As a fly fisherman, my favorite pond bugs are topwaters – popper and gurglers, but for the cooler months I prefer weighted flies, often tied with small spinners – spin flies.
Attached is a photo of some of my most productive bugs.

The "purists” will roll their eyes at my jig hook and hardware – let "em roll…..
George Glazener



I've added more bugs for the pond “HAWG HUNTERS"
A couple have rattles -all are tied ”hook point up”to avoid snags - with weedguards
for fishing heavy cover.

Those look like fish killers!!

George :

Those look great. The profile and color look just like BG. I bet they work like a charm. Don't worry about what others say . They laughed at beetle spins but they worked and no one laughs now. I like the old saying -- he who laughs last , laughs best .

They would catch me in Academy.

George :

A question -- what made/convinced you to use those patterns/colors . The reason I ask is from watching BG/RES in my aquarium they often looked like your bugs when they were mad/scared with light silvers and whites changing to dark grey/black and with a hint of yellow/chart. It was often just like that when a bigger fish was after them.

I downloaded Bruce's male/female BG photos and used for a pattern, with materials on hand.

To be totally honest, I am color blind.
My wife is my color consultant - she shares credit with Bruce....

George, I could never be that creative, but I sure can copy. Thanks for the receipe.

I think there is a good chance they will fool an apathetic Florida bass conditioned for years to take BG at the feeders.

George :

I should have known that a talented lady was involved when they looked that good and were so realistic. I bet a lot of people who fly fish for LMB or HSB would pay big $ for them.

George:

I'm not a fly-fishing purist (I'm not even an adulterated fly-fisher yet) but those look like they should catch fish.

NOW - they need a gnarly fly name like "wooly booger" or "rat-faced Mcdougal."

So ... (drumroll) ... I hereby announce the
NAME GEORGE's SPINNING FLY COMPETITION!

Winner to be picked by George, unless all the entries are off-color in which case he should have his wife help (or did I get that backwards?).

My entry: "Whirly-Gilled Glazener"

(Okay, I know that's pretty lame - but how would it look if I thought up the contest and then walked away with 1st Place?) :rolleyes:

How about

" Lady Glazener's $-Gill"

Actually the fly already has the name Spinster, and has been published and/or referred to in national and international fly fishing publications – but – we'll re-name the pond version….!

The winner will be decided by my "Lady" – AND – will receive three free pond spin bugs as a compliment to your ingenuity.

Keep the suggestions coming…. The contest is on….!

George and "The Lady"

How about he Mrs. GG Fizzlegidget?

I'll take a dozen. Money is no object.

Dude dude, were you at Budokhan? I took some "Purple Glaze"

Purple Glaze all in my brain......

'scuse me while I cast that fly!!!!..........

Theo said:
I'm not a fly-fishing purist (I'm not even an adulterated fly-fisher yet) but those look like they should catch fish. NOW - they need a gnarly fly name like "wooly booger" or "rat-faced Mcdougal."
So ... (drumroll) ... I hereby announce the NAME GEORGE's SPINNING FLY COMPETITION!
------------------------------------------------------
Theo,
We need more entries for your contest

It’s still not too late to ask Santa for a fly rod for Christmas…

Flyfishing to me is frosting on the cake – or maybe pie and ice cream, in addition to, not in place of meat and potatoes????
George Glazener

The Glazener "Bluezilla".

Last day for spin fly naming contest will be Friday, Dec. 16th.
OK Theo?

Winner will receive 3 BG spin bugs.
George

The darn things look like Elvis impersonators. I'm kinda working on that angle. You guys give me a hand on this. Theo?

They only have one drawback. They are too darn pretty to use. In my world, lures of any kind become disposable. I don't plan it that way, it just happens. I would be afraid to use something that ought to be labeled as "suitable for framing".

Until I think of something suitable using the King, how about "Gillgitters"?

Another angle; last year Mrs. Glazener had a knee replacement. George credits his culinary "skills" to her rapid recovery.

