#Semperfli Straggle Legs

[panfishonthefly]

Semperfli Straggle Legs

Semperfli Straggle Legs will make the most fantastic insect legs on dries and wets. Longer strands and more widely spaced fibers make this very different from Straggle String. These sparse crinkled fibers around a micro core make incredible legs for dries, shrimps, grubs and nymphs.

Semperfli Straggle Legs comes in stunning insect like or attractor colors.

Try twisting two colors together for stunning effects. The Straggle Legs core is so thin even twisted you will see no build up.

Available as a single spools or on a multi-card with 10 colors.

[megadavestewart]

WFS 350 - Semperfli Synthetic Fly Tying Materials with Ann and Andy Kitchener

Show Notes: https://wetflyswing.com/350

Presented By: Jackson Hole Fly Company, Stonefly Nets, LakeLady Custom Rods, Bearvault

Sponsors: https://wetflyswing.com/sponsors

We go behind the scenes with Ann and Andy Kitchener, owners and founders of Semperfli, to learn how they created some of the best fly tying materials on the market today.

We hear what it's like to win the Queen’s Award for Enterprise for International Trade 2022 - the ultimate and most prestigious award given nationally to a business, and meet Prince Charles.

We break down some of their most in-demand products around the world and find out how fly tyers make it to the Semperfli Pro Team.

Semperfli Show Notes with Ann & Andy

03:30 - Ann and Andy semi-retired 14 years ago. As they were getting into fly fishing and fly tying, they realized that most threads on the market at the time were easy to split so they decided to make better threads

05:30 - They grew 44% a year since they started and then 3 years ago, they launched their Classic Waxed Thread

06:40 - Now they supply threads to 56 different countries around the world

07:15 - The Nano Silk GSP is their most in-demand product

09:00 - Andy tells us how they created one of the strongest threads on the market

09:55 - GlobalFlyFisher.com is a great resource for fly fishing and fly tying blogs - Martin Joergensen was on the podcast at WFS 099

12:50 - They have some artificial jungle cock

13:05 - One of their oldest products, Straggle String, is a great alternative for Peacock Herl

14:40 - They also got Synthetic Rabbit Zonkers "Wabbit" - There's a video of Roy Ole Læhren Jakobsen testing the Semperfli Synthetic Zonkers. Scroll down to see that vid!

20:00 - Splitting a thread is useful for dubbing loops. Their waxed thread is designed for splitting.

21:00 - Their Kapok Dubbing supports 30x its own weight in the water - it's one of their top-selling materials today

23:00 - Their Dirty Bug Yarn was developed 3 years ago

25:00 - Andy tells us what materials to get started with if you're a beginner coming in to fly tying

27:00 - Tim Cammisa was on a while back - he's an Ambassador of Semperfli in the US

28:10 - Hackle and CDC are materials that are difficult to make synthetic

30:00 - Andy talks about the "cytis" being endangered around the world so its feathers are illegal to use for fly tying - people get arrested for its use

34:55 -Andy is known in the business as the "naughty professor" - he does a ton of research and experiments to come up with the best possible fly-tying materials

36:45 - They've got 80 strong Pro Team around the world - they have an event called Fly Jam which is like Christmas for the team because they get a box full of materials from Semperfli

40:00 - Ann tells us how fly tiers make it to the Semperfli Pro Team - you can email them, show them your portfolio, and let them know why you are a great fit for the Semperfli family

43:20 - Son Tao is a very talented fly tier

46:40 - We talk about their lead-free wires

49:35 - Their Straggle Legs serve as synthetic insect legs

51:00 - One of the notable mentions is their Perfect Quills

54:25 - Semperfli recently received the Queen's Award for Enterprise for International Trade 2022 - the ultimate and most prestigious award given nationally to a business.

58:00 - We hear about their experience entering Buckingham Palace, meeting Prince Charles

1:02:00 - Ann and Andy share some business tips bag

1:11:30 - Bill Oyster was on the podcast recently - a very passionate bamboo fly rod maker

1:15:30 - Ann and Andy share some bonus marriage tips

Show Notes: https://wetflyswing.com/350

Check out this episode!

[panfishonthefly]

Semperfli Straggle Legs

Semperfli Straggle Legs will make the most fantastic insect legs on dries and wets. Longer strands and more widely spaced fibers make this very different from Straggle String. These sparse crinkled fibers around a micro core make incredible legs for dries, shrimps, grubs and nymphs.

Semperfli Straggle Legs comes in stunning insect like or attractor colors.

Try twisting two colors together for stunning effects. The Straggle Legs core is so thin even twisted you will see no build up.

Available as a single spools or on a multi-card with 10 colors.

[panfishonthefly]

Semperfli Straggle Legs Multi-card

This Multi- card of Semperfli Straggle Legs will make the most fantastic insect legs on dries and wets. Longer strands and more widely spaced fibers make this very different from Straggle String. These sparse crinkled fibers around a micro core make incredible legs for dries, shrimps, grubs and nymphs.

Semperfli Straggle Legs comes in stunning insect like or attractor colors.

Try twisting two colors together for stunning effects. The Straggle Legs core is so thin even twisted you will see no build up.

Semperfli Straggle Legs Multi-card is loaded with 10 colors.

[panfishonthefly]

Semperfli Straggle Legs Multi-card

This Multi- card of Semperfli Straggle Legs will make the most fantastic insect legs on dries and wets. Longer strands and more widely spaced fibers make this very different from Straggle String. These sparse crinkled fibers around a micro core make incredible legs for dries, shrimps, grubs and nymphs.

Semperfli Straggle Legs comes in stunning insect like or attractor colors.

Try twisting two colors together for stunning effects. The Straggle Legs core is so thin even twisted you will see no build up.

Semperfli Straggle Legs Multi-card is loaded with 10 colors.

[panfishonthefly]

Fly Tying Friday: The Foam Beetle - Panfish Candy!

For many anglers, dry fly fishing represents the pinnacle of the sport. There are numerous reasons why topwater fishing is loved by so many. For starters, you can see the take of the fish and surface eats are often exciting. In warmwater environments, a fly floating on the surface can avoid fouling when fishing weed-filled waters, making it the only type of fly that you can use in some conditions. I love fishing dries and will do it whenever conditions are suitable for it. Nothing beats the sights and sounds of a big bluegill taking a fly on top!

