After spending yesterday confined to the air conditioning thanks to the small person who lives in my house infecting me with a mild form of a summer cold, I decided to sneak over to the local community pond for a bit of testing on the monstrosities that I had lashed together in the last couple of days. Please find my results below.


Bendback Streamer

Bendback sounds inappropriate, right? Right? This thing is very, very weedless. It also throws a really nice wake because it runs just under the surface. One issue I did find with it is that the foam doesn't hold up too well when drug through tough vegetation. I need to figure out how to make the foam a little more durable. Maybe some Hard as Nails would help. American pondweed, here we come!


Dollar Lap Dancer

At first I was disappointed in the DLD, but you get what you pay for, right? After a few casts, it occurred to me to give it a few sharp strips and that's the trick for this one. A short, sharp strip results in this fly jumping out of the water and landing about six inches away. It looks surprisingly like a fleeing baitfish when it does that.

Poon Wiggler Diver

Do not attempt to adjust your monitor, it's a horrible, blurry picture. I've been meaning to lash up a test run of the Poon Wiggler for quite a while now, but because I'm about as easily distracted as Dug the Dog in the movie UP (SQUIRREL!!), I just hadn't gotten around to trying it. That was a mistake. I know it looks like a foam lip would do nothing but collapse and make the fly useless in the water, but quite the opposite is true. The tail is tied with marabou and flash and the wiggling motion that the lip imparts does amazing things to the tail end of the fly. Instead of the gurgler body that the original version uses, I decided to go with the same foam Dahlberg top that I've been playing with quite a bit. Between the lip and the diving head, this thing goes about 4-6" under water, wobbling all the while, and then swims gently back to the surface when released. This thing looks amazing and I'll definitely be tying up a few more.


The Dayshift Waitress

I readily admit that I tied this monstrosity as a joke, but in the interest of fairness, I still wanted to see how much of a bear it was to cast. As it turns out, casting a juvenile grizzly might actually be easier and more fun. The first couple of times I stripped it in, it did just what I expected it to, which is behave like a poorly shaped popper. However, a few casts later I stumbled onto a stripping motion and rhythm that resulted in it actually "walking the dog". The Dayshift Waitress looked great out there on the water. Stripping it just right (don't ask me what that really consists of because I couldn't tell you at the present moment), made it jump about 45 degrees out of line with the leader. Each jump was accompanied by a big splash and usually a pop. I'm still amazed at how good it looked.

The bad news is that on top of casting horribly, it apparently twists in the air during the cast. I thought maybe I was making it loop under itself on the retrieve, but ugly things still happened to my leader even when I pulled it straight in with no "dog walking".

I'll have to ponder how I'm going to build this thing a bit more easily and make it cast better as well. I really think it will be worth the effort. Special thanks to Brian Gibson for pointing out this interesting pattern to us.

Perhaps the Waitress just needs eyes. I can half imagine being flung back and forth at fantastic speeds with my eyes taped shut. I'd probably probably wriggle back and forth trying to figure out what the 'll was going on.

Kelly Galloup's streamers may very well be some of the most innapropriately named flies
http://www.schmidtoutfitters.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=category.display&category_id=293


hatches magazine actually interviewed him and his weird names for flies is actually a question about 3/4 through the page!
http://www.hatchesmagazine.com/page/month/358

For now, the Dayshift Waitress will have to remain blind. I think I'm going to start working on her smaller sister anyway.


I've long been a fan of the Zoo Cougar...but it probably could benefit from some craft foam.

can the "Nightshift Waitress" be far behind ?

possibly an integration with the "Dollar Lap Dancer" and " Poon Wiggler Diver" could evolve into a "Nightshift Dollar Poon Waitess"

What's the difference - besides colors - between the DLD and a Charlie's Plopsicle? There is something entirely obvious that I'm missing.

I like the poon wiggler. I suspect I am not alone.

that is too funny

Sorry about that, JM. The DLD has a little surprise under her (foam) skirt: an upsidedown foam Dahlberg diver. You can take a look here to see the whole thing: http://texasfishingforum.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/4920109/all/walking_on_water

I hope the fish like the Poon Wiggler Diver as much as I think they will.

It's all Brian Gibson's fault.

Dad told me if I ever got into a Dollar Lap Dancers skirt I would get me a surprise.

Did I say "Ya'll ain't right" yet?

Not out loud, no.

I'd a given 2 dollars to see the DLD in action!!

Just be sure to fold that $2 bill nicely so it won't cause paper cuts in tender places.

you can see it twice for that , or let a buddy see it after you.

I'm generous. But you buy the next round.