The interesting thing about the lures is that George, being color blind, has absolutely no idea what they look like. His wife has to help him with color selection. Since, like most lures, they resemble nothing in a Texas water hole, they might be considered "Ms. G's Revenge".

What he said!!!

George:

Whatever you say, boss, they're your babys!

FWIW, I like $Gills, but want to be sure you don't lose money. So how about $10 Gills (or whatever a fair price would be)?

DD:

You've got me mentally re-viewing "Honeymoon in Vegas" and "3000 Miles to Graceland."

Maybe "Tupelo" Gillgitters?

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Theo has left the building.

Submitted for DD without permission :

" Mrs. G's Graceland Gillgitters "

How about "IddybiddyBGbillyclubber"
Thank you, I'll be here all week...........

To be clear about " Lady Glazener's $-Gill " the $ can be read as dollar-Gill but it is intended to be thought of as MONEY - Gill, as in money in the bank or currency of exchange -- it will get you what you want ,ie "thats money" in other words they will catch fish like you wouldn't believe.

Set the hook, George, and keep the line tight before they spit it out. As with many lures, yours are obviously able to catch the fishermen.

Ladybugs !

I got it! The "bite-me bluegill lure". Sorry Eastland, could not resist the dual meaning of that one.

Or maybe "GG's Lady Luck lure"...

Better yet with Bob's permission maybe you could simply call it the "bluegill pond boss".

Whatever name you choose George, color blind or not that is a beautiful lure. Love the wife at all times cause she could make you a rich man.

Deb

Had to sleep on this one but (drumroll please)...

"Lady Glazener's Pond Boss"
or
"Lady Glazener's Pond Bug"
or
"Lady Glazener's Pond Fly"
or
"Lady Glazener's Spinning Pond Fly" (My favorite)

Ok, I'll stop now. (But this sure is fun!)

Hookers-by-George

Double G Git-Er-Dun

Only a couple hours left to enter.

When are you going to announce the winner, George?

Mrs. G's iridescent spin-jig collection.

Theo – Contest over – results will be announced Monday.
Burger – your entry made it in time for consideration.

“The Lady”is troubled by too many ties for 1st place…!

Sounds like you better get busy tying flies!

Maybe 2nd and 3rd place winners could receive 1 free fly if they pay shipping costs?
After the contest is over George you really out to set a price and let us know. Go ahead and book me for a dozen please. Daddy's birthday is Feb. 10th, and I know he would LOVE to get his hands on those little buggers.

BUGS BY GEORGE

burgermeister said:
“Sounds like you better get busy tying flies!”

I’ve been tyin’ flies like crazy for two days – me and my big mouth..

Debra said:
“After the contest is over George you really out to set a price and let us know. Go ahead and book me for a dozen please. Daddy's birthday is Feb. 10th, and I know he would LOVE to get his hands on those little buggers.”


I don’t tie flies for money – only to make friends and to encourage folks to give flyfishing a try on their ponds.
Warning - it’s addictive like any other type of sport – one of everything is never enough.

I will recommend videos for casting instructions and fly tying, and help anyway I can by personal emails.

Flytyng is therapy for me on days that I can’t be on the water.

George

George :

Thanks for starting this post. Please don't send me a fly right now if I am entitled to one as I would like to ask about having you tie me a fly for pay based on your pattern when you have time and your fingers recover. I would like your thoughts and suggestions first on a fly patterned on the first above with a profile where the front (head) of the fly is up and the tail down but the fly stays right below the surface. I am attempting to have it look like a 3in. BG just under the surface with its head up and tail down eating . When the line is striped the head will jerk down, move forward and turn back up toward the surface. Thanks.

A good one for ML; maybe he can catch one of those overstuffed bass around the feeder.

Burger,

Right you are. Those suckers are really getting big now...I'm guessing from observation I've got a couple or more of 8 pounders and they are still growing. One day George's fly will nail one of them I hope.

and that's no BS

[QUOTE]Flyfishing to me is frosting on the cake –QUOTE]

I agree George! I use my fly rod whenever conditions permit. More often than not, I use it when conditions don't permit.

