How did that happen? Lord, seems like this season is blowing by, not enough time to fish and still take care of responsibilities. Got out for a couple hours before a responsibility that brought me streamside for a meeting. Not a ton of time to fish but enough for a guy to tempt a few, looks like the stocking truck has been here. Rainbows abound, everywhere. Kind of crazy to see it packed the way it was. Saw fish rising on arrival in the mid-afternoon. Didn’t see much in the way of adults to key me to what they were taking and the rises were inconsistent. A few would be splashy almost leaping rises that I would associate with the presence of caddisflies, others read mayfly with the gentle take just barely giving the trout away. I opted to try my luck with a #16 EHC. Landed one, lost two strikes before the trout were on to it and would have no more. Swapped to a #16 P&P and swung it down and across letting it rise as the current pulled my line. This resulted in some excellent fun with the fat stocker rainbows and a few went home for dinner.

Cleaning the first of three nice rainbows I noticed something bright red and spotted in the stomach contents. The shell of a lady bug, mostly digested but just enough remained to provide photographic proof that the trout here eat Lady Bugs and probably more likely the Asian Beetle. After seeing the one in the stomach I decided to look a bit at the plants around the spot I caught the fish, sure enough I found several just waiting to be blown to the trout dinner table. I moved upstream, fished the P&P as I went and it just reinforced why I love this fly. Cast it upstream and present it like a dead drifted nymph and it will take fish, do a down and across and it will take fish and the new method that happens to be very handy…. remove all weight from your line and fish it like a dry. Fishing longer slower sections I picked the trout rising the most consistently, put my fly just upstream of the target and without much hesitation it was picked off time and time again. My obligation pulled me from the stream as Lt. Hendrickson’s were hatching, pretty late in the day and they were VERY bright lending me to think the hatch I saw was Ephemerella dorothea otherwise known as out “Sulpher” hatch. I got a few craptastic photo’s before I had to go but I’ll take what I get, when I can get it. As I finished my meeting we noticed the spinner fall bring trout to rise in a steady rythem. I wish I could get more later evenings on the water.

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As I mentioned before this 2nd material is available in Winona, MN as well as any other city that has a decent hardware store. It’s cheap, at $4.98 a bottle it has the potential to make a few hundred flies. The part I left out of the last post is that this material has the potential to make some of the best terrestrial flies ever. Why, you ask?? Because if enough is used, this material can make an un-sinkable fly. Yea, I said it and it requires NO flotant. Check the video below if you need proof.

So now the wait is over, the material is Gorilla Glue. It has it’s downsides but once I saw the potential for some pretty amazing results I felt it necessary to run out to my local Menard’s to pick up my bottle. I was given a tip regarding this video (thanks Mister_Bubble), I watched it and learned a bit. I learned much more after I got it home. Taking a small drop of water with maybe twice the amount of glue, mixed with a toothpick a gel is formed which expands and dries white in the span of a few minutes. It cures harder in approx. 30 minutes and is ready for coloring with markers 24hrs later. I will note right away that the time frame for this product can be varied, you can mold the tacky glue after a few minutes but you risk ruining the shape if you try to alter it too soon. I will also say that the information I am listing is how I have figured out to use this product with decent results, yours may vary. I choose to let it cure for 24hrs before applying the marker because I am not rushed and I prep a space to dry and cure these flies, something to think about before you jump in.

The 1st two imitations I tried were a plain jane ant pattern and a version of a bug I’ve got to think Driftless Trout take readily, the “Asian Beetle” a.k.a. Harmonia axyridis. These non-native’s were introduced to our region as a way to control soybean aphids, they now run rampant and cause maybe more harm than good. A #18 Standard Shank 2x Nymph Hook with a body of peacock herl and a few turns of black or brown hackle (trimmed short on the top) forms the base for this fly. The bug in the video was tied with the Mustad R70 and is un-sinkable. The ant patterns however DO sink and despite my efforts to use a 1X fine dry fly hook they still sank, now that is a #18. I think a larger fly would float, it depends on how much of the glue you get cured on the hook. Also, there may be something to how much water is mixed with the glue resulting in a number of air bubbles that are trapped which ultimately float the fly, something for me to think about and work on. All of the beetle patterns I tied float as if they were made of cork and I tried some thick shanked hooks. If one could create a small mold and line it with maybe Vaseline or a non-stick agent you might be able to make some cool Popper bodies, the video kind of hints at that.

One last attribute that needs to be addressed before I give my nod of approval to this material: durability, once cured this stuff is 100% waterproof and it’s freakin’ glue so it gets and holds hard. You can however press your fingernail into the finished product and it will dent a bit, this lends me to believe that after several trout teeth these might get a little beat up but no more than say traditional close cell foam terrestrial patterns. Also, the markers have really held their own and don’t seem to be affected by the water as of yet. So for those of you adventurous enough to give this a go I think it has the potential to create trout crushing terrestrials. If you decide playing with this glue isn’t for you, keep it and fix your kitchen cabinets or something else with it, at least it isn’t that bag of crap from the craft store that will be moved from one stash spot to the next until you accept it has no use on a hook.

Other Notes:

• Make sure you purchase the correct Gorilla Glue Product (Quick Cure, Dries White)
• Use wax paper, its disposable and keeps the messy stuff in a small area.
• I use a bodkin to apply the mixed product, SMALL amounts needed to make #18 flies.
• Use the bodkin to tease the glue to help shape it, wipe it off every time.
• Blow on it to flatten it or push it early in the drying process.
• Use a feather stem inserted into the hook eye to move from your vise and hold the fly after initial drying but before curing.
• Do not touch the glue until after it has set up or you run the risk of having the glue stick and pull like taffy from the hook.
• Wait until the glue won’t adhere to your fingers before trying to shape, be sure not to wait until it hardens if you plan to shape it.
• As with most things Fly Fishing or Tying, Patience is your best friend.

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