coneheads (no not Akroyd)

[rckrego]

Saw a post by someone advocating putting the conehead weight on the tippet above the streamer (they used a bugger). Anyone ever try this before? Said it gave better action to the fly when stripped and caused less lost fish because the weight wasn't in the fly stressing the tippet. I'm hoping Rich weighs in on this one.

[Defeatist]

Read the article, and yes it sounds pretty interesting. Cant say that I have fished like that but will definately give it a try. From what I gathered on the idea, it really gives the fly a jigging type action, and the fact that the weight slides up the line, somewhere along the lines of the same concept as a tube fly (deady, started fishing and tying tubes last year...talk about that another time).

Like I have said before, I mostly fish streamers without any weight tied into them, and if there is any weight it is minimal at best. That being said, there are situations when I use a heavily weighted streamer, but those situations are situationally specific. In a nut shell, there isnt one way to look to do anything. The best advice I can give is give everything a try, and take those tactics and techniques that work for you and use them, and build upon them.

The one thing I can say about that particular article, is that technique will smoke on largemouth, smallmouth and pike too...

Good luck

[FK]

Even easier is a technique I learned in a weekend PA seminar with Ed Shenk and Joe Humphreys,,,, many years ago (I seem to be stating that phrase quite often these days).

They use soft lead split shot and pinch it on,,,,, right at the leader/fly knot. This is an old PA trick to make the streamer nose dive deeper in fast water.

The split shot on the leader knot is not "like a Clouser" the Bob Clouser lead eyes are fastened about 1/3 or more away from the hook eye, the concept is the have the fly move more horizontally and not like a jig head as so many writers claim. I fished with Bob Clouser many years ago (again?) and like Nymphmeister states,,,,,color does make a difference on some day. Bob stated the fish will prefer certain colors one day then change tomorrow. Why do Clouser Deep Minnows have red/black eyes? That is the only color that was not a negative according to Clouser,,,,some days they would not hit a yellow/black eys ,,,,,some days not the white/black,,,,,they always would hit the red/black. Now this is for the more intelligent smallmouth,,,,not the lower developed spotted fishes whick will eat a mayfly/caddis with a sharpened wire hanging out of its butt.

Regards,
FK

[rckrego]

Thanks for the replies guys... Hey rich what issue is your article in?

[Defeatist]

its not out yet.......keep your eyes peeled in the fall..

[Nymphmeister]

Hey FK- you are right, and as much as many fly fishers or trout hate to hear it, it is true that bass (Largemouth for sure, and I think Smallmouth too) are actually higher in intelligence than trout, and are better able to learn how to avoid lures & flies after being caught. Carp are actually the "smartest" freshwater fish, and the longest lived (I think). And it has been scientifically proven that fish cannot only distinguish between shades of colors, but the actual colors themselves, although they may not perceive colors the same way we do. There are also can be MAJOR color shifts once you get down even a foot underwater- things like water clarity, color and depth all affect this, it gets kinda complicated. I like simple answers, but unfortunately all answers in fishing & life aren't always that way! There is a very interesting book on colors & fishing called "What Fish See", written by an opthamologist/fisherman/lure designer.