Visually observing the strike takes a lot of guesswork out of hooking a fish but is not always that easy. Timing the strike, near misses, and refusals can still perplex anglers. Improper timing in setting the hook is probably the number one reason anglers miss topwater eats. You must resist the urge to set the hook the very second you see the take. Allow a second or two to pass before setting the hook. Your hook-up ratio will improve if you allow the fish to turn and head down with the fly before setting the hook. But wait too long and the fish will reject the fly and you are out of business. Over time you seem to develop a sixth sense in regards to how long to wait before setting the hook on a fish.

Whenever you are fishing a floating fly you should be ready to react to a hit the moment the fly hits the water. This means managing loose line at all times, as any slack will reduce your effectiveness in setting the hook. When setting the hook on fish like bluegills and other sunfish simply raising the rod tip will usually do the job. For tough-mouthed fish like largemouth bass, I will usually set the hook using a strip strike. Simply lifting the rod will not move the fly enough to penetrate the hard mouth. Instead of lifting the rod tip, you set the hook with a series of strips, with the rod tip pointed at the fish or simultaneously sweeping to the side.

The take of a fly off the water's surface can be an imperceptible sip, a violent explosion, or something in between the two. Any way they come, surface hits are exciting and will keep you coming back for more.  

Few fish share the bluegill's affinity to eat on the surface. This combination of fishing a dry fly and a fish that can't resist eating it is what makes fly fishing for panfish so enjoyable. But what fly should you choose? The fly fisher who chases panfish has a mind-numbing variety of flies to choose from. Traditional dry flies, hair bugs, poppers, and foam bugs will all work if the fish are looking up.  

Flies tied with foam offer some advantages over other materials. Keeping a dry fly floating, especially after catching a few fish, can be a problem. A properly constructed foam pattern goes a long way to solving this issue. In addition, cleaning off fish slime and re-applying floatant is usually unnecessary with foam flies.  

While foam may not be the ideal material to tie a delicate mayfly or caddisfly, it does a fine job on many terrestrial patterns, particularly beetles. There are somewhere around 400,000 species of beetles crawling around on this planet. In addition, beetles constitute almost 40% of known insect life and 25% of all animal life! So chances are pretty good that a few are going to end up in the water and ultimately in a belly of a fish. 

There are many effective foam patterns for panfish, including my own Triangle Bug, but few flies can match a foam beetle's fish-catching charm. A foam beetle tied with a chunky body made from thick closed-cell foam lands on the water with a fish-attracting splat, just like the actual insect. If there is are any bluegills in the vicinity, they are unlikely to resist grabbing it.

Tying effective beetle patterns

Most beetle patterns are simple to tie. A simple but effective beetle imitation can be constructed by lashing a foam strip to a hook and doing nothing more. However, my love for fly tying compels me to do a little extra work. Adding an underbody, some legs, and maybe an indicator of hi-viz foam or yarn (to aid in finding the flush floating fly) usually does the trick for me.  

I prefer to use a thicker foam for my beetle patterns. While 2mm foam is adequate for designs like the Triangle Bug, flies like beetle patterns benefit from a beefier body. I prefer to use foam like Hareline's 3mm, the 4.5mm foam from Semperfli, or bi-color laminated foam on my beetles. A laminated foam allows you to use thicker foam with two colors. One side to present to the fish and brighter color to allow the angler to see it clearly on the water. Regardless of which type you choose the thicker foam gives the flies that all-important splat when they hit the water and keeps them floating all day long without any assistance.

To aid in compressing the thicker foam without cutting through it use heavier thread. I will not use anything lighter than 6/0 or 140 denier when working with foam. When compressing or tieing down the foam, start with light wraps and apply more pressure with each consecutive wrap. This will collapse the foam without cutting through it. This method is a useful technique, particularly when working with thicker foam.

You can keep your underbody simple (thread wraps can suffice), but I like to add a body of peacock herl, dubbing, Straggle String, or floating poly yarn under the foam shell of my beetle patterns. An underbody can add additional movement or a little flash to your fly, increasing its fish catching ability. While many of the beetles in my trout boxes are tied without legs, I can't resist adding legs to my beetle patterns that I will fish in warmwater. While you can find more complicated beetle patterns to tie, the simple design described at the end of this article is all you need to fool big bluegills.

Tips for fishing beetle patterns

My preferred method for fishing beetle patterns in warm water is to find a shoreline thick with overhanging trees, preferably shaded. I will then cast my beetle pattern back under the branches as far as I can. A chunky beetle pattern works well for a technique I call skip casting. A skip cast lets you bounce the fly off the water's surface and skip it back under cover; it is a valuable technique for fishing structures like overhanging trees and docks. You accomplish this by keeping your cast low and parallel to the surface of the water. I usually add a little haul on the forward casting stroke to accelerate the line and make the fly skip easier.

Once the fly hits the water, let it sit for a while without disturbing it. Beetles are feeble swimmers and do not move much. The key is to animate the fly without dragging it across the surface of the water. You do this by applying very subtle twitches to your fly line. Keep your rod tip low to the water and keep as much line on the water as possible. By doing this, it can help you to keep moving the fly too aggressively. Allowing the fly to sit motionless is usually more effective than actively moving it. Rather than fishing the fly all the way back to you, pick up and present it again if a fish does not grab it after a few twitches.

I have also found fishing a beetle pattern over open water at sundown or after dark an effective technique. Many species of beetles are nocturnal and become active as the sun sinks below the horizon. These clumsy fliers often head out over open water and end up in the drink. Having a big June Bug fly into your hair or down your shirt while fishing after dark while out in a boat or kayak emphasizes the fact that beetles spend time out over open water at night!

Beetles are a staple terrestrial pattern that works well in warm and cold water. If you don't have a few beetle patterns in panfish fly boxes, you are missing out on a tremendous topwater pattern. So tie some up and give them a try. You won't be disappointed.

Pattern Recipe:

Hook: Firehole 618 size 14-8 (the #618 is my go-to hook for many foam patterns)

Body: Sheet foam cut in a strip slightly wider than the hook gap of the hook you are using. Try 3mm, 4.5mm, or laminated foam for a thicker body that produces the all-important SPLAT!

Underbody: You have a few choices here. you can keep it simple with thread alone or add a body of dubbing, peacock herl, Straggle String/Straggle Legs, or Floating Poly Yarn.

Legs: Round rubber or silicon.

