TIE A PIKE/PREDATOR GUMMY
(no fly tying equipment needed)
Gummys are a fantastic little bait-fish fly for all manner of predator species , here’s a version I make for pike . Now you may think you couldn't make these in any decent size for pike but you’d be wrong you can actually make them as large as you like myself I like to make them in the 3 to 4 inch range this size will do just as well as any of the larger pike patterns .
You will need
hooks – this pattern im using a 6/0
eyes – 8mm gator eyes
squid skin
a pro marker (olive)
a pair of sharp scissors
glue or epoxy (to stick the eye on)
(suppliers at the botttom of the page)
1- cut a four inch by 1 inch rectangular piece of squid skin and fold in half
2- start cutting downwards
3 - start cutting the rounded belly shape of a baitfish on the up cut towards the tail
4 – this is the shape your aiming for , if you using smaller hooks simply reduce the size of the squid skin and if you want it larger increase the size of the rectangle
5 – place the squid skin on the hook and check for size and make sure you don't mask too much of the hook gape you can at this point trim around the bottom to adjust the shape and size as you like
6 – when your happy peel away the backing try not to touch the sticky side
7 – place the sticky side on the shaft so the sticky side is facing you , then fold over very slowly and match the edges together , start at the head end and work back , this stops any air bubbles being trapped (if you do get an air bubble just prick it with a needle)
8 – when you’ve folded the squid skin and its stuck together this is what your left with
9 – now take you pro marker and add the back color (ive chosen an olive color but use what ever you like )
10 – mix up a small amount of epoxy
(of course you can if you wish use glue , I chose epoxy as the weight helps with the action of the fly in the water ) glue will still work but you’ll get a slower sink rate and a slightly different action because of the weight difference over epoxy
11 – add a small blob of epoxy on each side
12 – place the eyes on
13 – and allow to cure (I use a rotary dryer s I do around 10 of each in one go) if your using five min epoxy and making one at a time you can just hold it till it cures
and there you have it a very fast to make versatile baitfish and no fly tying tools needed
(I used a vice in some pics so I could take pictures)
try different shapes and smaller hooks there all good and catch fish
the sky’s the limit with these
for squid skin please contact nick at www.deercreek.co.uk
happy tying
mcfluffchucker
(a cave in Scotland)