The Green Weenie

[Out4Trout]

Dont know why it took me so long to learn about this fly but it sure does catch the brookies here in the Poconos. I just started tying a few months ago and this is a great fly to start with. Catching so many fish on it is a bonus. What are your thoughts on the Green Weenie? I think Im gonna try it in a few other colors like pink or red.

Caught this one today in a local stream along with 4 or 5 others all in about 30 minutes. I found dead drifting this fly seems to work best right now.

 

[laszlo]

It may be the junkiest of junk flies, but I admit I also catch a lot of trout with it. Plus the trout always have the same expression like "I can't believe I fell for that again"

 

[Bocianka1]

It's a fly that has some strong opinions from many on whether it should be used or not. But no one argues it's effectiveness. I tie them in two colors Green (which is really more of a fluorescent chartreuse color) and fluorescent orange. both work well, and sometimes one color performs when the other doesn't. If you're comfortable with the Green Weenie, then you should try the squirmy wormy too. They are also really effective in moving water. I've fished Squirmies in clear/white, dark purple, and pink and they all perform just as well as the Green Weenies. just about as easy to tie too.

 

[wbranch]

Each to his own but there are no green weenies, squirmy wormies, or Mop flies in any of my fly boxes. Maybe a couple hundred trout beads but no junk flies.

 

[jacob]

I’m in the school of “if you can tie it on a hook with thread it’s a fly.”

If it catches fish, fish it!

 

[JeffK]

Some days the "red hot", a green weenie tied with fluorescent red chenille is the ticket.

And pink squirminators or the IPW (Infamous pink worm) can be deadly on stocked rainbows. The IPW is a weird fly; you either catch none or dozen. No middle ground.

I'm OK with junk flies when nothing particular is going on. I don't know what they represent, but they must seem like something good to eat from the trout's point of view.

 

[pwk5017]

Im not against the green weenie as a fly, but somehow it doesnt catch fish for me like everyone else. Frankly, the go-to flies for a lot of people arent among my favorites--green weenies, wooly buggers, sucker spawn. I dont think ive had much success with anything flourescent. I remember tying a few of those infamous pink worms(thats bright pink yarn with a flourescent orange dubbing middle?), thinking they would smash steelhead and i dont think ive ever caught a fish on one. I catch more steelhead on drab brown hare's ears and pheasant tails than anything wacky or bright.

 

[PennKev]

pwk5017 wrote:
Im not against the green weenie as a fly, but somehow it doesnt catch fish for me like everyone else.

I think a lot of it comes down to how much faith you have in a fly and what your expectations are, and how often you use it.

If you just expect at least a couple fish on a weenie everytime you use it and you don't put much thought into your fly selection, then yeah its a great fly.

If you are the type that strives for consistent, steady hook-ups and are always trying to figure out what the fish want, then a lot of junk patterns will fail to live up expectations more often than not.

Personally, I fish weenies, sucker spawn, san juans etc. but I try to pick and choose when I think they will be most effective. I try to avoid using any particular pattern "just because it worked last time." The result is that I find that they all have their time and place, but can be very hot or cold depending on situation.

 

[Fly-Swatter]

PennKev nailed it.

"I think a lot of it comes down to how much faith you have in a fly and what your expectations are, and how often you use it."
(yes! Nearly all of it?)

"If you just expect at least a couple fish on a weenie everytime you use it and you don't put much thought into your fly selection, then yeah its a great fly."
(not me)

If you are the type that strives for consistent, steady hook-ups and are always trying to figure out what the fish want, then a lot of junk patterns will fail to live up expectations more often than not.
(Bingo! This is me and describes my experiences with "junk flies".)

 

[troutbert]

pwk5017 wrote:
Im not against the green weenie as a fly, but somehow it doesnt catch fish for me like everyone else.

Fish it when inchworms are around.

During the summer and into early fall, there are many times when trout are keyed in on inchworms and then an imitation will outfish any other pattern.

 

[afishinado]

troutbert wrote:

pwk5017 wrote:
Im not against the green weenie as a fly, but somehow it doesnt catch fish for me like everyone else.

Fish it when inchworms are around.

During the summer and into early fall, there are many times when trout are keyed in on inchworms. And an imitation will outfish any other pattern.

Inchworms in the summer and early fall not doubt.

Add to that, in the spring there are a whole bunch of caddis larva, pupa and adults that are colored bright green. In fact there is a bright green color for fly tying materials called "caddis green".

Caddis Green

If it makes you feel better, instead of calling your fly a green weenie, just call it a green caddis pupa in the spring or an inchworm fly if it's in the summer or early fall!

