Corpusfishing.com

[RPool]

Great article by the Dr. Tom Dorrell in the Island Moon regarding a trip with his sons to the Nine Mile Hole, fly fishing for reds - good read. Also, was watching the video of Capt. Billy Trimble tying the blind chicken fly. He made a comment that conehead flies are basically weedless compared to those with bead chain or dumbbell eyes. Thoughts or experience?

[bulldog1935]

I knew Billy in the 80s, and fished with him along the CO/NM border in the 90s, when he was a trout wizard and had no interest in the salt, or in my big redfish stories.
That sure changed with the century. He's always been an original and creative fly tier. I first learned to tie copying his white bass patterns, which they sold from bins at the Austin Angler.

I don't like casting/fishing flies with enough weight to hinge your leader.
If I want to get down, I'll switch to sinking lines, and fish flies with bead-chain eyes or just a simple hi-tie, which casts like a thread.
More often than a floating line, I'm fishing a neutral density slime line for anything knee to mid-thigh deep. Casting from a boat deck or dock fishing at night.
Deeper than that, I'll go to a TS-250 sinker, and have fished TS-350 on a 10-wt at offshore platforms.
The advantage of shooting/sinking heads like the TS lines, and sinking lines in general, they cast easier and farther, and are the straightest possible line between your rod tip and hook point.
In the surf, I've consistently shot the TS-250 140', line + a bit of backing.

As far as catching fish, it's rarely affected by the fly...

Just a rat red, but it shows the slime line, fishing into the hole by the duck blind in the middle of LHL

the fly is my bead-chain shrimp

long ago on a foggy SP morning spec(s) caught on the slime line at the grass line out from the first duck blind up the island.
Dues paid-up, fog, dead calm, could see a dozen vee-wakes coming at you off the bay. Over and over.


showing how long ago (but I've been on the bike for 40,000 mi since this) black drum caught on the TS-250 and a hi-tie in the marker 60 pass in and out of LHL on a falling tide.
Same hat - I have others, but karma

wrong color, but this is a hi-tie


One other fly I tie for the coast - Fence Lake roach, when you want nothing to look like something. Basic c-o-c-k-roach pattern with a whole marabou feather tied as a collar (the board blocked the c word on me).

[RPool]

Great post - many thanks.

[bulldog1935]

something I learned from Billy.
Fishing the skinniest water for redfish, you want nylon leader and fluroro tippet.
Nylon floats, and fluoro sinks, keeping your line and leader high, and dropping your fly into the grazing zone.

This is where I love furled leaders woven from monofilament nylon.
Aside from turning over wonderfully, they barely get wet, and can sit on the surface tension.



Here's one heavy fly I've thrown in bare spots, to crawl across the bottom, like the mud border at the back of a lake (and one day I remember in the bottleck - pass between Allyn's and Fence lakes) - epoxy crab.
Both reds and black drum, I've had them see me, turn away, shudder, run back and grab the fly.
Unfortunately, this photo doesn't show how transparent the epoxy is.


If you go back to my kicking shrimp, the weightless material that really looks like shell in the water is soft hackle. Pleasant rump has beautiful iridescent, reds, blues and greens and is just the right size for a soft hackle collar on a #6 hook.
Most pheasant are just skinned for the tails, and you can get the rest of the skin with all the soft hackle for about $3.50
ok, make that used to - they've become more popular
http://store.hookhack.com/Ringneck-(#@(@#-Jumbo-Pheasant-Skin/productinfo/188RING/

The tail on my kicking shrimp is that golden crest.

And speaking of my kicking shrimp, it's a fly that works over and over. It's even caught kings at the jetties.

[Tyler]

Great posts! Thanks
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[BayFly]

Bulldog you are so sharing, as a lot of fly fishermen/tiers are, but there are always exceptions. Thank you, and love your contributions to us less talented fishers.

[BayFly]

Bulldog, what advantage does a neutral density slime line provide you over a floating line or a floating with sink tip? In addition what neutral density line do you suggest or prefer? Thanks in advance.

[bulldog1935]

We began calling them slime lines because their core was monofilament nylon, with a clear coating, and they became transparent in the water.
The lines they're making now are copolymer extrusions.
Neutral density or intermediate salt sinking lines won't fish in skinny tall grass redfish water, but knee deep to waist deep are the best choice.

For around here, make sure you get a tropical line - they also make these in coldwater specific for NE striper fishers.

The immediate advantage is they are thinner than floating lines, so they slice the wind and cast farther.
You only need 5-6' of leader, so they'll turn over larger flies.
You can fish mid-column with no weight on your fly.
When you strip line to imitate bait, you're not lifting it (like a yo-yo), rather moving it straight toward you.
You can countdown before you begin stripping, 10s, 15s - perfect for fishing canals, passes and slopes - fishing down to 6' deep.
Since they break through the surface film, they don't leave a wake on the surface, which a spooky fish might detect in a dead calm.

I haven't bought one in a long time, but my favorite because it's thinner than the rest is Airflo. Their ridgelines zing through the guides like they're on Boca bearings.
(Fly fishing gets weirder every year - they're so fake-techy in their marketing, it's hard to figure out what they're selling - honestly guys, it's fishing.)
Current moniker, the Airflo line I would buy is called Beach/Surf Intermediate Clear.
I also have Scientific Anglers Mastery Bonefish Intermediate still fishing since '85 and in the '95 photo with the SP fog above.

Any time you fish a sinking line, always make a roll cast to bring everything back to the surface before you lift it with a back cast.

Sink tip are my nemesis - they have hinge built into the line, and only real advantage I've found for them is nymphing deep chutes like the Conejos River in CO (and I can do the same thing with a Teeny line).
Shooting heads are different - they cast distance with little effort, and I mentioned, Teeny T- and TS-series lines are spliced shooting heads.
In (fresh) warmwater fishing, I fish Teeny T-130 100% of the time unless I go to a surface popper (really slider, I don't fish poppers in the rivers) with a floating line.
The T-130 is super-stealth sight-fishing line.

I saw this big Sabinal R. hen, measured 28", patrolling in a pod of big fish, but still the were half her size. I led her big with my cast, and my cats whisker was slowly bottom bouncing the limestone when she arrived. Looked like a garbage can when her mouth flared.

Full sinking line is the way to go in intermediate, especially for coast fishing.