Frog patterns

[bibio1]

Looking for some decent frog patterns both floating and sinking. Any ideas?

Never used them before but over the past couple of years I have come to think they are a bigger source of food for whumpers than we think

Cheers

Paul

[bibio1]

I might need a 4wt rod for them. They look good though.

Cheers

Paul

[Traditionalist]

I have a few that work pretty well, they are not that hard to make and you don't really want a box full of them anyway. Half a dozen is usually more than enough for a day out.This is the basic construction method;

http://www.wildfisher.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=16610.msg177446#msg177446

for the frogs. ( Thought I had posted this before but I can't find it!);

As with nearly all these fingernail flies, which I have used to create a range of patterns, you can prepare the fingernails in advance for the pattern you wish to dress.

Take the fingernail of the size required, and trace the outline on a piece of flat closed cell foam. I have used white here, but you can use any colour you like;


Now take a smaller fingernail, trace the outline again, and cut it out;


Take your fingernail, and using contact adhesive, ( I have used UHU here) or super glue, or whatever else you have available, glue the large piece to the fingernail.When set, glue the small piece on as well;


Allow to set thoroughly. You may prepare a number of these bodies in advance, and allow them to set. You should end up with something like this;


Now we need some frog´s legs. There are several options here, and I will show a couple more for various patterns, depending on what they are to be used for,but here we are going to use polyethylene braid. This is available everywhere in various DIY markets etc. It is intrinsically buoyant, and does not absorb water. This is important for this fly! This is 2mm braid. Cut off two lengths of this as desired. Tie an overhand knot in each length, and fray one end of the length a little using a needle or similar. Place a drop of glue on the knots, and just before the frayed ends. This prevents the knots coming undone, and the frayed ends from unravelling any further;


You can make these legs even more realistic, if you knot two strands together, and cut off one of the strands behind the knot, this imitates the thicker thighs of the frog very well, but reduces the action somewhat. I prefer the livelier action of the thin legs. You can now colour the body and legs as desired. I have used a pretty universal green frog scheme here, using magic markers;


You need right and left legs! So make sure you colour the right side of the cord! We don´t want to waste such expensive material!!! ( 100 metres costs about a dollar ).

When doing this, always use your lighter marking pens first! As otherwise you will ruin the pens. The colour scheme here is yellow, then green, then brown, and a couple of dark stripes on the back. If you want some really interesting colour schemes, make up some bodies, and give them to your kids to colour. This results in some amazing combinations! keeps your kids busy, saves them scrawling on your wallpaper, ( take the markers off them after they have finished the frogs!!!), and gives you more fly-dressing time!!!

Choose a suitable hook for the size of fly you are dressing, and mount it in the vice. The hook should be long enough so that the eye is not obscured, and the bend is slightly beyond the body of the fly. Start your thread as normal, and take it back to the position shown. Wind in some black wool at the rear, and then some red wool at the front.Whip finish and varnish. Now take your body, and place a small bead of glue in the centre of the nail, and then place the body as shown. Put aside to set.

Now take your legs, put a few spots of glue where you want them, place the legs a shown, and put aside to set;



Now take your epoxy ( if you are only making one fly just a small amount of 5 minute epoxy is sufficient. If you are making half a dozen, use thirty minute epoxy). Run the epoxy into the nail using a cocktail stick or similar. It should be about level with the nail rim, and no more! You can use a piece of blu-tac or similar putty to hold the nail level while you do this. You should end up with this;

Bottom view;

Allow to set thoroughly. Now, take the fly, and paint the belly with pearl glitter flash nail varnish. If you wish, you may also give the top side a coat of hard as nails or similar. This is the result from various angles;






Of course you may allow your artistic talents free rein here, adding eyes, and all that sort of thing, but it doesn´t make any difference to the fish! Although you may impress a few fellow anglers with some "very realistic" versions.

