Foam Terrestrials and Hexes

Some Foam Hexes, Hoppers, a #10 Cricket, a #12 Black Beatle, a #14 ant, a #6 Brown Recluse.

#6 Brown Recluse:  is an utilitarian attractor bug of the size and color of our local hex mayflys on Lake Saint Clair or the Huron River.  Some adults hatch in daylight and are on the surface on cloudy days.  It is not dressed with floatant, the deer hair and thread are allowed to soak up water and sink 90% of the fly.  The foam head and shoulder will keep the nose up in the surface film with the tail hanging low.  A short snappy strip will make a quiet pop or pip.  A rhythm of slight twitches will cause small dimples in the surface as it lifts up higher in the surface film, then it will fall back down lower before bobbing back to the surface.  It is and easy eat for a smallmouth, completely unable to escape and can be calmly sipped of the surface without even leaving a dimple.

The #6 and #8 Foam Hexes are fished dry, dressed with floatant on all non foam materials, it is fished dead drift on the surface. You can cast it down and across for a slow swing across the run.  It should be drifting downstream while slowly "swimming" across or across and upstream, on the surface toward your side of the run.

The  #6 Klinkhammer Foam Hex gets hit dead drifting, twitched or slowly skimming.

This B.G. Skunk was derived from the Michigan Skunk.  This is an larger, experimental version with the added extra foam wing.  A #12 natural version of this simpler original pattern with pale tan poly for the trailing shuck-beetle wing and white rubber legs caught my 3 biggest brook trout from the South Branch of the AuSable one summer afternoon.

The #10 and #12 Yellow Foam Hoppers are the colors of Joe's Hopper, which represents and very common medium sized hopper that is yellow on the underside, tan on top with a red stripe in the hind legs.

The #12 Black Beetle has Pea Cock herl body and pale Polypropylene to represent extended clear beetle wings.

The #14 Black Ant reliably floats low in the surface film.