I wanna try a spoon fly----help

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GoinCoastal
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I wanna try a spoon fly----help

Post by GoinCoastal »

I want to try my luck at some spoon flies. I am gonna try without a dryer to start. I want to airbrush the spoon then coat it. What materials would yall recommend for the painted body and the coating? And does anyone have pics of the fly as its being tied or know of a website with pics?

joe
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fishin'
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Post by fishin' »

There was a post earlier about the spoonfly and how to tie it. I have a book, Texas Saltwater Classics, that has pics and tying recipe. I just got it yesterday at Sportsman's Finest but AA may also have it or Austin Outfitters. Great book with lots of patterns, full color photos and recipes for all.

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Post by let's go »

My girls are using something called "Shrinky-dink" for craft projects. They cut out shapes, color them, and then put them in the oven for a while. I'm going to try using this material for spoons. It's a very thin, but fairly stiff plastic. It's smooth on one side and the other side has a rougher texture. I can't find the package right now, but they'll tell me where they keep it when they get home....or I won't feed them dinner :wink: I have my ways of getting confessions.
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Post by NoBoat »

I remember shrinky dinks. When I was a kid they had spiderman and scooby-doo shrinky dinks. You really can't control how they curl though - or could you?

http://www.shrinkydinks.com
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Post by SemperFly »

Spoon flies or as Scott Sparrow calls them kite flies are not hard to tie it is the epoxy that can get messy. The Saltwater classics book mentioned earlier has the system down.

As for material use 2 sided tape. You can get it at fly shops and auto parts stores. If you go to Lagunamadre.net you will see some examples of what the kite flies(really just spoons with the rear curve cut at an angle) look like. I have had good results on these, the last red I caught at LHL was on a spoonfly of my own design. Made me feel all good inside.

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Post by let's go »

OK, Joe. After a thorough search that would rival Santa Barbra PD at Jacko's ranch, I have found their cache. It is called Shrinky Dinks. There's another brand called Shrinkable Plastic (not near as much fun to say). I grilled daughter #1 and she said that it could be found at Michael's, Hobby Lobby, and maybe Wallyworld.

I'm not thinking so much about actually shrinking it in the oven. I think it's just about the right stiffness for use as is and I think the rough side will hold the paint that Joe wants to use.

Uh-oh, Joe. It says to only use with adult supervision. Is Mel around to keep an eye on you?
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This has been a project of mine as well

Post by Tailchaser »

I've tried several techniques recently, but my favorite so far are spoon flies with press on finger nails cut in a Johson spoon shape. I think the concave shape helps with the action in the water (I tested a bunch of different patterns and shapes in the in the bath tub). After hearing about this technique recently, I got my girlfriend to pick me up a clear nail kit at Walmart for $5.00. I used the #4 nails with a size 4 Mustad 34011 hook, size #5 nail with size 6 Mustad 34011, and #2 nail with a size 1/0 34007 hook. It's a pretty simple pattern...

1) Cut the nail to shape (I used a Johnson spoon as a model)
2) Bend the hook to fit in the nail shape
3) Tie in a tail at the rear of the hook (you can use marabou, rabbit, flash, etc.)
4) Wrap the hook shank with thread, and cut off.
5) Glue the nail to the hook using Zap A Gap or some kind of super glue

For color/flash, I got best results by slipping a large mylar tube over the nail, placing a dab of 5 min epoxy in the tube, tying off both ends, and pressing it against the nail until dry. Painting using an airbrush would probably work just as good if not better, though. My girlfriend is in the process of ordering me some flashy gold nail polish to experiment with. :D

For finish, I prefer rod building finish because it dries clear, but I tied some using a light coat of 5 minute epoxy, and they turned out ok (just not as flashy).
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Post by Ernie »

spoon flies are pretty easy to tie. I use a long shank #4 hook with a small amout of red buck tail tied in at the bend and cut to be proportional to the body. Also tie in a piece of heavy monofilament several inches long (this will become a weed guard). Then take a piece of medium diameter mylar tubing in either gold or silver and remove the inside strings. Tie in one end of the mylar tubing at the bend and the other end at the eye. Loop the monofilament around to the eye to create the weed guard and whip finish the fly. Now mix your epoxy and carefully cover the tie-in at the bend, the whip finish at the eye, and generously coat the mylar tubing body. Using your fingers, squeeze the tubing flat (just like a metal spoon) and keep working the epoxy until the spoon retains its shape. Put the spoon back in the vise and add a light finishing coat of epoxy which will give the spoon a shiny/flashy finish.

Also, check out www.saltwaterflytying.com for other great patterns.
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Post by wilded »

Get Barry's and Slowride's recipe for spoon flys. ET :D
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Post by let's go »

Just did this one playing around with some stuff I found at Angler's Edge called "bright edge". It's meant for steelhead fly bodies. I used some pearl fish scales mylar tape overthe other stuff. The glue is still wet and I haven't done an epoxy coat on it yet.
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Post by SemperFly »

Lets Go that is a good looking lure. Does the tape stick to the bright edge well? Again, that will work, nice job!

Semperfly[/b]
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Post by Barry »

Hey Joe
Check out the URL's below. The only thing I'd change is, I'd bend the hooks so they have a slight curve to them, like a caddis/shrimp hook. He punches holes in his Spoon flys like Du Pree does. It might lighten them up a bit.

