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Cup of plenty
MARK BOWLER sees a new invention
add an extra dimension - lifelike action - to baitfish
patterns
Inevitably, the innovative master-mind of Marc Petitjean
was behind the concept, and his resultant demonstration
- conducted during the final moments of the Fly Fair
with the aid of a five-foot water trough - had APGAI
luminary Gary Coxon and I actually fighting over the
two samples that Marc had left.
Imagine a clear, flexible-plastic thimble moulded
with a protruding point on the end - this protrusion
is used to bind the device onto the fly at the eye
before the rest of the fly is tied. The fly is then
dressed - baitfish with long, flowing mobile wings
for best effect - and afterwards the 'thimble' can
be flipped back on itself to produce a moulded fly-head.
No more messing around with epoxy, silicone and flexible
cements, this head is produced with a flick of a finger,
and allows eyes and colour to show through. It's neat,
it's quick, it's clean, but that isn't the clever
bit.
When retrieved, flies with moulded heads of silcone,
epoxy, or indeed this plastic cup, possess an undulating
action which predatory fish sometimes find irresistible,
especially with a pull-pause retrieve. All well and
good. However, if you flip the plastic cup forwards
so it now envelopes the eye of the hook, just like
a plastic veterinary Elizabethan collar goes round
a dog's head, you are now in possesion of a very different
animal. Having already attached a length of nylon
to the hook's eye before flipping the cup forwards,
Marc proceeded to cast and retrieve this fly through
his water tank. It's consequent sinuous, swimming
action was an eye-opener. The fly quivered, wiggled
and pulsed rhythmically through the water reciprocating
the exact swimming movements of a small fish. Astonishing.
As soon as I saw it I was thinking: trout and fry
patterns; Damsel Nymphs. I caught Gary Coxon's eye.
He looked enthralled, excited, determined and somewhat
furtive.
"Imagine using it for pike!" I exclaimed.
"I'm thinking of bass", he replied, and
then he suddenly snatched one of my samples and ran
off laughing hysterically into the home-going throng.
Such is the way of the desperate fly fisher on discovering
a major step to perfect baitfish imitation.
Magic Heads are available in three sizes from Lakeland
Fly Tying, Crystal River and Farlows. A pack of six
costs £2.95.
This article appears in the January 2005 issue of
Fly Fishing and Fly Tying.
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