Theo’s - NAME GEORGE's SPINNING FLY COMPETITION! ”

All of the submittals are winners – the BIG winner is the *Lady G’s $-Gill.

Each of you will receive a ”$-Gill” spinster, the Big winner, will receive three bugs.

Your flies are tied - Email your names and addresses and they will be in the mail - maybe not in time for Christmas, but soon.

George and “The Lady”


*(The Lady” made her selection with difficulty, from a “blind” list, prepared without knowledge of submitter’s names.)

ps: The dollar bill symbol flashes through her eyes everytime I bring up “the pond subject

Congrats.! Ewest does it again.

George :

Thanks again for starting this post. I will email you.

BM --Just luck on this one as you can see as Lady G picked it for a reason different from my thoughts on $-Gill. Ahh the female perspective --what a joy to behold.

George -- you can quietly remind Lady G that all the $'s spent on the ponds are nothing when compared to the joy and time the 2 of you have spent enjoying them together.

Theo – where are you?
Email me your address so I can send you TWO pond bugs for thinking up this foolishness – and causing me all this work.

Merry Christmas.
George

God bless you, George.

I will Email tonight barring major catatrophes at home.

George
I realize after re-reading this thread's posts my name submitted may have been inappropriate! I can only hope NO OFFENSE was taken. It was not my intent.

May I also wish you a Merry Christmas and may God bless us all in the new year to come.

al

Al, frankly, I thought your entry was pretty clever.

No offense taken – in fact I thought it clever.

Like I said, all entries are winners – email your mail address and your $-Gill will be in the mail.

Merry Christmas and Best Fishes for 2006
George

George

Would you tell us the "recipe" for tying the Lady $Gills? They are so attractive I might have to start tying flies myself!

Thanks

Frank

Frank, this has been a fun project even if Theo and my big mouth got me into a lot of trouble tying flies non-stop for a couple of days……

As I mentioned before, the $-Gill spin fly is a variation of the Spinster fly that I developed some 10 or 12 years ago for fishing for striped bass on lake Texoma, a border lake between Texas and Oklahoma.

The original “recipe” can be found on Dan Blanton’s website:
http://www.danblanton.com/thespinster.html

The $-Gill is a downsized version of the original spinster, using flash material for a tail instead of feathers, and “goop” applied to the head rather than epoxy.

This pattern can be tied for any size- for any species - fresh or saltwater.
I have tied them as long as 10 inches for Amazon peacock bass.

Other patterns can be found:
http://www.midcurrent.com/spinster.aspx
Keep scrolling until you get to my flies.

I want to point out that this is a rather complicated fly for the beginner.
I am sure ML will agree that starting with a clouser minnow and a wooly bugger for the beginner would be most productive.

These two flies will catch anything in your pond – and you can always add the spinner hardware on the clouser – or any other streamer type pattern.

Some of this stuff sounds complicated but really quite simple when you know a few tricks about materials and handling.

Were I closer I could have you tying in short order.

There’s tons of instructions on the internet that show step by step instructions, and I will be happy to help any if interested.

Hope this helps,
George Glazener

George

Thanks for the info and the web site references. I appreciate the advice on flies for beginners to start with.

Can you suggest the basic equipment a beginner needs to get started?

Frank

Frank,

I completely agree with George. In the fly tieing class I took, the wooly bugger and the Clouser were the first and second flies respectively that were taught. In my simple approach, if you can tie those, you can tie most anything your mind can imagine.

There is an enterprising company that is selling "kits" for specific flies. They provide all the materials and instructions necessary to tie up several of whatever fly you purchase. I haven't tried it, but it looks like a good way to maybe get started. They advertise in most fly fishing mags and if interested I'll find you a reference.

The main thing is just get started and have fun with it. Don't be intimidated by pictures of beautifully professionally tied flies...if I can tie them to catch fish, anyone can.

