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Foam ? for Crease Flies

4K views 8 replies 7 participants last post by  Quentin 
#1 ·
I am starting to tie some pike flies and want to try out some Crease style flies. Before I do so, I thought I would ask for your experience and suggestions.
Pikers are well known for their teeth..., something like Blues but with much more of teeth.
What type of foam would you be using? Are there particular tying methods you can share, like do this & don't do this? What type of glue is used? What size hook & shank lenght do you use? ( I am thinking 3/0 with as long a shank as I can find).
I only have a a few sample flies that I picked up during my last visit to the Cape area so I am really limited. All of them are really short and have the hook near the end or tail. I want to make mine between 4 and 5 inches long and need to have the hook at the head, since piker eat their prey that way.
All suggestions are welcome!

I have some closed cell 1/8 inch thick material, so if I double this up, I get a 1/4 inch thick body, this seems too thick to me. I want to shape the fly like a minnow and weight the fly belly a bit so that it rides just below the surface and somewhat upright. I will use some form of Holographic tape to cover the fly and will post my creations as they evolve.
 
#2 ·
Pete, I've never tied crease flies before but I do know that this pattern is offered as a kit by many manufacturers. I don't know if they are offered in the 3/0 size that you're looking for, but it might be worth checking out.

As for durability, any crease fly that I have fished has held up fairly well for several bluefish before it got torn up and gave up the ghost. Does this mean they'll stand up to pike? I think it's a pretty good indicator that they will for more than a few fish.

Perhaps someone who has more experience with tying this pattern will chime in to help. Good luck.
 
#3 ·
Hi Pete!

The best source for crease fly foam is your neighborhood craft store - Michaels, for instance. It comes in sheets of 12x12" in various colors, white being the most popular.

After applying whatever colors and prisms you like, just coat with epoxy.

If you search for "crease" you should be able to find Bob Pink Jr's awesome entry in the striper archive.

When're you comin' out?
 
#4 ·
I would skip the epoxy. It would make the fly very heavy, and I doubt that it would fare well against a pike with or with out expoxy. I hope I'm wrong and you post your successful results.
The inventor of the fly (I forget his name Capt.Blados) sells a terrific kit that has a very good transfer foil that I have not been able to find anywhere else.
 
#5 ·
Pete, I have some pictures of crease flies in the archives... I really don't think the epoxy makes it very heavy, and mine stay on top even with epoxy...they will last longer and alow you to put various colors on the body. Juro is correct ,just go to the craft store..get super glue and you can even mix epoxy with sparkle flecks if you want . It not not critical that you have the sticky foam that Blados sells... you can simply glue on tightly the color material and epoxy over.... wow, that just gave me an idea.... I will look into the crease fly with more natural colors and feathers....THANKS PETE......
 
#6 ·
A five inch crease fly with epoxy will be very heavy, but then I suppose no pike fly will be fun to cast. When I spoke with Joe Blados, he recomended against epoxy. As for the Blados kit, it's not the sticky foam you're after(they sell that at the craft store), but the transfer foil. It is very cool stuff and if anyone knows of another source, please let me know! This is not just holografic mylar, as the holographic material actually transfers from the mylar backing to the fly(like gold leaf). The possibilities with this stuff is endless.
 
#7 ·
Eddie I'll let you know how that wrapping paper I saved from the trash works out. I hope the bass don't recognize the snow flake pattern and go back into a dormant state:hehe:

I've had good luck with the berol markers for coloring the crease flies. I use the 2hr rodbuilding epoxy because it goes on thinner and is less likely to yellow over time. So far so good. Don't worry about keels and trying to make the thing track in a straight line. As far as I can tell the whole point is to have it flop around sideways with a bunker profile, or so the fish thrashing at it have told me.;) Don't overlook a dead drift presentation with just a slight twitch, Killer.
 
#8 ·
#9 ·
JimW said:
Eddie I'll let you know how that wrapping paper I saved from the trash works out.
Jim, I bought some mylar wrapping "paper" to wrap gifts this year. The leftovers should make ideal reflective material for crease flies. The colored side of the paper is blue, green and purple, and portions of the ink can be removed with tape to reveal the bright silver material underneath. The back side is all silver colored. I tied a juvie pogie fly using a piece of similar material (wrapper from a Power Bar) inside of a body made from EZ Body tubing. I haven't tested it yet but it looks very realistic.

Q
 
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