Those slippery dog things...

[Little_Flatty]

Hi all,

I still haven't gotten round to tying those disco shrimp flies as it's taken me a few days to get everything together. Who would've thought that it'd be so difficult to get my hands on some sequins! But on thursday I took delivery of my first ever slippery dog, so I decided to give it a whirl.

Got down to Five Dock Bay at about quarter past six (slept in this morning) and started casting. Not much surface activity this morning, so wasn't sure how I'd go. Some of the spots that I'd got fish in didn't have any water over them yet, so I moved further around the bay towards the bridge.

First thing I noticed is how well the Slippery Dog casts. 30-40m easy! Start working the lure in, plop plop, plop plop...nothing. Repeat for a few casts.

Then I hear a splash and I'm on to a reasonable sized fish. I think all these years of catching mostly flathead (I just like them) has led me to forget how good sport bream are. There was a bit more footwork required than usual to keep the line out of trouble, but eventually I was able to swim this bream into the net:

Release this fish and move along the shoreline. About 5-10 mins later, I see some swirls behind my lure and get a missed hit. Do a few micro twitches and pauses, then start working the lure. That did the trick and another little bream comes up:

The late start was always going to truncate my session, so it was soon time to start heading back to the car. I decided to try one more cast parallel to the shore. Another splash and fish on. But it was something different this time:

Then on my way back, there was more water over the gap in the mangroves, so I decide to put one last cast in. This resulted in another little whiting.

Fish back in the water, it was time to go find coffee.

OK, I get what all this slippery dog fuss is all about. I think I'll be tying some assist hooks into my disco shrimp (which I'm finally ready to start tying today).

Thanks for reading.

[Green Hornet]

That’s some good fishing Mike. Guess I should give a Slippery Dog or two a try as well.

I’d be interested to hear how the disco shrimp goes with the assists. Sounds like a great idea as long as they don’t foul while casting.

[DerekD]

Dang!! You are a natural at this!!

Well at least after several years and a few false starts and many distractions.

Glad to hear the area is producing and I'm excited for the coming Saturday session.

Out of curiosity which hooks did the bigger fish hit. I find I get the smaller fish mostly on the assist hooks but the bigger ones on the belly hook.

Edited January 25 by DerekD

[Little_Flatty]

7 minutes ago, Green Hornet said:

That’s some good fishing Mike. Guess I should give a Slippery Dog or two a try as well.

I’d be interested to hear how the disco shrimp goes with the assists. Sounds like a great idea as long as they don’t foul while casting.

Thanks Pete. I’m a fair bit behind current lure trends, but sometimes it’s worth trying something new.

I saw a video somewhere that suggests putting a little UV resin on the first cm or so on the assist cord, then curing it. I think that will help with the tangling. The other thing is to tie it as a ‘tube’ fly, though I have no idea on that technique…

3 minutes ago, DerekD said:

Dang!! You are a natural at this!!

Well at least after several years and a few false starts and many distractions.

Glad to hear the area is producing and I'm excited for the coming Saturday session.

Out of curiosity which hooks did the bigger fish hit. I find I get the smaller fish mostly on the assist hooks but the bigger ones on the belly hook.

Yep I’m very distract-able indeed, especially by flathead 🤣

The big fish hit the assists, but the other bream and one of the whiting were also pinned by the treble. The other two fish, the hooks fell out the moment I put them onto the measure. That’s why I’m obsessive about always having a net!

I’m not entirely happy with my net though. See split tail on the smaller bream. Might go back to the finer rubberised mesh and squash barbs on all hooks.

[Yowie]

Very nice work there Mike, your time paid off.

As for sequins, try Oxford Street in early March. Plenty of sequins around then. 😂

[Little_Flatty]

3 hours ago, Yowie said:

Very nice work there Mike, your time paid off.

As for sequins, try Oxford Street in early March. Plenty of sequins around then. 😂

Haha thanks Dave.

It did cross my mind to look to some of the girls’ old clothes on the donate pile, but I hate destroying something that’s perfectly usable, just to get one small component. I’d rather some little kid wear them  

And besides, when I finally got to the discount shop, I also scored some Eva foam for the shrimp for 3.50, which equates to about 80-100 dollars worth at a tackle shop full retail.

[bessell1955]

That was a great mornings catch.

[big Neil]

An excellent account of one of your brief assaults on the local area. You certainly are mastering the process and coming up with the goods big time.

bn

[Little_Flatty]

Just tied a couple of Disco Shrimp. Handiwork and photography not the best, but you get the idea. The sequins form part of the popping cup of the shrimp. @Green Hornet Note the assist hooks. I removed the split rings, looped the cord over the hook and then tied them in place. A dab of superglue on the thread and the first 5mm of cord helps them stand out (wasn't my idea, I got them from a video):

 

I haven't been tying for long, but it's interesting to see how your mindset changes when you tie your own flies. When I want a new lure, I go online or to a shop to buy one. When I'm tying flies, my first thought is to rummage through my box of materials and see how I might be able to whip one up from what I have. The only materials I needed to buy for this tie were sequins and foam. It takes me about 20 min per fly, so I kind of understand why they charge $15 for these in a shop (that said, I suspect it is still far more profitable to sell fly materials rather than flies themselves).

