Popping.Minnow version 2
Some time ago, I tied up the 1st version of Popping Minnow using ready made foam head
The 1st version was tie fully with synthetic fibers like Predator fibers or Baitfish Fibers... great action and easy to cast.
But due to the size of the foam popper head that available from our local fly shop, the ideal size of the pattern limit to 2" - 4" max in length..
The pattern also used a lot of material, almost half a pack of baitfish fibers just to stack and tie the body and tail...
So I started to shape the head from foam cylinder, to create bigger minnow pattern for bigger species like Sailfish and GTs. The idea is to introduce saddler to minimized the foul on hook,
use less material to stack the body, put in additional shank to reduce the hook size and re-position the hook, ( Big foam popper head will block the hook gap unless you are using very big and wide hook )
You just need some sand paper and lighter to shape the foam...
220lbs hardwire shank shaped from 9cm to about 3-4cm
Material List:
Foam cylinder
220 lbs hardwire
saltwater saddle
Deer Creek GnG fibers
Baitfish fibers or Predator fibers
flashabou or UV flash
Short shank wide gap saltwater hook
Red fine Dubbing from Semperfli
Epoxy eye
3 ton 5min A+B epoxy
Deer Creek thin flex UV resin
30lbs mono and markers
Step by step tying instruction
Step 1 - prepare the foam head
Step 2 - prepare the hardwire shank
Prepare the shank and hook, tie in a mono loop ( this is to sort of fix the hook so to minimize the hook flip around and to position the hook )
Tie in some GnG fiber
Tie in 2 pairs of saltwater saddles
tie in some flashabou or UV flash
reverse tie in some GnG
Fold the fibers over and tie down
( I always tie my saltwater pattern this way, it will secure the fibers better )
reverse tie in some Baitfish Fibers / predator Fibers
Fold the fibers over and tie down, now tie in a pair of different color saddles ( your liking )
double up the amount of fiber use and reverse tie in some fibers again
Fold over and tie down
( these fibers will be trim later, so don't have to worry it's too bulky ) )
Apply the epoxy and insert in the per-shaped foam popper head
Once the epoxy is dried, tie down the fibers to fill up the gap between the head and the body
Make sure enough fibers are tie in so it's compact enough for trimming
Trim the fibers
Color the head and fibers, stick the eye with epoxy and coat the head with a thin coat of UV resin
Cheers...
You can even create a slider version if you shape the foam into a slider head..
Happy tying...
