You can make very effective “booby type” flies by just messing around with Micheal’s craft foam at 99 cents a sheet up here in Canada. The concept of buoyancy combined with a sinking line is what makes these things tick. A few years back Joni never used a booby and now she has created her own tadpoles which are booby like in concept but don’t require expensive specialized flyshop materials. Creativity and experimentation is what flyfishing is all about for me. If you can show the fish something different that looks edible you will be in business.
Hi there neighbor from the north. Didn’t realize tha Michaels were also located in Canada. BTW Had purchased several foam sheets from Micheals in the past for like you said 99¢ / sheet. Thanks for the feedback.
Right you are Smallmouth. In fact the first BOOBIE I did was out of flat close cell foam like you are talking about. Tie a strip in the front of the hook just behind the eye in figure 8’s, then fold the ends in and secure them. Kinda like the Popcorn Fly. It works! we just go with the fancy stuff for us, the fish could care less.
…could you roll these sheets into tight little “tubes”.. say by gluing it?? I would think that would give you more foam for floating the fly with… just a thought.. [:)]
I don’t know about rolling it. I was just talking fold over. The more you compress the foam, the less it will float, so you want it fluffy so to speak.
okay this is gonna sound real dumb.. but.. if rolling it compresses the foam so it does not float as well .. then why do they use foam tubes.. isnt that foam more compressed??
No. You can squeeze it and see the difference. The TUBE has more air pockets. Closed cell foam sheets are already compressed to a point. Now if you rolled it loosely, I guess it could work, but you wouldn’t be able to roll much…it would be HUGE!
as soon as I typed and sent that .. that dawned on this old brain.. but.. for normal use.. how thick (diameter) should the tube be.. I realize this is dependent on the hook size.. which leads to second half of the question..
for this area.. what is the largest and the smallest fly that should be tied.. ?? Im thinking a 10 or 12 down to about a 16 or 18…
I don’t think 16 or 18. 10 and 12 will be fine, just remember a short shank hook. The bodies are stubby. A Nymph hook will work fine also.
I am going to say, the eyes should be about the same size as the Gap of the hook to put it into go to form. Then play with it from there
(I know I just said to play with the boobies, didn’t I)
sluggish day and sluggish brain here.. you said gap of the hook.. ??? ya lost me there sis… I can get 1/8 and 1/16 cylniders in black, blues, white, yellow, chatruese…[:)]
Now you’ve got it. You never know until you try. That’s the way to treat any material. Experiment, be creative, think outside of the box. You will surprise yourself with what you come up with.
God Bless,
Don
in my last post I was trying to ask what size to get.. the 1/8 or 1/16.. in diameter… fg said something about hook gag and lost me there.. I am gonna guess she meant the length of the piece of tubing used as the eyes..??? as I said.. sluggish day.. so brain is sluggish as well..
..thats a pretty good sized cylinder diameter.. at least in my mind..lol.. but thanks for the pics.. helps immensely.. but I am not sure I am talented enough to do what you do with the flat foam..
on diameter.. for the hooks you are talking about.. id guess the 1/8 inch cylinder???
Shorter the better. A 1X Nymph hook 2X max The lengths are marked on some hooks like Tiemco, but you can eyeball the hooks also like Mustad.
Hopefully Dryrod will pop in with some hook #'s
Lord I am having a bad day and it is all my fault.. lol.. sorry sis.. I meant length of the piece of foam cylinder that is cut for the boobies eyes.. but knowing hook length would of been my next question(S)…
Hi there neighbor from the north. Didn’t realize tha Michaels were also located in Canada. BTW Had purchased several foam sheets from Micheals in the past for like you said 99¢ / sheet. Thanks for the feedback.
Welcome to FLY TYING where you will never look at road kill the same.[;)]