Using Soft Plastics with a Fly Rod for Effective Fishing

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Sometimes soft plastics are the way to go. This fly allows me to have my ‘cake n eat it’.

I am happy to call this a fly because I fish it on a fly rod and fly line, cast it, retrieve it and land fish caught on it in the same way that I do when fish a traditional fly made of say fur and feather for say a brown trout in Lake Jindabyne NSW.

So this fly settles my desire to fly fish but also allows me to enjoy those occasions where fish are more attracted to a soft plastic more than a fly.

cake-i

Materials

 

Hook Thread Eyes Underbody and head Body and tail
Mustard 34007 stainless #2/0 Cotton to suit or contrast with soft plastic body. Spirit River niclle/red 7/32 Dumbbell eyes Tiewell 6mm sparkle flash in pearl red Zman 2.5″ GrubZ in gudgeon colour

Process

 

A
  1. Wind the thread from the 95% position 25% of the way down the hook shank.

    2. See [[Understanding hooks]]

  2. Position a dumbbell eyes on top of the hook shank so thy sit back from the eye of the hook a distance equal to the diameter of the dumbbell eyes.
  3. Tie in your dumbbell eyes on top of the hook shank behind the eye of the shank using tight figure 8 wraps. To make sure that the eyes don’t rotate on the hook shank include a couple of tight wraps the thread around the base of the eyes on top of the shank and between every couple of figure of eight wraps take a firm wrap of thread around the hook shank.

    4. See [[Tying in the eyes]]

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B
  1. Wind the thread to the bend of the hook in tight turns ensuring that you have a full coverage of thread on the hook shank.
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C
  1. Strip the sparkle of a length of sparkle flash and tie it in firmly at the bend of the hook.
  2. Take the thread forward to just behind the dumbbell eyes.
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D
  1. Pull the sparkle flash over the top of the hook shank and lock it down behind the dumbbell bead.
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E
  1. Wind the thread down to the bend of the hook forming 4 segments along the sparkle flash and then wind it back to just the dumbbell eye forming 4 segments along the sparkle flash.
  2. Take the thread over the hook to just behind the eye of the hook and take a half hitch or two just to make sure that nothing unravels.
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F
  1. Pick up the sparkle flash and take a figure of eight wrap over the dumbbell eyes.
  2. Take one full wrap of the sparkle flash beh
  3. Mix a very small amount of epoxy and put just a small amount on top of the chenille at the bend of the hook.

    4. See [[Working with epoxy]]

  4. Prepare the soft plastic by trimming it square at the front with the body equal in length to the shank of the hook.
  5. Take the fly out of the vice and thread a soft plastic body onto the hook shank. As you do this the epoxy will be forced all the way along the under-body and when it sets it will hold the soft plastic in place.
  6. Put the fly back into the vice.
  7. Figure eight wrap the chenille around the eyes.
  8. Tie the chenille off at the eye of the hook and trim the excess.
  9. Whip finish the thread behind the eye of the hook, trim the thread and apply a drop of head cement to the whip finish.
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G
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H
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I
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