Indicator: Hi-vis 1mm foam

If you need materials to tie this pattern please consider purchasing them from our shop. You can use the links in the post or click the button below to go to our store. Thank you for your support!

[panfishonthefly]

Fly Tying Friday: The Wee Frog

When it comes to topwater flies for panfish, anything goes. That is one of the things I love about warm water fly fishing. Panfish, bass, and other warmwater predators like pickerel and pike are not concerned that your offering is not an exact replication of the last thing they ate. If it looks alive and can fit in their mouth, they will often have a go at it. 

The lack of demand for realism in fly patterns is one thing that sets warmwater fly fishing apart from trout fishing. We are far more concerned with matching the hatch and delivering a proper presentation in the trout world. Warm water fly fishing is a more rough and tumble affair. Fly selection based on whim and fancy can be just as effective as attempting to match what the fish are currently eating.

Looking into one of my warmwater fly boxes, you see a lot of whim and fancy. Garish colors like chartreuse, fluorescent yellow, bright pink don't often occur in the natural world. Based on the contents of my fly boxes, you would think that panfish live in a world filled with psychedelic colors. There is no doubt that these brightly colored, un-natural looking flies work. If they didn't, they would not take up so much room in my fly boxes. However, if you look close enough, you will find more natural-looking flies mixed in with that kaleidoscope of colors. 

Maybe the decades spent chasing trout keep me coming back to more natural-looking flies that imitate the things that panfish eat. I enjoy tying and fishing patterns like damselflies and dragonflies, two essential food items for warm water fish. Also mixed in with the odd-looking foam and hair creations, you will find a smattering of flies that you can readily recognize as terrestrial insects like hoppers, beetles, and ants. The natural-looking flies that stand out the most are the frogs. My frog patterns are instantly recognizable as the amphibians that are meant to represent.

Everyone knows a bass or a pickerel has a hard time ignoring a properly presented frog pattern, but panfish? You can make the argument that most adult frogs are too big of a prey item to be eaten by most panfish. However, there are smaller species of frogs whose habitats mix with that of panfish. In my area, the Northern Cricket Frog is one such example. While technically a tree frog, it does not take to the branches but prefers a more aquatic existence. They are often found along the muddy banks of ponds and slow-moving streams. As an adult, they range in size from three-quarters of an inch to an inch and a half, which firmly puts them in the size range of something big bluegill would try to eat.

If you search the pages of this blog, you will find several small frog patterns that I tie and fish exclusively for panfish. Most are created using a foam or preformed body. The fly pattern in today's post has been teased in a few recent posts and on social media. Each time I show a picture of it, I receive messages and emails requesting more information on the pattern, so I figure it is high time I share it with the world.

This pattern is tied using flat foam. I have tied small frog patterns using flat foam in the past but have never been entirely satisfied with them. Thin 2mm foam does not have the bulk needed to imitate a chunky little frog, and the thicker foam I have worked with in the past was tough to work with on the small scale in which these flies are tied.  

After joining Semperfli's team of fly tiers, I was introduced to a new type of foam. Semperfli's flat foam is a closed-cell foam, but the air pockets or cells are larger than what is found in most fly tyers foam. This characteristic means the foam compresses easily. Their foam is also remarkably strong and resists tearing quite well. Because it compresses so well, I can use thicker foam, in this case 4.5mm, to create a frog body on hooks as small as a size 12. Combine a body made from this thick foam and Pat Cohen's Creature Frog Legs; you have the perfect panfish-sized frog pattern.  

You could tie the fly very simply with just those two materials, but I like to add an underbody that adds a little sparkle and movement by using a material like Semperfli Straggle String or Straggle Legs. It gives the fly a finished appearance along with added color, movement, and flash. Rubber legs are a must because a topwater bluegill fly without rubber legs doesn't feel right.

I have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of warmer weather and the return of my favorite pastime, topwater fishing for panfish. There is something about bluegill taking a fly off the surface that puts a smile on my face every time. Finally, it appears my wait is over, and mother nature has warmed things up to the point that my favorite fish have returned to the shallows and a looking up for their next meal.

One of the things I love about fishing tiny frog patterns for panfish is the take. Bluegills often slide under a topwater fly and suck it off the surface with an audible slurp. Not the case with a frog pattern. They seem to know that this type of prey can elude them if they're not careful, and they grab them off the surface with a vengeance, more like the take of a bass. I am often surprised when a big bluegill comes to hand, mistaking the violent take for a bass.  

Fishing Frog Patterns

When fishing frog patterns, I prefer to cast parallel to the bank instead of casting out into the middle of the pond. Frogs are found along the bank, seldom straying far from it, and this is where I find these flies to be most effective. My favorite way to fish them is to slip on a pair of hip boots or waders and walk out a short distance from the shoreline. I then slowly make my way along the shore, casting ahead of me as I move. My first cast will put the fly as close to the bank as possible. I then fan out my casts until I reach a point 10 -15 feet from shore. I will then move down the shoreline a short distance and repeat the process. Fishing from a float tube or kayak is also a good option for this type of fishing as you can bring the watercraft close to the shoreline and use the same method. Fishing from the bank is usually problematic as there are generally too many obstructions to grab a fly line or rid tip.

A plus side to fishing frog patterns for panfish is that you will attract predators like bass and pickerel. Even though a size 12 frog is not much of a meal for a bass, they seem to recognize an easy snack and seldom pass it up. I have found that pickerel are so fond of these tiny frogs that I refrain from fishing them in waters where they are present in good numbers as I lose far too many flies to these toothy predators. If tiny frog patterns are not part of your topwater panfish arsenal, they should be. Give them a try; you won't be disappointed!

Pattern Recipe:

Hook: Size 10 or 12 Firehole 618 or comparable hook

Thread: 6/0 Semperfli Classic Waxed Thread in the color of choice

Frog Legs: Cohen’s Creature Fog Legs size micro or mini depending on hook used

Underbody: Semperfli Straggle String or Straggle Legs

Legs: Round Rubber

Body: Semperfli 4.5mm Flat Foam in the color of choice cut in a teardrop shape using a foam cutter or trimmed by hand with scissors, craft knife, etc.

Thread Treatment: Solarez Bone Dry UV Resin or Solarez Bone Dry Plus UV Resin

Tying Instructions:

The first step is to prepare the body. You want an appropriately sized teardrop shape piece of foam. You can cut the shape out by hand, but I like using a spider body foam cutter. The largest size spider body cutter produces a perfectly sized body for a size 12 frog.

