Fall Colors

[Redman]

Micropterus salmoides Man you are taking me on a trip down memory lane. Yes the good old Doll fly. It is a very oldie but a goodie. Haven't tied one in years But did see a card in a Famous Dave's BBQ joint in Iowa when I was there last. Remember that we use to tie them up for Walleye and then had a 1/16 round head for yellow perch. Have to think how we did that and make some just for old time sake.

Redman

[Micropterus salmoides]

Redman,

I'm learning. Older feller I met on the river one time swore by a red n white in that style. Believe his was also polar bear. Didn't think much of it til I researched a bit.

[skiptomylu]

The " Christmas jig" is good year round and always has been. Too many real old timers mouths have released that one over the years, including my paw and tying teacher.
I believe a blaze orange head is better though.
I think that Fall color is just relative to the water you're on. Can't go wrong with orange!
Or white, or so I've been told

If you want a tried n truer, try the doll fly.

Absolutely is good all year and sometimes I have to force my self to put it on just because of so much new stuff to try that sometimes if we don't make sure to remember the old ones we may soon forget.
It's actually hard for me to tell the difference between Flake Red and Blaze Orange if they are both painted and cured properly. I even make sure to keep them apart when I am painting so I don't have to separate them after the fact, LOL! Now the store bought ones sometimes are not cooked right and the Flame Red doesn't look right at all, but if it's cured right it's a very good color.

Yes the old Doll Fly has been around a long time and always been good.

I have a new one I hope to tie soon and show here that I think is really going to be great! Plus it's not hard to tie and looks awesome IMHO!

Skip

[skeetbum]

I have some of the original doll fly in a couple of colors. They work great. I have a few stories about the fish they've caught for me that were unusual. The guy that made them was named Elmer and passed away just a year or two ago. The Polar Bear hair was the ticket. Can we even get that anymore?

[Redman]

Not really Skeet. The closest thing that I have found for a substituent is American opossum. I get mine from road kill or trapping them with some fish in the late fall. Some one might carry it as I remember someone had a post about it some months back.

The best color that they had was the white tail, red head. That worked the best for us. As I remember they didn't have a great many color selection. Think that is was like White, Red, and Yellow. The Head would be in a contrast color to the tail and there was no body it was mainly a thread wrap jig. The thread wrap was always Red. Well that was the only thing that I ever saw in the Mid-West. Maybe he put out other color combo in other parts of the country but that is about the only thing that we ever got


Before I finished this post I googled this the doll fly jig and came up with this. Fishing for History: The History of Fishing and Fishing Tackle: Elmer "Doll" Thompson Passes AwayThis will give you some of the company's history. It was a good jig in its day and maybe one that should be brought out of retirement.

Redman