There are a couple of versions of this fly, which behave completely differently, and are fished in different ways. As the colouration of frogs varies considerably according to type and locality, you will need to observe your local frogs to get the colour scheme you need. The first one shown here is the floating version. I like to fish this on a sinking line, and long leader, near lily pads, weeds etc. Draw the fly towards you, it causes a small commotion or a "plop" depending how you move it, then dives, and then swims up to the top again like a real frog. It will also be taken when stationary. Perch and pike will really thump it hard, so be prepared! I have never caught a freshwater bass, but I imagine this fly will work well for them as well, and also for various panfish. Indeed, it should catch any fish that eats frogs!

If you fish it on a floating line, it "swims" across the surface very realistically causing a small commotion, again like a real frog. The weight of the hook and epoxy is sufficient to ensure that it sits in the film with the legs trailing. If it does not land right side up, which occasionally happens, just give it a twitch and it flips over.

Hope you enjoy dressing and fishing this one. It has turned up some lunker perch for me! It is extremely durable, unlike many foam flies, very easy to cast and use, and very quick to make. Of course, a couple of pike will chew it up a bit! Once again, you can easily make a dozen in an hour.

[Traditionalist]

For smaller stuff this works well;

This fly has been very very successful indeed for me, and I dress it in a few colours. I have had hundreds of fish on it. Even small browns will attack it over and over again! This is a brown and yellow version;



First we are going to make the legs. We need yellow 2mm vernille for this. Burn and taper the legs using a lighter.  That was it! Now mount your hook in the vice. I have used a Gamakatsu LS-5413G here. Run your thread on down to just above the barb, and tie in a length of copper ribbing wire. Tie in a length of smooth pale brown wool;



Wind about half way up the body, and then tie the legs in as shown;



Wind the body up to the eye, forming a nice taper, and tie off. Rib the body with the copper wire and tie off, ( best to break the wire here by bending it back and forth a few times). Whip finish and varnish.

Now you need to cut a piece of flat closed cell foam and glue it to the fingernail.You could of course glue the foam directly to the fly, but he fingernail gives a better base and profile, maintains the translucency very well, and causes a nice commotion when the fly is given some action.

When all is dry, Place a bead of glue in your fingernail, as described for other flies in this series, and mount your body as shown;



When completely dry, run a very small amount of epoxy onto the body and nail. You want just enough to give a good bond, but not enough to counteract the buoyancy of the foam.

That was it!



These flies are more or less indestructible. I always have a few of these in my box. They work well on still-waters too! Of course you can colour this to suit your local hoppers. These come in a large range of colours and sizes;

https://www.google.com/search?q=grasshopper&hl=en&prmd=imvnse&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=8qF8UJ2wFdDGtAb9qoDYCw&ved=0CAoQ_AUoAQ&biw=1024&bih=610

you can make them look more like frogs if you wish.

This is a brown and yellow variation. The whole fly is quite translucent. Striped versions in various colours seem to work better than plain versions. I think the fish like striped things generally! Again, this is a fly which the fish tend to hit very hard, especially if you give it some action, or "plop" it off the bank into the water. In high summer, when not much is happening, a hopper "plopped" in like this, especially below a grassy bank or similar, can bring very good results.

They may occasionally be taken because the fish think they are frogs of course, but I really don´t mind if a five pound brown makes such a mistake!

[Otter Spotter]

Back in my stockie bashing days I used green (frog resembling) mini poppers, I got them from Fliesonline I think). They were surprisingly effective and great fun. Never tried them on brownies though but I assume at the right time of year they would work.

Just checked, I got them here http://www.fliesonline.co.uk/boobies-and-poppers/mini-trout-poppers.html Shouldnt be too difficult to copy. This is for the floating pattern not sure how you'd do a sinking one.

[bibio1]

Thanks mike and os. I spend a fortune on false nails so might get a bit of use out of them once the mrs is finished with them.

Cheers

Paul