maybe ive been too hard on mop flies?

[mike_richardson]

Ill admit it. I was just flat out anxious about tying mop flies. I am more of a "only fish flies that I think look like bugs kind of tyer". For the live of me I couldn't see how these things can be made to look like a bug. It was brought to my attention that they originated to resemble a crane fly larva. OK so I was determined to try and make one look like a crane fly. I came up with this one. I attached reference to the cranfly that my boy and I caught in our stream side entomology session.

I tied this using the following

thread: 140 black
hook: size 10 daiichi swimming nymph hook
tail: grey micro fiber mop
body: hares ear plus in dark hares ear
bead 3.8mm tungsten bead head.

The cranefly larva in my area seem a lot darker than ones I have seen in other areas. I think this one comes pretty close.

I am still on the fence about using crazy colors and dubbing on these, but from what I heard they work well. I am going to be testing these out on Monday. I may tie a couple crazy ones just to see what the fuss is all about. I just think sometimes we need to take the blinders off no matter how tough it is or if we get anxiety tying flies for trout that don't look like real bugs. LOL

 

[JerryC]

I had my doubts about them too, Mike. Saw one close up two weeks ago at the fly shop I frequent. It was a large one that looked more suitable for bass than trout. Bright green body with black dubbing for the head. Last Saturday, my salt water fly fishing club was doing tying demonstration at the LL Bean in Marlton, NJ. There were two of us tying and I asked Joe what he was going to start with. "Mop Fly". He told me he couldn't keep the yellow perch and chain pickerel off the one he was tying. I got to watch how it was tied, borrowed one he had tied on a jig hook and dozen fluorescent orange mop pieces and took them home. Got home found I had a dust brush with tan mop pieces. Tied a tan one up and took it and the bright orange one with me the next day when I fished the stocked portion of Chester Creek than runs through the fly shop's property. Picked up 4 trout and two sunfish in about an hour and a half of fishing. 1 trout and 1 sunfish on the bright orange one before I hung it up on the bottom and lost it and 1 trout on the tan. The other 2 trout and the other sunfish were caught on soft hackles tied on a size 10 Klinkhammer hook with bodies tied using a single strand of sili legs, aka spinner bait skirts. So now I'm tying up some mop flies. Looking for a white mop now The pieces take permanent markers really well.

 

[eunanhendron]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_9F9mM9oGA&t=1s

 

[mike_richardson]

that one is awesome!!

 

[JerryC]

That's a nice tie. Still haven't hit the auto stores or hardware stores yet. Definitely will have to tie some more natural looking ones. I'm tying mine on size 6 Allen shrimp/caddis pupae hooks and some on a size 8 Gamakatsu bait holder hook with an off set bend. I'll post some pictures when I get some more tied up.

 

[bigslackwater]

Stockers love the mop fly!! Once they are wet and swell up they look super buggy.

My biggest peeve now is that people are selling mop fly materials. Come on! The quirkiness of the mop fly is that it's made from a material we can find in our garage or cleaning closet. Keep the mop fly quirky!

 

[tctrout]

Oh trust me, it will always be a quirky fly! I have used it now for trout, perch, crappie, sunfish, and both types of bass...they eat it! The video I made on it is nearing 20,000 views, which is pretty crazy for a YouTube fly tying video, but that Mop pulls in fish and fishermen alike.

TC

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3NhT6hSMOg[/youtube]

 

[poopdeck]

Dollar general sells the micro fiber wash mittens for a buck. Not as large as the others but they have about 14 rows with 17 pods/noodles for 238 flies.

 

[jkilroy]

Embrace the mop! And all the junk flys. They really work on stocked fish and wild fish. It took me a while but now the junk is a main fly box.

 

[JerryC]

I'm getting ready to head up to the Poconos for a week. So I've been busy tying up some mop flies in various size and colors. Here's the box of them I'll be taking with me. The left side are "standard size" the middle ones are large, hopefully the bass and pickerel will think they're edible. The ones on the right are mini-mop flies. I finally found a use for the size 10 Gamakatsu bonefish hooks I brought a while back.

 

[nomad_archer]

Where did you find the mini mops?

 

[pro4mance]

Maybe at the Mini Mart ? lol

 

[laurelrun]

Laugh all you want. The Mop Fly hatch was ON tonight. Finding no sulphurs and nary a riser, I tied on a mop fly I had tied up last weekend and landed ten browns (all stockers) in about an hour of fishing. Lost at least half a dozen more. The lone wild brown I caught took an emerger pattern under a dun. Fish were in the mood to feed and this juicy morsel was the ticket tonight.

 

[JerryC]

Nomad_archer

I found them at Pep Boys. A gray one and off-white/cream one.