Colonel, the Gilly looks good. I have never tried to tie one, but looking at that smallie makes me want to. Do you tie any particular recipe, or do you add your on flair?
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Check out my sweet Gilly Minnow,
http://www.colonelmeyer.com/gillyminnowft.JPG
and the nice smallie I caught on this little fella late in the summer/early in the fall.
http://www.colonelmeyer.com/smallie09_17_09.JPG
See it there in its mouth? Heh, heh, yes!
Colonel, the Gilly looks good. I have never tried to tie one, but looking at that smallie makes me want to. Do you tie any particular recipe, or do you add your on flair?
Very Nice !!! I love all of the color !
Well, I had been thinking of constructing some rapala style balsa minnows and decided to research it online for ideas which led me to a DCFF article detailing Mr. Gillinwater's pattern. I was inspired by the minnows in the article and decided I would give it a shot. The water I had been fishing at that time (be happy to share that with you guys via PM, although I am sure Tim knows about it if he hasn't been there already) like most small streams was loaded with all kinds of sunfish so fire tiger it was. Only thing I had to change was the shape of the head, at the time I only had streamer hooks and no long shank popper hooks to accomodate his style. His have a more more elongated triangular head with a much sharper taper which makes them dive deeper faster, it was kind of a happy accident. All I did for the tail was tie some crystal flash back there flat, like a rudder. The actual head I fabricated with 5-minute epoxy and turned by hand until it took the shape I wanted. Took me like 2 hours total just to prepare the hook and sand the body to the shape I wanted, then the fun started! I wanted it to be plenty durable so put down two coats of white paint, then the orange, yellow, green, and the stripes. I used three or four layers of clear fingernail hard coat to protect the paint which worked like a charm. Oh it was so sweet, I worked my way down the stream but where I have permission and access the water kind of works against me, ya know working down current so things usually work out better on the way back up to the car. There is a riffle I always hit first and last, and last that day was awesome! Literally my last cast before it would be getting to dark to walk back up the hill. I put my little buddy there right in front of this nice rock that is usually submerged but, being late in the season the water was dropping and the top was poking out making for a perfect presentation. As soon as it hit the water she slammed it, HARD! She tried to bump me on the boulders but i led her towards the head of the pool and she took off into it. I played her down for a few minutes because I didn't want to risk losing her, and when I brought her to my net it was probably the most satisfying moment I have had alone on the water. She posed for a quick photo and held perfectly still as if she knew I was going to slip her back into her home. I'm getting all giddy just thinking about it. Suppose this is why my girlfriend calls all my fish photos fish porn.
Well, I had been thinking of constructing some rapala style balsa minnows and decided to research it online for ideas which led me to a DCFF article detailing Mr. Gillinwater's pattern. I was inspired by the minnows in the article and decided I would give it a shot. The water I had been fishing at that time (be happy to share that with you guys via PM, although I am sure Tim knows about it if he hasn't been there already) like most small streams was loaded with all kinds of sunfish so fire tiger it was. Only thing I had to change was the shape of the head, at the time I only had streamer hooks and no long shank popper hooks to accomodate his style. His have a more more elongated triangular head with a much sharper taper which makes them dive deeper faster, it was kind of a happy accident. All I did for the tail was tie some crystal flash back there flat, like a rudder. The actual head I fabricated with 5-minute epoxy and turned by hand until it took the shape I wanted. Took me like 2 hours total just to prepare the hook and sand the body to the shape I wanted, then the fun started! I wanted it to be plenty durable so put down two coats of white paint, then the orange, yellow, green, and the stripes. I used three or four layers of clear fingernail hard coat to protect the paint which worked like a charm. Oh it was so sweet, I worked my way down the stream but where I have permission and access the water kind of works against me, ya know working down current so things usually work out better on the way back up to the car. There is a riffle I always hit first and last, and last that day was awesome! Literally my last cast before it would be getting to dark to walk back up the hill. I put my little buddy there right in front of this nice rock that is usually submerged but, being late in the season the water was dropping and the top was poking out making for a perfect presentation. As soon as it hit the water she slammed it, HARD! She tried to bump me on the boulders but i led her towards the head of the pool and she took off into it. I played her down for a few minutes because I didn't want to risk losing her, and when I brought her to my net it was probably the most satisfying moment I have had alone on the water. She posed for a quick photo and held perfectly still as if she knew I was going to slip her back into her home. I'm getting all giddy just thinking about it. Suppose this is why my girlfriend calls all my fish photos fish porn.
Sounds like the perfect end to a great day ! Thanks for sharing that with us !
Great looking fly. Sounds like a pattern I want to try makeing thanks for shareing. Could you share more info on DCFF site? Thats one I'm not familiar with.
DCFF site is www.derbycityflyfishers.com
Colonel-
That fly has very similar yellow/black markings as the bitch creek fly we used to through for smallies on Silver Creek in Richmond, KY. I wonder what it is about that color scheme that creek smallies love? Nice looking fly, and even better looking smallie!
-Rich
Thanks fellas, it was fun reliving the moment. Wish I knew why they loved it so much, it sure does drive em' crazy though. Gramps, here is a direct link to the article I was referring to, its a DCFF newsletter from 2005 and is in pdf format, so if you don't have the adobe acrobat reader you'll need need to get it first.
News letter http://www.derbycityflyfishers.com/s.../DCFF-9-05.pdf
Adobe Acrobat Reader http://get.adobe.com/reader/?promoid=BUIGO
Thanks again for all the enthusiasm, it is what makes this the best fishin' community on the net!
Man, It would really be a bummer to loose something that you spent so much time on ! I hope you have retired that guy to the Mantle !
True. I almost lost it once but lucky for me I swim fast and it was warm out. That near loss almost retired it but spending that much time making a lure and not luring anything with it bothers me more than the thought of losing it. Besides balsa is cheap and I have a variable speed dremel tool now!
That,s cool ! Whip out a few extra just in case !True. I almost lost it once but lucky for me I swim fast and it was warm out. That near loss almost retired it but spending that much time making a lure and not luring anything with it bothers me more than the thought of losing it. Besides balsa is cheap and I have a variable speed dremel tool now!