Good question Ray. LaFontaine, for one, spent hours and hours under water with SCUBA gear to develop some of his patterns. Some of us have to get by by dropping the fly at our feet when we are fishing to observe the action.
Marabou (which I buy in 12 colors and 5 lb lots for each) fished under a bobber or "strike indicator" on a weighted hook or jig, breathes in the water because of the action of the float bouncing it up and down. On a dead drift it is relatively motionless. The action imparted by various stripping techniques can be judged by the fisherman on the water. The technique I described, i.e. tying a salmon egg size chenille ball in the thorax area and then tying marabou in front of it, spreads out the feather and therefore allows the bug to "breathe" easier. (It also increases the perceived bulk making it easier for the fish to see and prevents the marabou from wrapping around the hook.) John -----Original Message----- From: Ray [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Friday, December 28, 2001 11:57 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: fish rpt I was just thinking about your comment on the movement and a funny but serious question crossed my mind. How do the guys designing these flys know that they have movement during the dead drift? Do they put on scuba gear and follow their proto types down river during the trial runs? this questions has entered my mind during several siminars I attended and during discussions with friends and fellow fly fishers I meet on the river. But until now I have never asked this question to people I did not know personal;y real well. Thank you, Ray :-) www.raystackle.com [EMAIL PROTECTED]
