Bluegills and Panfish Candy

Spring is a great time of year for so many reasons it's not feasible to list them all. For many fishermen, fly and otherwise, it is a great time to slay a few bluegills. If it's done with a light fly rod then so much the better. There are few things better than watching a big, spawning bluegill explode on a popper for all it's worth. The fight pound for pound has to be the best ever. What these little guys lack in stature they easily make up for in heart. Their robust nature and aggressive behavior also makes them perfect for getting a young angler into the act, but that's a subject for another post.

Post spawn bluegills can be a bit more challenging to catch and that's where this post comes in. For years I used to lament the end of the spawn because no matter how many casts I made with my poppers I could only catch the smallest bluegills and their cousins. Then I started doing some research and reading. What I found was pretty interesting. Bluegills for the most part don't travel much. Wherever you find spawning fish they probably spend the entire years within the immediate vicinity, they just move deeper. So a change in tactics is all that's in order; follow the fish and go deeper.

Panfish Candy

It seems like a simple enough solution but after hours on the water with limited success a more specific fly was in order. Standard nymphs are okay but few posses the weight to get down and stay there. In addition bluegills need just a little extra to get their attention once the spawn has ended. So I started tinkering and came up with Panfish Candy.

If you think it looks like a twist on the woolly worm you're right but there are two things that make it different. First is the over sized, extra stiff hackle combined with the bright yellow lead eyes. The combination makes the fly always land standing upright whether in or out of the water. The second added feature is the extended hackle tip on the backside of the fly. On the fall the hackle tip flutters giving the fly added action.

Panfish Candy Swallowed Whole

The reaction I got from the fish once I started fishing the fly was tremendous. Swimming it over the bottom produced solid takes that ignited into the fury that is a fighting bluegill. But hopping it along the bottom proved to be the best way to fish it. A long leader and patience are all that was needed to produce take after take. One tip though; the standard tapered or level mono leader make for akward casting with a 10 foot leader on a light rod. A sinking or sink tip line can help to shorten the leader but not many of us have that type of line for our 3 and 4 weights.


It took years and a bit of tinkering there too but I finally came up with a solution. A twisted butt leader easily does the trick. The slightly beefy yet supple butt transmits the energy of the cast and sinks readily. The butt has also proved to come in handy when marauding largemouth decide to sample a little Panfish Candy. Offering just a slight amount of stretch it acts like a shock absorber for heavy fish on light leaders.

Since first using it in 2004 this fly has become my go to fly for bluegills and other sunfish. Even when they're spawning as soon as the action slows with a popper out comes the Panfish Candy!

Invicta- Part II, Body and Hackles

For many a true fanatical fly tyer building classic full dress Atlantic salmon flies is nothing short of pure joy. Starting with a pile of thread, floss, feather and fur and converting it to a miniature work of art is one of the most fulfilling tasks we can undertake, especially if it comes from our own imagination.

Final Steps of Part 1

On April 30 I posted Part 1 about building just such a fly from my own imagination, a full dress version of the classic Invicta. My goal is to answer the basic questions about the construction of full dress flies. While not intended to be a full tutorial this series may be of use to those thinking about trying their hand at it.

The first post ended with the butt of the fly tied over the butts of the tail and its veiling.

Underbody Applied and Measurements Marked.

From that point a section of oval glod tinsel is selected and approximently 2' stripped to the silk core. With the core attached to the underside of the hook shank a smooth layer of dental floss is built as an underbody. The underbody provides a smooth foundation for the floss and dubbed body to come.  Once the underbody is made the tinsel ribbing is wound on to measure for positioning of the body hackle. Note the 2 marks on the underbody; one just above where the hackle is tied in and one where the dubbed portion of the body will stop.

Markings in Place and Floss Attached

When the preliminary marks are made the tinsel is unwound to allow for more measuring and marking.

There are three definite marks placed on the underbody. The mark where the hackle begins is remarked for better visibility. The center of the body is marked and the forward end of the body is marked. Once the marks are in place a section of bright yellow silk floss is tied to the underside of the hook.