Frank, I'll get back with you on this one - just don't buy one of those cheapie starter kits from WallyWorld or whatever.

IMHO the most important piece of equipment is the vise, and the sky is the limit on this.
In the long run it is better to buy good equipment than be sorry in the long run.

I recommend a true rotary vise and there is a new one on the market made largely from thermo plastic (?) that is low mid-range in price - I'll check my catalogue and email you.

Good qualty materials are available from many sources on the internet and I'll email some ideas when I get a chance.

I'm sure ML will chime in on this - he has lots of experience.
George

ps: My favorite vise is the Dyna-King "Barracuda" for about three hundred bucks, but definitely not a starter vise...

George and ML

Thanks - I think (I can see the "bug" catching me with nice tools, etc)

I look forward to your additional info.

Frank

Frank,

Here's a couple of my favorites. First the link below will take you to a great place to get low priced quality materials and components including some of the materials that George used in his flies. They also have a good looking vise, the Renzetti rotary entry vise, that looks pretty functional (page 98 lower right hand corner). I have a higher end model traveling version, but that one looks fine to me. I also have a DynaKing as George mentioned and its a great vise also. The main thing is to make sure you get a rotary vise.

http://www.jannsnetcraft.com

The next link is my personal favorite because they have such a wide variety of products to choose from. You can find just about any fly stuff you might need. The Renzetti traveling vise I received as a present came from these folks.

http://www.feather-craft.com/index.html

Any help I can provide I'd love to because fly fishing is really a passion with me and nothing is more fun than helping someone else get started at it. Enjoy!

Would anyone have use for pheasant plummage, while we are talking about flies and all? I do a lot of pheasant hunting this time of year and the feathers mostly go in the trash. I would be happy to send some out if you like.

Frank,
I found the link for the rotary vise that I spoke about in an earlier post:
http://www.orvis.com/store/product_choic...d=6177&shop_id=

It’s the only true rotary vise that I know of under $100 bucks and listed by Orvis at $79.00.
Cabelas may also have it but haven’t checked.

Many fly tying materials can be found in craft stores:
Closed cell foam sheet for poppers and gurglers.
Fake hair (Santa Claus beards – Halloween masks etc.)
Polyester yarns
Doll eyes
Mylar items – Christmas tree tinsel – other flashy decorating stuff, etc
Etc….

Fabric stores:
Mylar tubing
Various chenille’s
Thread
Etc

Home center stores:
Close cell foam insulation in various shapes forms and colors.
Bead chain for eyes

Fly tying glue:
Sally Hansen’s “Hard a Nails” nylon finger nail polish
“GOOP” thinned with toluene (paint thinner)
Super Glue

Road Kill:
Take up Soberts on his pheasant capes
Never pass up a squirrel tail – good for many patterns.
Deer hunter friends – save the tails

This stuff in small packages in a Fly Shop will cost a fortune.

Too early in the morning to think of more – just use your imagination.

http://www.jannsnetcraft.com and http://www.feather-craft.com/index.html are a good source for materials, hooks and hardware as ML mentioned, as well as www.barlowstackle.com

Numerous Internet fly patterns and instructions - make up some of your own.

About hooks – I strongly recommend 60-degree bend jig hooks, for reasons already posted, for all subsurface flies
Eagle Claw 410 (bronze) and EC413 (cad plated) Size # 4’s are smallest
“J’ hooks as small a #10 for bugs, (spiders – ants – hoppers) and as large as needed for poppers and gurglers.

This is more information that you wanted but a starting point anyway.

You would be surprised what you can tie with set of Long Nose vise-grip pliers for a vise – craft store items –and items from your Lady’s sewing and knitting basket.

After all – a cave man caught a fish on a bone hook and piece of feather - the idea is to catch a fish – remember?

Good luck,
George

Thanks George and ML

Those tips and links will get me many ideas.

Frank

George, just got my $-Gill after getting back from vacation. Beautiful piece of work.
Thanks