Might struggle to try them until Sunday, but I can't wait to see how they go! In the meantime, I'm out of epoxy eyes, and need to make some more.

45 minutes ago, bessell1955 said:

That was a great mornings catch.

Thanks Bessell! A good morning by my standards.  

5 minutes ago, big Neil said:

An excellent account of one of your brief assaults on the local area. You certainly are mastering the process and coming up with the goods big time.

bn

Thanks Neil, you next! I'm sure @DerekD has plans for you on your next visit.

Edited January 26 by Little_Flatty
Appending additional reply

[Green Hornet]

The flies look great Mike. I really like how the assist hooks sit, it wasn’t what I first envisaged at all to be honest and good luck throwing them.  
Catching something on one of your own creations is more satisfying than landing the fish, as you’d know.

[Larkin]

Looks like a successful lure session Mike!

Those slippery dogs are good fun

[Little_Flatty]

4 hours ago, Green Hornet said:

The flies look great Mike. I really like how the assist hooks sit, it wasn’t what I first envisaged at all to be honest and good luck throwing them.  
Catching something on one of your own creations is more satisfying than landing the fish, as you’d know.

Thanks Pete, I will report back on how it goes. Also tied one without stingers.

These were the tying instructions I followed: https://saltwaterflyrodders.com.au/wp/?page_id=529

12 minutes ago, Larkin said:

Looks like a successful lure session Mike!

Those slippery dogs are good fun

Thanks Chris, was happy with that! It was fun indeed.

[Bennyg78]

Well done @Little_Flatty

You are certainly nailing the topwater sessions ! 
I definitely agree an agro bream can fight very well!!

 

[Little_Flatty]

2 hours ago, Bennyg78 said:

Well done @Little_Flatty

You are certainly nailing the topwater sessions ! 
I definitely agree an agro bream can fight very well!!

 

Cheers Benny, Probably more a bit of luck with good conditions than any real skill! I always have a good feeling about hot humid mornings!

[faker]

13 hours ago, Little_Flatty said:

Hi all,

I still haven't gotten round to tying those disco shrimp flies as it's taken me a few days to get everything together. Who would've thought that it'd be so difficult to get my hands on some sequins! But on thursday I took delivery of my first ever slippery dog, so I decided to give it a whirl.

Got down to Five Dock Bay at about quarter past six (slept in this morning) and started casting. Not much surface activity this morning, so wasn't sure how I'd go. Some of the spots that I'd got fish in didn't have any water over them yet, so I moved further around the bay towards the bridge.

First thing I noticed is how well the Slippery Dog casts. 30-40m easy! Start working the lure in, plop plop, plop plop...nothing. Repeat for a few casts.

Then I hear a splash and I'm on to a reasonable sized fish. I think all these years of catching mostly flathead (I just like them) has led me to forget how good sport bream are. There was a bit more footwork required than usual to keep the line out of trouble, but eventually I was able to swim this bream into the net:

Release this fish and move along the shoreline. About 5-10 mins later, I see some swirls behind my lure and get a missed hit. Do a few micro twitches and pauses, then start working the lure. That did the trick and another little bream comes up:

The late start was always going to truncate my session, so it was soon time to start heading back to the car. I decided to try one more cast parallel to the shore. Another splash and fish on. But it was something different this time:

Then on my way back, there was more water over the gap in the mangroves, so I decide to put one last cast in. This resulted in another little whiting.

Fish back in the water, it was time to go find coffee.

OK, I get what all this slippery dog fuss is all about. I think I'll be tying some assist hooks into my disco shrimp (which I'm finally ready to start tying today).

Thanks for reading.

you had better luck then i did. how did you escape the wind from five dock? iot was a north east wind. you would be casting into wind if i am not mistaken

[Little_Flatty]

14 minutes ago, faker said:

you had better luck then i did. how did you escape the wind from five dock? iot was a north east wind. you would be casting into wind if i am not mistaken

The wind was almost non-existent at 6am. By 7:30 I was home and hiding from the heat!

[faker]

5 minutes ago, Little_Flatty said:

The wind was almost non-existent at 6am. By 7:30 I was home and hiding from the heat!

I was grinding my exp all day. at 8am But no worries since tomorrow is my try hard day for bonito. I am bringing out shore jigging set up

[kantong]

good on you, what a great session! The good thing about those dogs is no snags from the bottom, just gotta watch out for trees!