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3. Caddis Wing, Page 3

Paul, Eric, You two are very funny...and very obsessed. :)

Yes, but I would not disappear! One of my most memorable fish was a 27lb Jack Crevalle, he was one bad-ass fish. I want to at least be attached to a GT for a little while...but like Paul said, it will probably be one of those OK, now I'm attached what do I do now...There have been a few occasions like that for me over the years.

Sorry for hijacking this thread! Somehow we got from caddis wings to chasing Giant Trevally in the South Pacific...

Spence, that isn't a joke.


My fault, this wayward course. My move came up in several posts and I responded publicly as I got PMs. Apologies to readers who really just wanted to read about caddis wings.

No problem, Paul. I started the thread, and opened it up to a new direction asking you about your Pacific plans. I think the caddis wing info had run its course, and it's never a bad thing, to me anyway, when interesting conversations go their own way.

This vid is for you guys:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ar1lUuKI1rw

If I had the chance I'd be there in a second.

Sorry sir...Incredable! You are going to have to work on those arm curls and jog around the block, several thousand times...Those fish murdered those lures!

Eric...If you break in to you children's college funds, and me my retirement savings we could leave now and meet up with Paul ASAP! ;) If we grab Tony we'll have a foursome.

And did you see those lures??? Those poppers could empty a bathtub.

Asia is ... relatively cheap. If you can live like the locals.

That looks so fun! take the hook off one of those poppers and bait and switch those things. Id like to get a hold of one of those doggies too!

This sounds awesome! I would love a 2 year fishing trip. Are you going to be based out of the Phillipines? Will you have to travel for the trout you mention?


Can someone enlighten me on the GT. Am I correct they are part of the jack family, like permit? Also, Crepuscular, are you serious about a 14 wt? If so, that sounds like it could be fun, or scary, or likely a bit of both.

Yes the trevally are members of the jack family. And yes I was serious about the 14 weight...I have, on occasion, chased bluefin tuna around the northeast.

It's not exactly a "2yr fishing trip" -just trying to psyche myself up. We're going for my son's education, the ability to save $, and for adventure. I've lived and traveled in Asia before (including a month in the Philippines) so it's not entirely new. But...I will surely miss my streams, ponds, mountains, .... . I have assembled the fishing gear I think I'll need, having chosen some species I'd like to target while there. We're still a bit bummed that the position in Borneo fell through -that would have been really cool.

But the Philippines will be neat too:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADNgEHFDYzo

A "GT" is a Giant Trevally. Trevally and "Jacks" are in the large peri-tropically distributed family Carangidae. They are built for speed, but most are deeply laterally compressed (flat-sided) which means they can really put a shoulder to you. GT's are one of the biggest, reaching 150lbs. Hooking such a fish would probably be like hooking a car. True to myself, I'd like a nice 10lber on my 10wt. I will have a heavy action action casting rig (my muskie/swimbait rig) along too. So, if I see a BIG GT, which I likely will, I ...might ...cast that-away ...

Well, that still sounds like quite a way to spend a couple years, even if it's not entirely a two year fishing trip. I wish you the best of luck. I can't wait to see some of the posts!



I never put together the reason why those fish fought so hard. That makes a whole lot of sense.

Even at 150 lbs, would it fight as hard as a whale? We may need to defer to entoman on that one :)



I thought sticking it to musky on a 10 wt was going big...I was sadly, sadly mistaken. I never had much interest in saltwater...this changes that.

Thanks for sharing that, Paul. Man, you have to be in MMA shape to take on those busters. A trip planned for bonefish could turn into a week on Advil and hanging out with the resort masseuse if you have that encounter on the first day. Now I know why the salters talk about them in awed, hushed tones. It looks like it was all those guys could do to not get jerked out of the boat - taking on 20 - 30 lb fish!! Tied tail to tail with any other fish lb for lb., those bad boys would drown all comers pretty quick! Nice teeth too... What monsters!

Eric & Tony - It seems to me that after a week of that melee, there would be some serious adjustment required when setting up on a 12" trout with 10X during trico time...:)LOL

Snap! #$@&!! SNap! $&@(#*%!! Snap! %*%@@!$&!!!