Start your thread on the hook shank and wrap it down to the bend of the hook. At the bend, tie in your frog legs. Note: I add color to the legs before tying them in. I get the best results using fabric markers as the colors will not fade even after repeated dunkings in the water.

Optional: Before tying in the frog legs, you can add a small loop of stiff monofilament. This loop may help keep the frog legs from fouling on the hook shank (something that is seldom a problem on a fly this small), and it gives you a convenient tie-in point for adding a dropper. The legs are then added on top of the loop.

After tying in the frog legs, I bring the thread back towards the eye, stopping an eye length or two from the front of the hook.

Capture a small piece of the wide end of the foam body with thread wraps and lash it down to the front of the hook. When working with foam, don't use a lot of pressure on the first few thread wraps to avoid cutting the foam. Lightly trap down the foam with a wrap or two, then increase the thread pressure with subsequent wraps to further compress and secure the foam. Semperfli foam excels here as it compresses easily without bulk.

Once the front of the body is tied down, tie in a short piece of Straggle String right at the tie-in point for the foam.

Leaving the Straggle String in place, advance the thread to a point mid-shank and tie in a pair of rubber legs, bringing the thread back to the bend once the legs are secured.

Wind the Straggle String down the hook shank, careful not to tie down the rubber leg material. When you reach the frog legs' tie-in point, you can tie it off and cut away the excess.

The final step is to fold the body back and lash it down. Once secured, trim away excess foam (if using a foam cutter there will be a small tab of foam remaining), whip finish, and cut away the thread. A drop of thin UV Resin like Solarez Bone Dry protects the thread and keeps everything in place.

Note:  There is probably no need to color the body as the fish likely only see the underside of the fly. Despite that, I always add some froggy-looking spots to the fly because I think they look better, but I doubt the fish care. I usually add custom colors once the fly is completed.

[panfishonthefly]

The Mop Gurgler

Flies using dust mop material have been around for years now. Mop flies are embraced by some and scorned by others. The argument about them still rages, but the one thing that cannot be disputed is that the flies tied using mop material catch fish, a lot of fish! I think part of the argument against these flies is that quite often, the fly tier merely lashes the mop to a hook and calls it done; maybe if they are feeling ambitious, they will add some dubbing as a head or perhaps a bead. That is all you need at times, but you can use this versatile material in many ways.

What makes this material so attractive to the fish? I believe it has to do with how the mop fiber behaves in the water. When wet, the mop material comes alive. The fleshy appendage of mop material hanging off of the back of the hook moves very seductively in the water - the fine individual fibers of the mop breath life into any fly pattern. As a bonus, fish hold onto flies made of this material a little longer than hard-bodied flies.

Mop fibers on surface patterns are nothing new. Adding mops to popper and hopper imitations has proven very successful, so why not a gurgler? Over the last season, I experimented with a few "mop gurglers" and found they fished very well. They float low in the water, a feature I like in a surface pattern, and that tail made of a mop fiber provided a lot of movement. Maybe the only downside is the tail material absorbs water making the fly a little heavy for light two and three-weight rods.

Because of the water absorption issue, I opted for thicker foam when tying this pattern, mostly 3 to 4.5 millimeters. Laminated foam works excellent here as the double layers add more floatation. I also like the 3.5mm and 4.5mm Flat Foam from Semperfli. This foam is extremely light and very buoyant but compresses down to nothing. Because of the size of the mop fibers, I tied most of these flies on wide gap size six and eight hooks. I tied up some tiny Mop Gurglers using some tiny fibers I found and some beefy size-two and four flies for bass with some thumb-size mops someone had given me. To provide some flash and movement, Semperfli Straggle String, Legs, and Chenille were used for an underbody depending on the size of the fly. Of course, every respectable topwater warmwater fly needs some eyes and rubber legs.

One thing that stood out about the Mop Gurgler is that if made produced a very realistic adult dragonfly profile. The pattern did very well on mid-summer days when the giant insects lumbered around in their erratic flights. One day in particular, when large grey dragonflies with black and white wings were out and about, a solid grey Mop Gurgler did very well on bluegills and especially well on small largemouth bass. Unfortunately, these bass seemed to be wasting a lot of energy trying to eat these insects, most of the time unsuccessfully. The water's surface was constantly being broken by their forms coming out of the water like little green Polaris missiles.

Some experiments never earn a permanent place in my warm water fly boxes. The Mop Gurgler did. I tucked a few away with my dragonfly imitations and a few more in my small stream smallmouth bass box. The flies will see a lot of use in the seasons to come.

I have used every conceivable material for tails on gurglers, and I have experimented with mops on many other flies, so I had no qualms about using a mop fiber here. In the end, it produced yet another successful variant of this legendary pattern developed by the late, great Jack Gartside.

Pattern Recipe:

Hook: Firehole 718 (10-4) base the hook size on the size of mop you are using

Thread: Semperfli Classic Waxed 6/0

Tail: Mop fiber in the color of choice

Underbody: Semperfli Straggle String, Legs or Chenille

Body: 2mm/1mm Laminated foam, 2mm/2mm Laminated Foam, 3mm or Semperfli Flat Foam (3.5mm or 4.5mm) in the color of choice

Legs: Silicon or Round Rubber in the color of choice

Eyes: 2mm-6mm Flymen Fishing Co. Dragon Eyes (optional)

[panfishonthefly]

Fly Tying Friday - The Marabou Perch

With colder weather here for good (at least until spring, that is), it is time to switch gears. While I can usually catch panfish as long as there is open water, I tend to set my sights on other species when things cool down. That usually means pickerel if I am fishing close to home. I also do A LOT of trout fishing this time of year, but that involves a full-day commitment. When there is just an hour or two to spare, pickerel are just the ticket. Fortunately, I live in an area where these fish are plentiful.

My favorite way to target pickerel during the warmer months is with topwater flies. Pickerel are suckers for frog patterns! However, when the weather cools down, it is time to change tactics. My go-to flies are streamer patterns. While there are many effective streamer patterns to choose from, my favorite streamers are those that imitate yellow perch. Yellow perch are an important forage fish for chain pickerel and their larger pike and musky cousins.

Not every watershed in my area contains yellow perch; some have the standard bluegill/crappie/largemouth mix. In waters with no yellow perch, my go-to streamers usually imitate small sunfish. However, my perch flies still do extremely well on pickerel, even if yellow perch are not present in the system. In waters where yellow perch are common, they are absolute killers!

