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Got sequins in your flies? Wiggle on a damsel nymph question.

2K views 6 replies 4 participants last post by  itsabigun 
#1 ·
Hey all,

I'm going to be tweaking on some damsel nymph patterns this week, and brought home some nice streamer hooks and mono eyes, and am going to fiddle with a few variations, namely the tail - hinged vs. attached, and am going to experiment with using a small, translucent sequin in the head.

A buddy at work was trying to figure out what we could attach to a fly to get some wiggle action, i.e. a small lip like on a crankbait, but Rapalas are still pretty darn big compared to the fly world, and not to mention expensive! I'd found a pattern for a 'Wobbling Woolly Worm" in Woolly Wisdom, and am going to fiddle around with a few sequins and see what I get. I'm considering killing a milk jug and using some of the plastic, maybe gently heating a bit to re-shape.

I'd looked at those Marc Petitjean Magic Heads - they're made for bigger streamers, 1/0's and such, and I know they 'make them' for smaller hooks, but I've researched and from what I've read in reviews, they are a better solution for big flies, not little guys.

And for something like $1 per Magic Head, that magic ain't workin' for me, either.

Anybody else play with plastic bits for creating some action in their flies?
 
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#2 ·
I think ive posted about this before, but ive played with a bunch of different damsel variations and have found them fun to tie, but in the end i just ended using the same old basic patterns i always fished. I tried the jointed fly routine, but i think my joints were too stiff or didnt flex and i found they didnt seem to have any wiggle action when i retrieved them...so in the end i ended up with some pretty fancy looking flies, but they didnt seem to work any better than my old damsels tied with green marabou, mono eyes, and dubbed bodies.

so...if i was going to try it again i would go with a hinged tail (using a light 1x wire hook so it wiggled freely) tied on a mono loop, and wouldnt spend too much time trying to make it look "lifelike" Action is the key, so as long as it has a realistic slender profile and you fish it with the right retrieve anything should work. when tying your joint make sure you loop is tied in tightly, as you dont want your tail hook coming out if a big fish is on. you might even want to run it through the first hook's eye and coming back on itself before you tie and glue it in. the problem with these flies are that bigger materials are easier to work with, but in reality damsels just arent that big around here so a size 8 is as large as i would go. keep it light, as when damsels migrate inshore they never run too deep...i just fish them on long leaders and floating line, only inches under the surface.

i know this want much help, but im bored and wanted to type something...
 
#5 ·
Hey Kimo,

Where did you pick up your Magic Heads? Online or in town?

Were they worth the $$$?

You used 3x fluoro for the joint action - did you cut off the bend of the hook on the body part of the fly? (I have some 35# tippet - used it a lot for bracelets and stuff in my bead days - I guess that's kind of overkill, eh?)

All in good fun. Thanks, man.
 
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