[spanishfly]

I bought some last year and tried one while chasing Bull Trout. Action is comparable to the lip on a plug which gives the fly an erratic movement. While I like the movement you can definitely feel the resistance when stripping them back which I felt was annoying. Fished one for about 15 minutes but might give it another toss this winter.

 

[Mumbles]

spanishfly, I got a package but have yet to try them. My first thought on seeing them was to put them on backwards, have you tried that? I figured the profile would not be as resistant to water flow but still more resistance than the fly itself.

 

[JesseC]

getting pretty close to just tying on a rapala eh?

 

[NomDeTrout]

I actually know of a guy who tosses tiny rapala's with his fly rod...same with dick nites.

 

[ceviche]

I actually know of a guy who tosses tiny rapala's with his fly rod...same with dick nites.

There was a time when fly anglers actually did use tiny metal lures as part of their arsenal. I read this in some fly fishing magazine several years ago. I suppose the fur and feather onlymovement simply took over at some point. Personally, I switched to fly fishing because those metal lures were costing me too much in the long run.

--Dave E.

 

[NomDeTrout]

Agreed. I used to do alot of bass fishing and would buy loads and loads of rapala's and all kinds of crank baits and spinner baits...end up costing quite a bit.

 

[CovingtonFly]

Bass fishing lure companies have a pretty good business strategy, they sell you these nice "baits" and tell you the really big fish hang out in the weeds so go ahead and toss the $8 lure right in the thickest weeds you can find.

 

[NomDeTrout]

Yep. its true. advertised as "weedless" crankbaits and spinnerbaits and jig heads...nothing weedless about it when you're taking 2 treble hooks dangling off and diving deep with it. or a giant hook for largemouths that seems to get caught on every rock/log there is. gets caught on just about anything in the way.

 

[spanishfly]

getting pretty close to just tying on a rapala eh?

Pretty much

spanishfly, I got a package but have yet to try them. My first thought on seeing them was to put them on backwards, have you tried that? I figured the profile would not be as resistant to water flow but still more resistance than the fly itself.

Didn't try them backwards yet. Good idea. Would give the same profile as a 'turbo cone' used on tube flies just bigger.

 

[wolverine]

The only times that I've ever used them is in front of woolly buggers. Trolling them over at Rufus Woods or Omak lake worked really well. Never tried to cast them.

 

[JesseC]

I shouldn't judge. Most of the big trout I've ever caught have been on rapala minnows that I basically just floated downstream and cranked back.

Of course, this was decades ago as a kid in Maryland - before my reformed days of sipping scotch, smoking cubans, tossing dry flies while flinging my $500 rod back and forth.

Shoot, what happened to me? I'm catching way smaller fish and am spending about 20 times more money to do it! Bahhh!

 

[Bill Johnson]

3 years ago I took a Rapala Rainbow F4, removed the trebles and added a single hook (barbless) to the back end. I tied that to the end of my 5wt and went out on the lake and started casting it to the docks and lilies. Caught a bunch of small small mouths and bluegills, and even more rainbows (them bastard cannibals). So I caught fish. The whole time I felt like I was gear fishing, and the thing was pretty hard to cast. So I quit using the thing. Now I only fly fish, except when I have my granddaughters over when we go out and use the Rapalas on spinning rods.

This thing looks like a piece of gear to me. Put it on a spinning rod.

My 2 cents, and worth every penny.

Bill

 

[Mumbles]

What about the Eumer cones and monster cones? Are they pieces of gear too or enhancements to swimming flies in current to draw out strikes in fish that love movement in prey?

 

[hikepat]

Want the same effect but cheaper? Try some sequins from any craft store. You can also put a bead between the sequins and the fly. I use this on salt patterns for Silvers at times and I would guess it would do fine in fresh water for trout as well.
To cheap to buy sequins then take them off one of your wives {or yours I will not judge you} old worn out evening dresses.

 

[Matey]

I bought some last year and tried one while chasing Bull Trout. Action is comparable to the lip on a plug which gives the fly an erratic movement. While I like the movement you can definitely feel the resistance when stripping them back which I felt was annoying. Fished one for about 15 minutes but might give it another toss this winter.

...My first thought on seeing them was to put them on backwards, have you tried that? I figured the profile would not be as resistant to water flow but still more resistance than the fly itself.

Doug Swisher sells Swish-Tails

Reminds me of soft bass baits I used to buy. Tie some mono in at the hook bend and up near the eye to make it weedless.