[Colin Davidson]

hello everyone,

its my faveourite time of year for fishing, dawn and dusk rises, loads of fly life around, but alas im having some trouble and hopefully someone has an idea of how to cure it.

i tied up a few suspender buzzers using polystyrene balls secured with booby net (white) tied to the hook just behind the eye and then use peacock herl to make it look neat. problem is im only getting to or three fish on each one before the booby net is ripped and the ball is gone. has anyone else encountered this problem and has anyone come across a solution? i've tried nylon but that ripped the ball apart. obviously the CDC is an option but down here in ayrshire im finding the suspender out fishes the cdc this year(so far!) i tried tying in foam and shaping it like a post but that twisted my leader up so bad i had to replace it twice for only three casts. did get a rise though.

its got to the stage at my local water where if i take four of them in the evening i know im gonna catch max of 12, its not about the number of fish though i just hate taking two days to prepare a fly( allowing the sally hansen to dry before i tie on the ball) and then its useless after one rise sometimes.

any help or tips or suggestions or solutions will be greatly appreciated. many thanks in advace.

Cheers

Colin

[Rob Brownfield]

Oh my, I think I can help!!!

What you need is stuff called Arma Mesh marketed by a company called Fox.

It was originally designed to wrap around bait to stop crayfish from whittling it down.

Basically it is a mesh that is made from some sort of fine nylon  but it is very very tough.

Thinking outside the box, there maybe a better way. Do you know what a hair rig is in carp fising? What if you were to tie in a small loop of line at the head of the buzzer, use a very fine baiting needle and place the poly ball onto the loop, just like a boilie, then add a small hair stop. If the ball gets damaged, just replace it.

A bit like this, but obviously the "hair at the other end of the hook.

[Mike Barrio]

Hi Colin

Try using CDC or Snow Shoe etc instead of polystyrene

Best wishes
Mike

[Barry Robertson]

Heres my thoughts for what they are worth!
Cdc is pretty and is good by all means but.............
If i am catching fish i dont want to spend half of my drift or time on the bank cleaning cdc feathers to get the fly to float again after it takes a trout!
Ok it only takes a minute to clean the fish slime off it but i prefer suspenders to be done by foam drilled from a block. This way you can  varry the  amount of foam on it so it can be used an out an out top of the water fly or a foam headed buzzer that will slowly fall through the water spending more time in the feeding zone!
The foam i use last ages and does not fall to bits and no need to cover it with mesh  
Obviously for F flies and the likes CDC is the prefered method  







Another method i find that works well is indicator yarn called strikeout sprayed with fabsil, this fly will stay bouyant for loads of fish also even when its covered in slime  

[Stuart Smith]

i would go for snow shoe

stuart

[Ben Dixon]

How about tying the pattern on a larger hook and leaving maybe half the shank bare the simply put a hackle of good quality genetic cock behind the eye of the hook.  If the fly is varnished the "buzzer" should sit below the surface and the hackle should sit on the surface, not tried it but I think it should work.  If you do try it and it does work let me know, I too hate CDC and I'm not too fond of polystyrene balls on flies, they are not good for fish if ingested.

Cheers

Ben

[Colin Davidson]

hey folks thanks for the response, much appreciated. i wasnt aware that the polystyrene balls were bad for the fish, didnt think it was one of there 5 a day but didnt realise it did harm. i have tied a few up using some booby cord cut in half long ways, tied in round side down at the eye and folded back on  itself to the required size and thoraxed in the normal way depending on the type of buzzer. i'll stick some pics up when i get home in four weeks or so.

also have another question.. degreaser for leader material to help it sink near the fly to aid presentation? i carry three types, only ever use one which is so old the label has worn off it so will need to replace it by buying similar sized tubs! does anyone else use these products? do they work? which is best?

and while im at it and before i wear you all out reading this far, which leader is best? i dont use tapered or anything like that just one material from fly line to fly, so which is best?

thanks again for your help,

Colin.

[Dutchfly]

Over here in Holland it's a hype to use Unibobbers for suspender buzzers, boobies etc. It's a 1/4" version of the Thingamabobber.

As for leaders, I've been using braided leaders by Orvis for a long time now. They're great. I don't loop them onto the line though, I snip off the back loop, stick the line into the braid (2 1/2" - 3" or so) and whipfinish for a permanent connection. This leader wil last you at least a season!

CU

Jeroen

[Irvine Ross]

Colin

I mix up my own de-greaser from Fuller's Earth (obtainable from the chemist), washing up liquid (plain,not one of the scented ones) and a splash of glycerine to stop it drying up.

It works better than any of the ones I have bought and a small tub lasts a long time.

Irvine