Epoxy Spoon Fly

Lady Bug Spoon Fly

This site has some nice patterns on it.
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Post by rabbit »

Very nice looking spoon flys now for a stupid question. When in the water which side is up the convex side or the hook side?
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Post by let's go »

Semperfly - The tape stuck just fine. I also found this same material in the Wapsi catalogue. It was listed as Lazer Wrap. That's the first spoonfly I've done. I was just buying them from Tom Horbey, but that got expensive.

rabbit - The hook should ride up if eveything is working right. I'm still going to put a weedguard on the final version. This one is for testing in the pool.........when it warms up a couple degrees
Last edited by let's go on Thu Jan 08, 2004 10:54 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by let's go »

I picked this off of Sparrow's fishing report site. He just started making these. I haven't used them yet, but they look like they'd be easy to do.


"A member of the Kingfisher web board asked me to describe the kite fly, and how to tie it. My high-quality digital camera bit the dust a few weeks ago when I dropped it into the water, but I got some lesser-quality shots of the kite fly in hopes that it will convey the general shape of the fly. As you can see, it's a basic spoon fly, tied with auto body mylar tape, available from any auto parts store.

I proceed as follows: First I cut a diamond or kite shaped piece of mylar tape, about an inch and 1/8 from tip to tip. (Why this shape? It's much easier to cut a perfectly symmetrical kite shape than it is to cut an oval. Whether left- or right-handed, you will always cut a slightly asymmetrical curve. So why not make it easy on yourself by cutting four straight lines. It works just as well.
Then I remove the backing, and lay the hook -- a Gamakatsu size 2 B10S -- against the sticky side, such that the top of the kite shape, or the larger angle, wraps around the hook bend about 1/3 of the way. The other end -- the more acute angle -- terminates right behind the eye. Then I tie down the tips, fore and aft, with tying thread. Then I mix five-minute expoxy with gold or red fine glitter, and apply it to the underside of the fly, in order to bond the tape with the hook, and to give it weight. You can apply it lightly for a fly that you want to sink slowly, or heavily for a fly that you'll use in deeper water. Then I put the flies on my turner (driven by a rotisserie motor) to let the epoxy cure. Only after the epoxy has hardened, I coat the outside of the tape with Sally Hansen's Hard-as-Nails, or for a more permanent finish, you can apply a thin coating of epoxy. Then I tie in a inline weedguard of about 50-60 pound mono. If that's confusing, give me a call at (956) 738-4350 and I'll talk you through it."

Scott Sparrow
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Post by rabbit »

Thank you lets go. They all look very pretty. Is this a beauty contest in disguise? :D
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Post by rabbit »

Thank you lets go. They all look very pretty. Is this a beauty contest in disguise? :D
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Post by livetofish »

let's go wrote:fore and aft


I like that description for the head and tail of the fly. LOL.

LTF.
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Post by GoinCoastal »

Yeah me too Dasu!!!! Scott has been wanting to use those new fangled Capt terms for weeks!!!!!!!!! I can see him now questioning a drive-by witness...

Was the shooter shooting from the port or starboard side of the car???? And you say they slowed downed... At how many knots do you think they were traveling?

j/k Capt Scott!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Post by let's go »

Hey, I paid a lot of money to learn that stuff!!!!!! :lol:

GC - What? No comment about my spoonfly.......I'm hurt. :wink:
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Post by Barry »

Hey Scott
I'll comment. The Spoon Fly looks great. Now go down to AP and teach Dean how to do it right.
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Post by GoinCoastal »

After hearing what all yall SOBs did to my name tag this weekend, I can 't believe your hurt!!!!! ANd I thought yall were friends!!!!!!!

Actually, I really like it!

I know the spoon will work in the salt because I have always caught reds on gold spoons. But I think that spoon flies will work really well in freshwater too. I am thinking that bass on the spring spawn and early summer feeding frenzies will eat them up. I know that I have used spoons interchangable with spinnerbaits all my life. And I know that I have had my best results on the spinnerbait in spring and early summer. I think that small colored spoon flies will be deadly on some of the nearby waters....

I am looking forward to tying some. I have never worked with epoxy at all so I expect I will end up my fingers glued together or krystal flash stuck to my u-know-what. Its gonna be a mess for me!!!!! So if I drop off the board for a week or so its because I can't type with my fingers glued together..........
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Post by M-D »

Joe,

The name-tag thing is your own fault. You weren't there to defend it. :wink:

Working with epoxy demands that you have your feces tightly compacted before beginning. Have everything laid out, mix the stuff, and go! I typically use the 5-minute stuff, which is misleading, particularly in hot weather. From the time you mix it till you cant work well with it any more, you have maybe 2 minutes. The stuff in the syringes is easy to get, but there are other epoxies out there. Rod-wrapping epoxies, some of them, would work well for this, though then you'd need to turn them. Epoxy can also be bought in bottles at hobby shops, in various cure times.

I use these little wooden things called Stim-U-Dents, available at most drug stores, discount chains, etc., to spread and work the epoxy. They're inexpensive, and you can use the same one over and over if you'll wipe the epoxy off the end. You can even leave the epoxy if you want to make a specially-shaped tool.

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Post by let's go »

Joe - Try this stuff in the place of epoxy. It's a water based polyurethane and there's no mixing or smell. It seems to hold up just fine. A fly drier is handy though because it's a little thinner than epoxy and doesn't set up as fast.

www.loonoutdoors.com
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Post by M-D »

Scott,

Have you not seen any discoloration in the finish after using a fly for a while? It seems the stuff would turn off-white on me, apparently from water attack. It would go back to clear after the fact, but seemed to not ever be as hard as an epoxy. My bottle of the stuff got stiff, so I added some isopropyl acohol per the instructions. Worked just fine after that. Still, I played around with it, but never did come to like it as much as epoxy, so went back to that. Guess it just depends upon what one likes and gets used to using.

M-D
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