Rainy' JOOM Diver

[Sylvaneous]

I'm a fan of the Joom diver foam heads for Largemouth flies. I've tied a good number of them with varying levels of success. I've learned the hard way how to tie in weed guards (maybe. kinda/sorta) My buddie calls them "weed guards" and makes those damning air quotes with his fingers in the air. I don't have a recipe for tying them. I just lash a bunch of feathers and marabou to the hook as I guess it should be. I don't have anyone to get suggestions. A whole batch I did, I discovered that I didn't use enough feathers and so they came out too sparse. I also got some Large sized heads. These didn't work well at diving at all. I tried tying in fur strips out the back. I didn't know if that was good or bad. They didn't dive, just slid over the surface. I had to attach a larger brass bead to the tippet above the knot to get the nose down and get it to dive at all.
Can anyone with any experience with these provide any assistance? They are nearly $2 a foam head and i've wasted enough money and materials making some that just missed the mark. I'm fed up with any more 'learning experiences'.
Maybe I can contact Rainy's?

Syl

 

[Buggy]

I’ve never tried the diver heads but I like the idea. You can try adding a sink tip to the end of your fly line, or Airflo makes a Bass sinking poly leader that I plan to try this year. It might dive fine once it gets some pond/lake scum on it. Where/how have you tested it?

Marabou and rabbit strips are great for movement, but foul the hook and weed guard. I replaced marabou with synthetics on single hooks. Marabou works great on articulated tails when the rear hook point is cut. I found if you coat the suede part of the rabbit strips with Softex it will keep from fouling the hook and weed guard. Don’t coat the entire length of rabbit strip, and don’t apply too heavy that it penetrates into the hair. I apply two or three light coats to the front 2/3 of the strip. This still allow for plenty of movement in the rear of the fly and doesn’t foul the hook.

What type of weed guard did you use? I started tying with a 30lb mono weed guard but it wasn’t stiff enough for fast/hard stripped flies like divers. A 50lb mono weed guard is not overkill but I used to think it was.

 

[gfen]

Meh. Just cut the front lip off your Gartside Gurglers.

 

[sandfly]

try adding some lead wraps to the hook shank. really have to pull long to get them to work at times..

 

[Sylvaneous]

Buggy wrote:
I’ve never tried the diver heads but I like the idea. You can try adding a sink tip to the end of your fly line, or Where/how have you tested it?

Marabou and rabbit strips are great for movement, but foul the hook and weed guard.

What type of weed guard did you use? I started tying with a 30lb mono weed guard but it wasn’t stiff enough for fast/hard stripped flies like divers. A 50lb mono weed guard is not overkill but I used to think it was.[/quote]


I used maybe 40 lb Rio. for the weed guard. I use a double weed guard. However, I am not sure exactly how to make them the 'right' way. I've seen it done, it makes sense, but there are a real surprising number of variables: length of weed guard, how far down the hook you quit wrapping. How you tie it in at the front. Now, some I tied at the end of last year, I'm wondering if the low, back bend of the Mustad 'stinger' style hook will allow my double weed guard to allow the hook to penetrate and not get in the way. (nearly impossible to describe. You'd just have to have experience with it.) No evidence yet, but as I'm playing with it, I'm thinking, "I hope this isn't a problem"

I actually did the sink tip thing. I have some Orvis loop-on sink tips and those work well and allow for a really interesting presentation.

I haven't had much difficulty with materials wrapping. The weed guards help that. They just worked so awesome in the weedy shallows of Kahle lake... They actually dominated some standard tackle presentations. The bass just haven't seen anything like that. And it does look awesome in the water.

 

[Sylvaneous]

gfen wrote:
Meh. Just cut the front lip off your Gartside Gurglers.

I actually tied something like this several years ago; just one and never used it. I will try it again for a smallmouth slider. Those types of flies are wicked-good in the shallows of the Allegheny. I started just reversing popper heads but I though a shortened, thickened reversed Gartside Gurgler might work well. I only use the Joom heads for largemouth: big and expensive. The best smallie fishing on the Allegheny is in rediculously skinny water right against the bank. I've gone to black beadchain eyes on my Clousers for shallows but anything that sinks will hang up or get all beat-up dragging it over and through rocks and gravel. I need something more nuanced than just a popper that can spook bass too easily.

But this is off the Joom diver thread. Still, its something I need to try. Heck, I need to make it work!

Syl

 

[gfen]

Sylvaneous wrote:
But this is off the Joom diver thread. Still, its something I need to try. Heck, I need to make it work!

My hats off to you for staying on topic, but a reversed gurgler is close enough.

I've found if I don't tie enough lip, or if I just leave it in a "down" position instead of flared, it dives. I've also tried them on th end of an intermediate sinker, which was nice.

I haven't really done enough small mouth fishing to figure it out yet, I meddled some, but I can't wait for the dog days of summer to return to plying the river for them again.