This particular perch pattern is easy to tie and can be scaled up or down to meet your needs. The fly has great movement in the water, all the right colors, and just a touch of flash. You can tie it with lead eyes to help get the fly down or keep it light to probe the shallows by using a Fish Mask. I imagine the fly would work well without eyes, but I believe eyes on subsurface flies are a vital triggering mechanism, and I always include them. When tying larger flies, I use Semperfli's Extreme String for the fly's body. I will use Semperfli Ice Straggle Chenille for smaller versions of the pattern. For tiny versions, Straggle String or Straggle Legs will fit the bill.

Be warned the fly will look like a hot mess when it comes off the vise. That's okay. The real magic happens when the fly gets wet. The fly will change its appearance from a saucer-shaped, sunfish-looking fly to a sleek, perch-looking profile. This is because marabou moves in the water like no other material. The marabou wing will compress when wet, but the Extreme String body will give it just enough support to create a great-looking perch-like profile.

I always have a coffee cup filled with permanent markers of my fly tying desk. They get put good use on this pattern. While the fly looks great right out of the vise, a touch-up with added color adds the finishing touch. I like to add a little red at the front of the fly (another trigger), and I also add some barring on the dorsal area to match the coloration of a yellow perch. I will extend those bars halfway down the side of the fly as well, making sure it gets into the Extreme String.

Since the teeth of a chain pickerel are notorious for tearing up flies and marabou is not the sturdiest of materials, I tend to use a lot of superglue to construct the fly. I apply it to thread wraps where ever I can to securely lock the materials down. When the tooth of a pickerel inevitably cuts a strand of thread, the rest of the fly will remain intact with this treatment.

After spending 10 minutes or so at the vise tying this fly, you don't want to lose it to the first fish you hook. Pickerel have mouths full of razor-sharp teeth that can make quick work of a lite tippet. I have found that a bite tippet of 20-pound fluorocarbon is generally sufficient to prevent bite-offs, but you will have to inspect the bite tippet after every strike (whether you hook the fish or not) and replace it where needed.

The Marabou Perch

Materials List:

Hook: Firehole 811 or 860 streamer hook sizes 6-2 or Firehole 801, 802 or 803 for sizes larger than size two

Thread: Semperfli Classic Waxed thread 6/0

Weight: Lead dumbbell eyes (optional)

Tail: Marabou feathers - olive over yellow

Flash: Semperflash (4 strands down each side of tail)

Body: Semperfli Extreme String - yellow

Wing: Olive marabou (2 feathers tied in one in front of the other) for larger flies use extra select marabou to get the length you need.

Throat (belly): Yellow marabou (2 feathers tied in one in front of the other)

Head: Flymen Fishing Co. Fish Mask (optional - omit if using lead eyes) with Dragon Eyes

Coloration with permanent markers:

Dark olive on the top dorsal area

Black bars over top extending down the sides (get markings into extreme string body material as well)

Red throat and head (I love a little red on my streamer patterns)

[panfishonthefly]

Panfish Gurgler Assortment

Jack Gartside’s Gurgler may very well be one of the most famous topwater patterns ever developed. The Gurgler is a simple foam pattern that can be tied in a broad range of sizes to target a wide variety of fish.

This shop-tied assortment of gurglers are tied on size 8 premium, barbless black nickel hooks. This size gurgler is very effective on big panfish. Each fly is tied with a bi-color laminated foam body, a flashy underbody of Semperfli Straggle Legs, silicon legs, and a calf hair tail. This combination of materials creates a durable fly that will stand up to dozens of fish!

This assortment contains One Dozen Flies in four colors (three flies in each color) neatly stored in a Panfish On The Fly Logo Fly Tin

Available Colors:

Chartreuse over black with black underbody

Orange over yellow with yellow underbody

Black over orange with orange underbody

Green over chartreuse with chartreuse underbody

Save $1.00 per fly with this assortment (regular price $2.99 per fly)!

A limited number of gurgler assortments are available!

[panfishonthefly]

Fly Tying Friday - Floating Dragon Fly Nymphs

Mid to late summer fly fishing for big sunfish can be frustrating for many anglers. Most of the familiar shallow water haunts that held fish all spring now seem devoid of fish. Fish that fed with abandon all day long during the spring and early summer only seem to reveal their presence at sunrise or sunset. In many parts of the country, mid-summer heat can drive fish deep during the warmest parts of the day. Only on overcast days or early or late in the day do large panfish slide back into the shallows to feed. Unfortunately, they never return to the shallows in some locations, preferring to stage around deepwater structures all summer long.

Early in the season, to reach fish holding deep, weighted nymphs and streamers usually get the job done. However, as the season progresses, many of the watersheds I fish become choked with aquatic vegetation. As a result, fishing standard subsurface patterns are an exercise in futility as these flies become hopelessly mired in weeds and muck on every cast. What's needed in this situation is a fly that gets below the surface but stays above the weeds.

To catch these fish, you need to use subsurface flies and fish them deep enough to reach the fish. Effective fly patterns would include streamers, wet flies, and nymph patterns. In some cases, floating lines will not get the job done because they limit the depth your flies can reach.

When fish are holding deeper than four to six feet deep, it is time to switch to a sinking line or use another method such as slip indicators to get your flies deep. This is one of two times of the year (the other being winter) when I break out the sinking fly lines. Using sinking lines will require you to use heavier tackle as well. Generally speaking, sinking lines of any type are hard to find in lines lighter than a five weight. However, recently I have seen some 4wt sinking/intermediate lines..

I often see eyebrows raise when I discuss using five and six weights for panfish, but these heavier rods are needed to effectively fish sinking lines. Casting sinking lines has become a lot easier with some of the new line designs out there. If you struggled casting sinking lines in the past it may be work checking out a new line or two.

You have two options to present your flies to fish in deep water and still keep them out of the weeds. One option is to suspend your fly under an indicator. Flies like balanced leeches work particularly well with this method. However, indicator rigs can be cumbersome to cast if you are fishing a few feet below the surface unless you utilize a slip-style float. The second method is to fish floating flies on a sinking line. The line sinks to the bottom, and the fly floats above it and hopefully any weeds and debris as well.

I utilize three types of sinking lines for panfish. First is a sink tip floating line. The sink tip section is usually around ten feet in length though I have one line with a short five-foot sink tip and several with longer ones. Sink tips are helpful when fish are holding in 4 - 6 foot depths.

