04-03-2015, 01:43 PM
[#0000FF]I have seen a few patterns using the barbells. Good thinking to add the eyes. I have been putting eyes on just about all of my jigs and many of my flies for a lot of years. I firmly believe that most predator fish key in on eyes when hunting prey.
Had an old boy in California give me one of the best reason for putting eyes on flies. He was a big brown specialist and caught MANY over 5 pounds every year...on his own ties. And he painted or tied in eyes on all his big streamers. His comments: "When a big ol' brown sees something floating down the current it could be ANYTHING. But if it has eyes it suddenly becomes a potential meal to attack."
By the way. I apologize for not responding to your comment on the OPs shad pattern. Yes, it is a super tie. And I am sure it will be well received by wipers, walleyes and the other denizens of Willard. I am equally confident it would work well for the various species in Starvation, Deer Creek, Strawberry, Utah Lake and Yuba. Basic white is a universal color for almost all minnow-munching species. And that eye makes it look even better.
I use bunny fur for several jigs and flies. It really looks good in the water and it has accounted for a lot of big fish...of many species. But I have mostly downshifted on the stuff I tie. I try to simplify more than create exact imitations. Near 'nuff is usually good enough.
I also believe that there are generally other things far more critical to angling success than the color, size or actual pattern of your fly. That is especially true on Willard. You first have to find ACTIVE fish. And those fish up there move around and get moody. And once you are amongst 'em you have to make good presentations...at the right depth and speed...to hope to attract an inquiry. Inactive fish will ignore the "right fly" and the right presentation. Active fish will often smack anything in sight...at least for a short time.
That is kind of paraphrasing something else I picked up somewhere...from someone...sometime. "A good fisherman can catch fish on the wrong stuff. A poor fisherman often can't catch fish on even the hottest stuff."
Go ahead and take your best shots. I'm a big boy. (too big) I can laugh at myself and I'm not easily offended by good-natured ribbing.
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Had an old boy in California give me one of the best reason for putting eyes on flies. He was a big brown specialist and caught MANY over 5 pounds every year...on his own ties. And he painted or tied in eyes on all his big streamers. His comments: "When a big ol' brown sees something floating down the current it could be ANYTHING. But if it has eyes it suddenly becomes a potential meal to attack."
By the way. I apologize for not responding to your comment on the OPs shad pattern. Yes, it is a super tie. And I am sure it will be well received by wipers, walleyes and the other denizens of Willard. I am equally confident it would work well for the various species in Starvation, Deer Creek, Strawberry, Utah Lake and Yuba. Basic white is a universal color for almost all minnow-munching species. And that eye makes it look even better.
I use bunny fur for several jigs and flies. It really looks good in the water and it has accounted for a lot of big fish...of many species. But I have mostly downshifted on the stuff I tie. I try to simplify more than create exact imitations. Near 'nuff is usually good enough.
I also believe that there are generally other things far more critical to angling success than the color, size or actual pattern of your fly. That is especially true on Willard. You first have to find ACTIVE fish. And those fish up there move around and get moody. And once you are amongst 'em you have to make good presentations...at the right depth and speed...to hope to attract an inquiry. Inactive fish will ignore the "right fly" and the right presentation. Active fish will often smack anything in sight...at least for a short time.
That is kind of paraphrasing something else I picked up somewhere...from someone...sometime. "A good fisherman can catch fish on the wrong stuff. A poor fisherman often can't catch fish on even the hottest stuff."
Go ahead and take your best shots. I'm a big boy. (too big) I can laugh at myself and I'm not easily offended by good-natured ribbing.
[/#0000FF]
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