Body hackle Attached

The floss is now wound forward in overlapping wraps to the first mark. The floss is locked in place by one wrap of tying thread and secured out of the way on a bobbin rest. Then a prepared, brown neck hackle is attached by the tip to the underside of the hook. After the hackle is secured the thread is moved forward in open wraps to the mark at the center of the body.

With the hackle secured and the tying thread in place the remainder of the floss body can be wound forward.

Floss Portion of the Body Complete

Working with floss can be a tricky business and great care is taken not to fray or stain the floss. It's always a good practice to wash your hands thoroughly, give your fingers a quick scrub with a fine pumice stone and rinse just before working with floss. I like to let my hands air dry rather than drying with a towel. Rough, soiled or oily hands and fingers are the biggest threat to a good, clean winding of floss.

I like to leave a definite gap in the floss where the dubbing starts and wind the rest of the floss forward.

Dubbing Loop Ready to Apply

Next a dubbing loop is formed and filled with bright yellow seal fur substitute. I prefer Jay Fair's seal sub dubbing for tying salmon flies. This dubbing offers great shine, excellent colors, a perfect texture and good length for flies up to 7/0.

Spin the loop until the fibers are tightly secured then stroke the loop to remove any loose fibers. The dubbing loop is now ready to wind forward.

Dubbing wound and

Wind the dubbing loop forward in touching wraps while stroking the fibers back throughout the process. The dubbing will eventually be groomed back and downward for a clean even look. Stroking the fibers back at this point helps to get them in position for later in the tying process.

If the dubbing loop comes up short simply add another and keep going until you reach the forward mark on the underbody floss. Once the dubbing is secured to the hook gently stroke the fibers back toward the eye of the fly to accommodate the tinsel and hackle to come.

Tinsel Wound on the Fly Body

With the dubbing secured carefully wind the tinsel forward making 5 full wraps along the length of the body. Refer to the photo above for an idea of the proper spacing. The tinsel wraps should start and end on the underside of the hook shank. Note that the body hackle is tied in where the second wrap begins on the underside of the fly. The tinsel should intersect this point just in front of the hackle so that the hackle stem rests against the back side of the tinsel.

When you reach the dubbing gently work the tinsel between the fibers trapping as few as possible under the tinsel. Secure the tinsel in place with the tying thread but DO NOT cut the waste end of the tinsel at this time. It will save at least one step of re-tying if the hackle is broken during winding.

Now bring the prepared hackle forward placing it along the back side of the tinsel. Apply just enough tension to the stem to get the hackle in place. If the hackle breaks now disassembling a good portion of the fly is in your future. Working the hackle through the dubbing is made rather simple by the crease created by the tinsel as you can see in the photo above.

Bring the hackle to the forward end of the dubbing and make one additional turn before securing it. Once the hackle is in place the waste ends of the hackle and tinsel can be trimmed.

At this point the hackle and dubbing can be shaped. Stroke the hackle and dubbing barbs down and slightly back. The hackle barbs on top of the fly most often do not want to cooperate. If after several attempts they won't cooperate use a tweezers to remove them from the stem. The same process can be used for the uncooperative dubbing. Do not cut the fibers always pluck them. Also remove dubbing fibers individually to form a slight taper to the profile. This is a tedious and time consuming process, patience is key here.

Throat Hackle Tied In

When you are satisfied with the body and hackle shape tie in the throat hackle by the tip. In this case a blue dyed guinea body feather is used. The barbs of the throat should be slightly langer than the longest barbs on the body hackle. Wind the hackle forward in 3 tight wraps while stroking the barbs back and tie off the stem.

Don't worry about covering the section of the hook forward of the body the hackle stem will be removed from the fly later.

Throat Hackle Secured In Place

Trim the waste ends of the throat hackle and stroke the barbs down and back until they rest just in front of the body hackle and dubbing. Secure the barbs with tying thread behind the throat hackle stem and whip finish. Cut the tying thread from the fly. Apply a drop of head cement to the whip finish and allow it to dry completely.

To complete the throat remove the hackle stem from the fly. Using a razor gently and carefully cut the barbs just in front of the whip finish then cut the thread that was used to secure the waste ends of the hackle. The tying thread from the whip finish forward will also be removed before attaching the wings. Be careful not to cut the silk gut on the underside of the hook shank.