Intermediate lines are another option when fish are holding in this range as well. I prefer intermediate lines to sink tips as I feel I have better contact with the flies. In addition, many intermediate lines a clear which gives you an added stealth bonus.

Full sinking lines of various densities are used when fishing deeper than six feet as they get the flies down to depth quicker. Modern sinking lines sink at a uniform rate allowing you to stay in contact with your flies.

Since I prefer casting to watching an indicator, I use the sinking line/floating fly method more often. While there are several different floating fly styles to choose from, my favorite is dragonfly nymphs. Dragonfly nymphs make up a large part of the diets of many freshwater fishes, including all species of panfish.

Dragonfly nymphs can be pretty large insects. Their chunky forms allow for imitations that contain a lot of high floating foam. A very buoyant fly will stay above weeds, and bottom detritus. Leader length will determine how high your fly will suspend above the bottom. I always try and use a knotless leader (tapered or straight) as knots collect debris as the line is retrieved along the bottom. I try and cast to areas I am confident do not have any obstructions that may snag my fly line. Losing a fly to a snag sucks; losing an entire fly line is costly.

I like to fish these patterns over submerged weed beds. I use a slow hand twist retrieve and keep the rod tip low on the water's surface to maintain good contact with the flies. Strikes run the gamut from hard to detect (often the case) to solid takes. Often an eat feels like heaviness on the line. My advice is to strip set on anything that feels or looks out of the ordinary. Strip setting the hook is important as it allows your fly to stay in “the zone” if it is a swing and a miss. Lifting the rod tip will often pull the line off the bottom and your fly down into the weeds.

My floating dragonfly uses thick foam (up to 4.5 mm) for the body to create a buoyant fly. To further increase floatation, you can replace the large mono eyes with foam tubing. I feel legs are important on these type of flies. I love the look that knotted pheasant tail fibers provide (the fish do, too), but fine round rubber will work if you don't want to be bothered with knotting up your own. Fortunately, knotted legs are available commercially and will save you the hassle knotting them yourself.

The body of the nymph is made by using a tapered strip of foam or a shape cut with a foam cutter. I will sometimes use a beavertail shaped foam cutter to create this style of fly, that is a fly with a narrow abdomen and a wide thorax/head. Precut bodies speed up the tying process, take all the guess work out of sizing the foam correctly, and produce consistent results.

I prefer an underbody to plain foam and often use Semperfli Straggle String or Straggle Legs to create as buggy looking underside to the fly. Semperfli Floating Poly Yarn or even dubbing will work as well.

My floating dragonfly nymph is occasionally taken off the surface before the sinking line drags it under. These surface eats happened frequently enough for me to adopt the fly as a topwater bug as well. The fly pictured above is a top water foam bug created from the basic design of the floating dragonfly nymph. I'll share the details of this pattern in a future blog post.

Pattern Recipe

Hook: Firehole 718 size 12-6 (size 10 pictured)

Thread: Semperfli Classic Waxed 6/0

Underbody: Semperfli Straggle String or Straggle Legs (both available in multi cards if you want a variety of colors)

Body: 3.5mm or 4.5mm Semperfli Foam tinted with permanent waterproof markers (other foam sizes or laminated foams can be used as well based on the size of the fly you wish to tie)

Legs: Knotted pheasant tail fibers

Eyes: Large mono nymph eyes in black or olive

We now carry the complete line of Renomed Fly Tying Scissors.

Renomed scissors are hand crafted in a family manufactory, housed in a historic granary in the heart of Europe. Each pair is designed to fit perfectly in the palm of your hand. Sharpened to cut precisely for decades.

[panfishonthefly]

Fly Tying Friday - The Panfish Pazooka

I often get inspiration from other fly tiers. There are so many remarkable fly tiers in the world that the inspiration I speak of seems endless. I particularly enjoy adapting flies designed for other fish species for use in targeting panfish.

Recently I was inspired by fellow Semperfli Pro Tier Deb Paskall. Deb is a fly tier that hails from north of the border in British Columbia. This talented fly tier recently posted a YouTube video on a fly pattern called the Knouff Lake Special. Knouff Lake is located in British Columbia, and the fly that bears the lake's name was designed to imitate the Traveling Sedge. This particular insect is a giant caddis fly. While most of my panfish waters are devoid of large caddisflies, the color scheme of this specific pattern checked a lot of boxes for me as an effective sunfish pattern.

The Knouff Lake Special has an interesting history worth looking into, especially if you are a still water trout angler. The fly seemed to evolve from a pattern called the Pazooka, which was developed in the 1920s. Unfortunately, by the 1930s, the fly was largely forgotten. However, the fly re-emerged as the Knouff Lake Special in recent times. When I learned of the fly’s original name the Panfish Pazooka had to become a reality.

Traditionally the fly is tied quite large, as large as a size six in some cases. While I often fish large flies for big panfish, I wanted to try it in smaller sizes. Deb Tied the pattern on a size 10 Firehole 839, which would work well for larger panfish. Firehole hooks have extra-wide hook gaps, and that size 10 Firestick looked a little large for smaller mouthed panfish but would undoubtedly work for larger specimens. I had a pack of size 10 Allen 402BL lying on the desk, so I went to work with them. I have since tied them on the Firehole 839 in sizes 8-14 and plan on adding a few of them to my trout wet fly and streamer boxes. I tied up a few in size six as well to throw in with my smallmouth flies. The Firehole 839 is a heavy hook that will help get the fly down a little deeper.

After tying the pattern on the streamer hooks, I decided to tie some up on a traditional wet fly hook using the Firehole 633 in size 12. In addition to changing up hook styles, I made a few other minor tweaks to the pattern. The original design called for a natural pheasant rump feather. Instead, I used a rump feather from a melanistic pheasant to keep the black and orange color scheme going. However, the fly looked great using natural pheasant rump feathers as well. I used a slightly smaller feather and added an extra wrap or two to create more of a collar instead of the appearance of long legs as on the original pattern.

I am a fan of hot spots on my panfish wet flies, so I added a little fluorescent orange Straggle String forward of the yarn body on the flies tied on the longer streamer hooks. On the wet fly hooks, I used a bit of bright orange dubbing.

