Thursday, December 24, 2009

Diving Bunker


Rockaway Point is one of the best places for fishing stripped bass and blue fish around the city.
I saw some fishermen catch large fish at the tip of the jetty in Rockaway Point, so I tied a fly especially for fishing there.

The Diving Bunker is a large fly for large fish and weighted heavily, so it will sink quickly and deeply.

Unfortunately I didn't have any chance to fish at the tip of the jetty this season.
I went to Rockaway Point several times, but most of the times the wave was too high to go to the tip.







When the condition was good, the tip was crowded with fishermen.
I, a two-handed fly rodder, need some space for casting, so I had to give up fishing there and just fishing in the mid-section of the jetty.

This Diving Bunker has never caught any fish, but I dream it will catch a big fish one day.
I think when you believe in a fly and use it often, it will catch fish eventually. This is one of the point of views about fly fishing, isn't it?







These are the materials for making Diving Bunker.

The hooks are Timco 600sp size 8/0. They are large hooks to be wound with a lot of lead wire.















Tie the yak hair the same way as Puglisi fly.















Apply Softex to the head part to make the foundation for the eyes.


















Trim the body hair.

Wind a 10-inch length of .035 lead wire to the bend of the hook, then apply super glue on it.

Place the eyes and apply the epoxy over them.

Apply a thin coat of clear silicone to the body of hair around the hook to prevent it from tangling the hook.

Friday, December 18, 2009

Realistic Silver Side Minnow

















My saltwater fishing season is about to end.
I want to go to Sandy Hook as my last fishing trip,
but I have got a backache since the Fire Island Inlet fishing.
So maybe that is it.

What we, fly fishermen, can do in off season is to tie flies for the next season.
I'd like to talk about some of my previous season's flies which caught fishes or for whatever reason I like them.



The first one is "Realistic Silver Side Minnow".
Silver side is the most common bait fish in the northeastern coast.
I made many variations of "E.Z body" head ones,
then I thought why not using "E.Z body" for the entire body to make a realistic imitation.
(By the way, the same kind exists in the market. People thought about the same thing hundreds years ago.)









I know a realistic fly for the human eyes may not be for the fish eyes.
But at least I caught a fluke with this fly.













These are the materials.


















Make the fish body frame with a plastic sheet. I cut it from a clear plastic salad container.














Color the frame with marker and paste a piece of aluminum foil on both sides of the belly.














Tie the "E.Z body" on a hook and slide the frame into it.
Tie the marabou tail and paste the flashabou on both sides of the body.












Place the eyes and apply epoxy to the head.
Trim the marabou tail to complete the fly.













This is a natural one.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Fire Island Inlet

Last Sunday was the first time my wife and I fished in the Fire Island Inlet at Robert Moses State Park.
In the early morning, we went to Rockaway bay side fishing first, and then we drove to Fire Island. We drove through two islands (Long Beach and Jones Beach) and crossed three bridges to get there.
We enjoyed driving through those narrow barrier islands which form the Atlantic side of Long Island.



























Robert Moses State Park looks primitive.
We fished in a nicely caved cove in the early afternoon, then we walked down farther to fish at the end corner of the rock built bulkhead which protects the western tip of Fire Island.
Though there was a strong rip, several people were fishing there. It must be a good spot.
We fished till sun down.
































Whole day we didn't catch any fish.
I guess last Sunday was not our day.