The front 3/16" of the hook shank is now completely exposed and 12/0 silk thread is started at the point where the throat hackle is attached.

The next Invicta post post will cover setting wings, veiling, cheeks, topping, horns and building the head. Thanks for stopping by!

Remembering Mom

There are a million memories I have of my late mother, some good, some great and others well we're all just human but today I can sit back and laugh about them. Just like everybody else who's ever been born I owe a lot to my mother. She taught me numerous lessons about life. She protected me when I needed it and smacked me when I needed that too. I could tell a plethora of stories but this is a fishing blog so let's run with that.

Shortly after we relocated to the shore of Lake Lewisville (north Texas) in 1970 my dad got a tip from a friend at work about the sandbass (whitebass) running in the mornings off a certain point not far from the house. Charlie lived somewhere in the vicinity and kept an eye on those kinds of things. The brothers, dad and I had made a couple trips over on Saturday mornings and caught a fair amount of fish which ended up in the freezer.

One afternoon we disembarked from the bus and dad was sitting in the car waiting; an odd occurrence because it was normally 2 hours later before he got home in the evenings. The four of us- my 2 brothers, my sister and myself -piled in the backseat of the car.

"We're going fishing" dad told us "your mother is packing sandwiches and everything else is in the back." Looking back the gear was all stacked neatly into the cargo area of the old Rambler Wagon.

"Make it quick and get changed, Charlie says the sandbass are really running in the evenings. You're mother's going with us."

Kathy made protest about fishing being for boys but was met with "family outing" logic. Sow we were off and going fishing indeed, the six of us, the whole clan in the Rambler speeding toward the north end of the lake.

The 20 foot long seine was the first thing out of the car and dad and Mark made a quick swing along the drop on the sandy point. As they swung the seine around Tommy and I went to work scooping the handfuls of shad into the buckets of lake water. We had never seen this many shad on one pass of the seine.

Mom and Kathy had unloaded the rest of the gear and in just minutes after our arrival we lines in the water. Dad made sure we all ate our sandwiches quickly because as he put it "There won't be any time for it once the fish move in." He was right.

The girls had opted not to fish as they were there for the fun of it and just going to watch and swim. Within an hour the sandbass had made there assault on the enormous schools of shad that had stacked off the edge of the point. The first few fish came slow, one every couple minutes or so, but then all hell broke loose as the sandbass pushed the shad within casting range. The small cove formed by the long curving point was alive with surface activity, the water literally boiling with activity for minutes at a time.

Before we knew it the fish were hitting our baited hooks so fast we couldn't keep up. The girls had come back from the swimming side of the point to see what all the commotion was about as we boys barked in delight at one another, "fish on", "I got another one", "this is a big one"........

The fish were coming so fast we just started throwing them on the bank, not taking the time to put them in our buckets. Seeing what was going on mom rushed over and started picking up the fish and getting them in our buckets so they wouldn't thrash back into the lake. I won't say we were dirt poor back then but the loss of any kind of food was just that, a loss. With just a little urging Kathy joined in and for what seemed like hours we were trapped in a small bubble just the six of us and an unlimited number of willing fish.

The boys were casting, hooking, landing, baiting, casting, hooking and landing one fish after another as fast as we could heaving the fish onto the sand behind us. The girls were having a hard time keeping up getting all the fish into the buckets.

Eventually the action began to slow as the heat of the frenzy was over. We were all laughing, joking and generally as satisfied as a family could be as a whole. Then we witnessed something that never happened again. Mom went to dad and told him she wanted to try it. He helped her bait the hook and cast the line far into the lake. She took over and turned the handle once and felt the surge of power we boys had been experiencing all evening, she was fast into one of the larger sandbass of the day.
She whooped and laughed and strained to hold onto the bulky handle of dad's rod. By the time she slid the fish flopping onto the sandy shore we had all gathered round.

She looked at all of us with an enormous smile and said "That was fun, now let's go home."

We worked well into the night, the boys filleting and the girls packing. I don't know how many fish we caught that day but there was no room in the big chest freezer when we were done. We feasted on our catch the next evening.

Patricia Ann Fulks Wood April 3, 1940 - December 26, 1980

Thanks for the memories mom. Happy mother's Day!