Both versions of the fly performed remarkably well despite being smack in the middle of the dog days of summer. Lately, I have only had time to fish mid-day, which is the worse time to fish this time of year. Fished deep along the edges of weed beds, it produced plenty of chunky bluegills along with a few crappies and smaller largemouth bass.

I am particularly interested in fishing the streamer version of the fly for crappie in the spring when they invade the shallows after wintering in deeper waters. It should be a crappie killer. The shorter shank wet fly version of the pattern also worked well when fished on a dropper beneath a big foam bug or popper.

Pattern Recipe:

Hook: Firehole 839 (streamer) or Firehole 633 (wet fly) sizes 6-14

Thread: Black Semperfli 8/0 Classic Waxed

Tail: Golden Pheasant Tippet

Rib: Semperfli Pure Silk (Vintage Orange) or Semperfli Floss (Hot or Fl. Orange)

Body: Dirty Bug Yarn (Olive Caddis or other olive/green color of choice as there are a few that will work well)

Hot Spot: Semperfli Straggle String or dubbing

Wing: Golden Pheasant Tippet

Hackle: Pheasant rump feather

Note: If you want instructions to tie this pattern please check out the videos shown above.

[panfishonthefly]

Semperfli Straggle String Mixed Pack

This Mixed Pack of Semperfli Straggle String contains 10 colors. This is a economical way to try a wide range of colors. Semperfli Straggle String will make the most fantastic insect legs on dries and wets. Longer strands and more widely spaced fibers make this very different from Straggle String. These sparse crinkled fibers around a micro core make incredible legs for dries, shrimps, grubs and nymphs.

Semperfli Straggle Legs comes in stunning insect like or attractor colors.

Try twisting two colors together for stunning effects. The Straggle Legs core is so thin even twisted you will see no build up.

Also available as a single spools.

[panfishonthefly]

Fly Tying Friday - The Easter Basket Damselfly Nymph

Even though my kids have grown and no longer believe the Easter Bunny visits our home every year, Easter baskets still play a role in our holiday tradition. Everyone in the family gets one. This year's baskets contained a green plastic straw that caught my eye. I have been thinking about tying up some brightly colored, damselfly nymphs. The bright green straw in this year's baskets looked like it might be just the material I was looking for to create the body of my new pattern. Sunfish and bass often show a preference for garish colors at times, and a brightly colored damselfly nymph could be perfect for those occasions.

Damselfly nymphs are probably my favorite warm water nymph patterns. Damselflies are found everywhere (at least in my neck of the woods), and many fish species relish them. I typically use damselfly nymph patterns in natural hues of olive, green, tan, and brown. However, during certain times of the year, my local panfish and bass seem to key in on brightly colored flies. For those occasions, I thought a bright damsel nymph would be just the ticket.

With that in mind, I grabbed a handful of the synthetic grass from the Easter basket and headed downstairs to the fly lab. A few moments later, the Easter Basket Damselfly Nymph was born.

I created two different versions, one with a hackle fiber tail and one with variegated chickabou as the tailing material. Both flies had abdomens of wrapped synthetic grass material, counter wrapped with wire, and coated with a thin layer of Solarez Bone Dry. The Bone Dry resin and wire ribbing are used to protect the material body material. I had a few different colors to work with, and each had different properties. The green material appeared to be pretty strong and had zero stretch. The chartreuse grass seemed to be thinner and had a slight stretch to it when pulled, and the yellow had a matt finish and was not as easy to work with as the other two.

For the legs, I went with Semperfli Straggle Legs. Straggle Legs are used in many of my warmwater patterns as it is buggy as hell, very durable, and comes in a wide range of colors. I tied a few with bright hi-viz thoraxes and some with more muted natural tones. I used swiss straw for the wing case, though many other materials can be used, including the grass used for the body material. I recently picked up a multi-card of Semperfli Swiss Straw that contained some very bright colors I have not seen in this material before. I had wondered how I would use such brightly colored swiss straw. I wonder no more as they fit the bill perfectly here.

For eyes, small metal bead chain eyes mounted on the hook's underside added some realism and a little weight. You could use mono eyes if you wanted to eliminate the weight and get the same effect. Finally, a drop of UV resin on top of the wing case to protect it as swiss straw is a delicate material.

The question remained would they work. As it turns out, they do, quite well, in fact. A few days after the holiday, I headed down to a local pond, and on my second cast with an Easter Basket Damsel, I hooked a fat largemouth bass that was cruising the shallows. I caught three more bass on the pattern before I landed my first bluegill!

The panfish, bluegills in this case also seemed to relish the pattern. While the bass seemed to be patrolling the edges of the main body of the pond the bluegills were noticeably absent. I eventually found them in a calm, shallow backwater which in retrospect should have been the first place I looked for them this early in the season. Once I located the fish they came on nearly every cast. As part of this experiment on using a very bright fly I switched off to more subdued damselfly nymph patterns in both olive and tan. While I still caught fish, the takes came quicker on the brighter flies.

Damselfly nymphs are a favorite still water pattern for trout as well. These bright flies have yet to be tested in a coldwater environment so I tucked a few in my Stillwater box to try on some trout lakes on my trip out west this year. We’ll see what happens. I have one more fish to try this pattern out on as well. Shad are currently running in the Delaware River close to my home. I try and find to time to chase them with a fly each year. They have a fondness for brightly colored flies, this one could be perfect!

I have what looks to be several lifetime's worths of Easter basket stuffing, so the challenge will be to see where else I can find a use for this material. That is one of the things I love about warmwater fly tying. You have so many opportunities to incorporate oddball materials into your creations!

Pattern Recipe:

Hook: Natural Bend Nymph Hook size 8

Thread: Semperfli 6/0 Classic Waxed Thread - Chartreuse

Tail: Hackle fibers or Chickabou

Ribbing: Small black wire

Body: Synthetic grass used to fill Easter baskets coated with Solarez Bone Dry

Legs: Fl. Green Semperfli Straggle Legs

Shellback: Fl. Green Semperfli Swiss Straw coated with Solarez Bone Dry

Eyes: Small bead chain or mono eyes

Looking for the materials to tie the flies mentioned in this post? Please consider purchasing them from our shop. Click on the links in the article or the button below to check out our line of flies, fly tying materials and fly fishing accessories.

[panfishonthefly]

The Panfish Devil Bug

In a recent Fly Tying Friday post, I wrote about a fly called the Cooper bug. The Cooper Bug has an interesting past that is intertwined with a fly called the Devil Bug. The Devil Bug was the precursor of a family of folded deer hair flies that includes flies like the Cooper Bug, the Goofus Bug, Doodle Bug, the Tom Thumb. 