I will reply to the initial post about the question about a translucent tough material for caddiswings.
I "discovered" a material wich is very usable for making wings and posted the information on my website and on the ffft forum in England.
First I have one question to Martinlf, the days the trout ignored most of the caddis patterns was that on a sunny day? When you are using a material which is translucent, the light will pass through the wings and these reflections will be visible for the trout. Materials such as deerhair, will not create these reflections as the light will not pass through.

I've copied a part of the posting on the ffft forum:
"
Last saturday I bought ffft the februari issue at my local flyfishing
store,and was surprised to read your article about the cling film wings. A
very nice article and beautifull tied mayflies. I like the hook pointing up,
thanks for sharing this information.
Last christmas holidays I found out a way to create nice flywings that has some
similarities to the way you work. I wrote an article on my website which is
mostly in dutch (I think about adding english information) but its so easy that you will understand it by looking at
the images and with some extra information.
The fabric I use for the wings is packaging foam and is used for protecting
stuff against damaging. It comes on big rolls named epe foam roll or sheet.
The method is very simple, get an iron and heat the foam, it will shrink and
a nice sheet is created from which you can make nice wings. Different layers
can be used with other material trapped in between. On the top layer of foam
lay a sheet of baking paper to protect the iron getting damaged by the
melting foam.
Play around with the temperature of the iron and try 1 to 6 layers of foam
with other materials or color it with markers and have fun. I also think about making
wingcases etc. for nymphs.
I have not yet tried your wings with the cling film but sure I will do.
Maybe there are ways to combine both the foam an cling film or they might
have their own benefits. I think the cling film is more glossy and therefore better suitable for spinners.
The method I describe is to iron several layers of foam, you can go up to 4 or more layers and after ironing a flexible sheet excists. The layers can be marked with a marker or feathers can be trapped between te layers of foam. The feathers stick best to the foam when they are fluffy, when there is some “space” between the fibres. When ironing the foam melts and sticks on both sides of the feather.
The stength of the wing is very acceptable, you can tear it yes, but some “force” will be needed.
When you want more strength, simply ad another layer of foam and iron again, or add some material between the layers of foam that improves the strength.
I’ve not tested it much, just one time in my backyard (I’m happy to live along the water) and now it is januari and we have ice covered water at the moment but the first impressions were good.
When the waters are open again I will give it a test and might post it on the forum. I’m not active at the forum but your article was so similar to my method that I wanted to share thoughts.

http://www.maartenvaneijk.com/foam-vleugels.html
"

Read the full conversation on the ffft forum:
http://www.flyfishing-and-flytying.co.uk/forums/viewthread/894/
I hope this information is helpfull to you.
Nice forum this is, especially for the entomological information.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/maartenvaneijk/

Ha!Ha! Yep... It'd take awhile to get that triple pump set (with accompanying grunts) out of my system. The two are as opposite as two old people playing badminton and a pro hockey game.:)

Kyle,


Ha! My experience is whales don't fight at all. They just swim along at the same pace without a concern in the world, hooked or not. Thank goodness...:)

BTW - a 150 lb. GT is unimaginable. You'd need to be strapped in a fighting chair with 50 lb. tackle to even have a chance - based on what that video showed.

Hi MvEijk,

Welcome to the forum. It's always great to hear from our international brothers of the hook, fur & feather.

Great idea abut the ironed packing foam as a way to seal and reinforce body feathers for caddis wings. My only concern is shininess, but the idea certainly merits experimentation. One of the nice things about the Medalion sheeting we've been discussing is that it has little creases and blotches together with a dull translucence that is very life-like. It is very similar to Swiss Straw (Raffene in Europe), but much tougher and doesn't go limp when wet. Unfortunately the latter characteristic causes it to not take marking well, so you're stuck with the colors the manufacturers provide.

Thanks for sharing the concept and your links. Great looking wing burners, BTW.

Best regards,

The foam and the clingfilm can be laminated together and the result is a nice (very) translucent sheet. Feathers can be trapped in between but marking one layer before laminating works very well, even printing on the films is possible.
For many its a lot of work for just some wings, but when you laminate for one hour you have enough material for one or several years.
My english is not very good, I hope things are clear and will not be misunderstood.

Your English is fine, Mv. What is clingfilm? I'm not familiar with the term. Does it have a different trade name here in the States (assuming we even have it)?