 

[JeffK]

That's like calling the infamous "coffee bean" fly a beetle or size 16 brown or gray Honey Bug a mayfly nymph. Maybe a bug, but maybe a pellet. Maybe we need to get a Corker thread going here. At least they were honest with their pellet and cheese patterns. Never knew what the transistors were supposed to be (but they sure worked)

 

[troutbert]

JeffK wrote:
Never knew what the transistors were supposed to be (but they sure worked)

transistors?

Tell us more.

Please.

 

[poopdeck]

PennKev wrote:

pwk5017 wrote:
Im not against the green weenie as a fly, but somehow it doesnt catch fish for me like everyone else.

If you just expect at least a couple fish on a weenie everytime you use it and you don't put much thought into your fly selection, then yeah its a great fly.

If you are the type that strives for consistent, steady hook-ups and are always trying to figure out what the fish want, then a lot of junk patterns will fail to live up expectations more often than not.

Haters gonna hate. So if one has a green weenie tied on their expectations are to only catch a few inconsistent fish with no concern to what a fish wants.

I have the exact opposite experience. Junks flies catch fish more consistentatly then the other 1000 patterns you can fit in a five drawer chest pack. The green weenie makes it really easy to determine what they will take. why complicate the process by over analyzing the simple.

Personally I think the flies we fish in no way look like what they are suppose to imitate so all flies are junk flies.

 

[JeffK]

Troutbert,

Here is a great article on corkers, which were a favorite back in the day. I have a stash of just a few now and a card of the Japanese beetle pattern. I have never been able to duplicate them successfully.

The bottom row of the catalog page figure has the transistor patterns, which seemed to be whatever some bored painters made after a long day. Caught fish though and floated forever. I know matching-the-hatch is a better way to fly fish in the long run, but just trying crazy flies was a lot of fun. Junk flies to me bring back some of the fun of "solving the problem" by being a little different and trading "secret flies" with others. Who doesn't like drifting a dry fly matching the hatch over rising fish? But the 90% of the time when something isn't happening is a great time to play around.

http://flyanglersonline.com/features/oldflies/part246.php

 

[troutbert]

JeffK wrote:
Troutbert,

Here is a great article on corkers, which were a favorite back in the day. I have a stash of just a few now and a card of the Japanese beetle pattern. I have never been able to duplicate them successfully.

The bottom row of the catalog page figure has the transistor patterns, which seemed to be whatever some bored painters made after a long day. Caught fish though and floated forever. I know matching-the-hatch is a better way to fly fish in the long run, but just trying crazy flies was a lot of fun. Junk flies to me bring back some of the fun of "solving the problem" by being a little different and trading "secret flies" with others. Who doesn't like drifting a dry fly matching the hatch over rising fish? But the 90% of the time when something isn't happening is a great time to play around.

http://flyanglersonline.com/features/oldflies/part246.php

Thanks for the link to the interesting article.

I remember Corkers. But I didn't know that some were made to look like transistors.

I haven't seen Corkers in anyone's fly box, or heard anyone discuss those for many years.

Has anyone tied cork-bodied flies? I wonder how they shaped the cork bodies?

It might be interesting to tie some flies with cork bodies, but otherwise dressed like a Letort grasshopper or cricket, or a Stimulator, with hackle palmered over the cork.

 

[dryflyguy]

I remember seeing corkers for sale when I first started FF.
But sure don't remember any called transistors.
I also would guess that they're just a good imitation of a pellet.

Troutbert -

There is a certain pool on yellow creek, where the fish were fed dog food by the guy who lived right there.
Some of them were quite large, and seemed to only wait for the "pellet hatch" to feed. Ignoring any aquatic insects that were hatching.
I tied a few cork "flies" just to use on that one hole.
I just whittled hunks of wine corks into round balls with a razor knife.

They float like a cork!

 

[outsider]

I would like to dispel the notion that corkers were made to look like transistors. Absurd. Because of the shape, proportion, and some times the color, one could say they looked like transistors. The inventor painted them in variations. Some striped, some solid color, some with dots.


At that time period, some fly tying suppliers sold small diameter cork cylinders. My mentor showed me how to make very durable, high floating ants out of them. Basically cut 2 short pieces, poke a hole through them with a needle, then string mono through them. Burn the ends of the mono. Paint them black, wrap small black hackle between them after tying them to the hook at the middle. I still have some of them in fly boxes.

 

[troutbert]

outsider wrote:
I would like to dispel the notion that corkers were made to look like transistors. Absurd. Because of the shape, proportion, and some times the color, one could say they looked like transistors. The inventor painted them in variations. Some striped, some solid color, some with dots.

In the article at the link posted above is a page from an old Thomas and Thomas catalog, with an assortment of Corkers.

At the bottom of the page are several labeled "transistors."

 

[outsider]

I stand corrected. There was a lot of debate back then that centered around the description of a "fly" in the fish commission regulations. At times it seemed to be up to the field officer. I didn't use them.