Fly fishing legend Gary Borger popularized a version of the Devil Bug designed to imitate caddisflies. However, it was not the Devil Bugs found in many trout fisher's fly boxes that interest me. It was the original version tied for largemouth bass at the beginning of the last century that piqued my curiosity.  

I was first introduced to this pattern through a musty old pamphlet entitled How to Catch a Fish with O. C. Tuttle's Devil Bugs. I found the molding 22-page booklet in a box of donated fly tying materials that I was sorting for my local Trout Unlimited chapter. I took the yellowing pages home with me and read them cover to cover. Inside were drawings and descriptions of scores of devil bugs tied to catch everything from bluegills to tarpon.   Google is a fantastic resource! I was able to track down images of what I believe was the pamphlet in question (unfortunately, I no longer have the original). You can view the photos of the pages here.  

Even though the flies in that old catalog fascinated me, I never tied any until reading William G Tapply's (son of H.G. Tapply, the inventor of Tap's Bug) book Bass Bug Fishing (1999). In Tapply's book, he discussed the pattern briefly and included a color photograph of the version he fished. Shortly after reading that book, I tied up a few of these flies and added them to my bass bug arsenal. The fly worked well and caught its share of bass but produced no better than the scores of other patterns I tried.  What kept me tying and fishing these flies was the ease with which they can be produced. Working with folded deer hair is a lot easier (and less messy) than working with spun deer hair. I tied up some smaller versions for panfish at some point and found them to be better fish catchers than the original fly designed for the bluegill's larger mossbacked cousin.

The original Devil Bug had many forms. Over 800 variations if you counted all the colors, shapes, and sizes! The Devil Bug I tie and fish most often reminds me of Jack Gartside's classic pattern, the Gurglar (see above photos). I tie the fly without eyes, wings, or propellers (yes, propellers). Just a simple fly with a tail and folded deer hair body with a flared hair head. I will at times embellish them with some rubber legs, but most of the time, it is just deer hair, a bit of flash and wool yarn, or flashy synthetic. 

I have always enjoyed working with deer hair as it is one of my favorite materials, and there is something about deer hair that appeals to the fish. Perhaps it is the mouthfeel of a hair bug (fish tend to hold on to them longer), or maybe it is how they sit flush in the film and not floating above it like foam and cork bugs. Whatever the reason, they work well enough for me always to have a few on hand.

I enjoyed a few hours of unseasonable early topwater fishing a few weeks back. One of the flies that had made it onto the end of my tippet that day was a Devil Bug. It caught scores of bluegills and small bass ( I did hook and promptly break off one sizable bass that gently sipped a size 12 devil bug off the surface like a trout taking a mayfly). On this day, I was using a Devil Bug tied with olive deer body hair. Other favorite colors of mine include natural, white, black, yellow, and chartreuse.  

I originally tied these flies with yarn or chenille bodies, but for the smaller versions designed for panfish, Semperfli's floating poly yarn makes excellent body material. For a little more flash and movement, I will use Semperfli's Straggle Legs for smaller flies or Straggle String on larger versions.

These old classic patterns work just as well as they did in the days of old, maybe even better with the inclusion of some modern materials. Tie a few up and give them a try.

Pattern Recipe:

Hook: Firehole 718 or Firehole 618 in sizes 8-14

Thread: Semperfli Classic Waxed Thread in your color of choice (6/0 or 8/0 depending on fly size)

Tail: Deer body hair

Flash: Semperfli Semperflash

Body: Semperfli Floating Poly Yarn, Straggle Legs or Straggle String

Shellback: Deer body hair coated with Solarez Flex UV Resin

Head: Deer body hair trimmed to shape and coated with Solarez Flex UV Resin

Looking for the materials to tie the flies mentioned in this post? Please consider purchasing them from our shop. Click the button below to check out our line of flies, fly tying materials and fly fishing accessories.

[panfishonthefly]

Fly Tying Friday - John Gooderham's WHATZIT

Before discussing this week's fly pattern, let me introduce John Gooderham. John is a talented fly tyer on the Semperfli Pro Team of fly tiers, so it should come as no surprise that this week's fly pattern is made entirely of Semperfli materials.  

I was immediately attracted to the WHAZIT because it is a buggy-looking nymph pattern that is sure to be a killer panfish pattern. I first learned about this pattern last fall and have tied up many of them, but they are yet untested. I anxiously await the coming of spring to correct that! However, John has tested this pattern extensively on both warm and cold water species, and it has produced well for him. Here is what John has to say about the fly.

The Whatzit is a fly born of necessity. I was looking to design a simple fly to catch multiple species and suggest a wide variety of insect larvae, scuds, or other subsurface food sources. The fly itself isnʼt so much of a pattern as it is a "style" of fly. My concept follows the "same from any angle" approach knowing that the suggestive flies often out-produce the detailed imitations. The great advantage is that the Whatzit can be tied in a variety of colors, sizes, and combinations. For example, the very first prototypes were done with a peacock herl body with wire ribbing. Iʼve since switched to the SEMPERFLI Dirty Bug Yarn for all the bodies for durability and reliable color renditions. Peacock herl can be dyed with the same materials and look completely different - it also does not respond well to Bluegill abuse or Trout teeth. DBY is available in a wide color range, can take lots of punishment, and is easy to work with. For all these reasons, the Whatzit is a winner (just look at the fish photos from the first day), but most importantly is the ability to fish this fly in so many different ways. You can keep the fly on your tippet and try several presentations until you find a productive one. Cast it slightly upstream and allow to dead drift to depth, swing as a traditional wet, retrieve with slow strips, and/or use a Sawyer "induced take" action. Just donʼt look away before your drift is complete! Enjoy this pattern, and Iʼll see you on the stream! 

John Gooderham

Pattern Recipe:

Hook: #14 or #12 Scud style wet fly 

Thread: Semperfli 12/0 NanoSilk colors optional 

Abdomen: Semperfli Dirty Bug Yarn 

Rib: Semperfli Tying Wire 0.2mm 

Thorax: Semperfli Straggle Legs 

Tying Instructions:

As always the materials to tie this versatile pattern can be found in our shop! Please consider supporting us the next time you need to purchase materials for your fly tying endeavors!