, but i'm not sure.  any ideas?

however, i nearly caught one with the Hushpuppy, and had it almost in hand but it came off literally a foot away.  some people might say that it was a 'caught' fish, but unless i can take a picture of it, i don't count it.  the loss was completely angler error.  i didn't perform a good hook set, so i have only myself to blame.  i find myself not very good at strip setting the hook because half the time i'm surprised that i have something on the end of my line, so in a state of disbelief, i usually forget. 

anyways, i've heard reports that schoolie stripers are around, so i'm preparing to go inshore fishing.  i've been tying some leaders, but the one thing that pisses me off about not using store bought tapered leaders is that when i make a poor cast, and get the tailing loop...the leader gets tangled around my knots' tag ends.  then i spend about 15 minutes trying to untangle the leader only to find out that i made it worse because the leader was not in fact tangled or knotted, but only hung up on the tag ends.  argh.  am i the only one where this happens?

so i tried creating a whipped loop rather than using a perfection loop just to reduce the amount of tag ends, but it just doesn't work well on mono.  so i ended up thread wrapping my perfection loops in order to create smooth taper, and it seems decently strong.  they're ugly, not perfect, but strong.  we'll see.