Tying direct gives you choices

VMC Tungsten Ice Fly will be one of the lures I tie direct.
It can make all the difference in putting fish on top !!
Let the fish tell you what they want !!
Tying direct gives you the ability to present you lure like this ice fly horizontal or vertical

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Dave,agree 100 percent I have a feeling these are gonna be lethal this winter!

They will be awesome I’ve been tying my own the last couple years and have discovered with a small tungsten ice fly like that there is no need to buy waxies or spikes anymore.

When I first saw the ice flies I knew I would end up hitting first ice with one tied on.

Thanks for the tip, Dave. These look like a dynamite lure. I’ve stocked up on them, already.
Al

What kind of knot is that koonce?

improved clinch knot

I go homebrew.

Dave,
I have found that using a normal clinch knot in that situation will hold the jig/fly better, either horizontal or vertical. I figured this out using heavier jigs and a leech under a bobber walleye fishing. The flies you are using are lighter and maybe it don’t make a difference.

I’ll give that a try !!!

thanks !!

Nice Ice Flys JT !!

What size and colors do you prefer?

I ty all mine on a #14 dry fly hook with a 4mm tungsten beed. This has been my best size the last couple years and blue green or natural colors work great for me.

Here’s a couple of my favorites from last year.

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I did mine with size 14 scud hooks and 1/8″ tungsten beads, and the bigger ones are size 10 scud hooks with 3/16″ tungsten beads.

I like them Joe. They look good. I wanted as much weight as i could get and couldn’t get the bigger bead on the scud hook so i went with the dry fly hook. I haven’t tried any as big as 10 yet. Do the gills still take them fine without live bait?

Not sure, just tied my first one last week, so I haven’t tried them yet.

Hopefully I can pull some fish through the South Dakota ice with them this weekend.

The smaller size 14 hooks and 1/8″ beads there tough to get together. It took a pair of pliers, and a couple of them I can to bend the hook back slightly after I got it on.

I see cabela’s has the VMC jigs. Are you generally better off using the smallest size?

I messed around with alot of sizes last year and my goal was to be able to catch fish without live bait. Anything smaller than about a 3mm tungsten bead I felt took to long to get down and about a 4mm is as big as I wanted to go on a #14 hook to leave room for a hook gap. On a size 12 or 10 you can go with a 5mm bead. I’m going to ty up some bigger sizes for this year to try. I caught fish on the size 14 all last winter without tipping it so I built a lot of confidence in it.

DFP wrote:

What size and colors do you prefer?

Whichever size and color the fish prefer.

I start with the smallest size and work my way up…
Some days it’s micro..
Some days it’s magnum!!!

Just placed an order. These flys look very interesting. Thanks for the info. Now if we can just get the weather to cooperate. As I type this the TV weather reporter says the December temps are forecasted to be above normal.

DFP wrote:

Just placed an order. These flys look very interesting. Thanks for the info. Now if we can just get the weather to cooperate. As I type this the TV weather reporter says the December temps are forecasted to be above normal.

This is one time I hope they are truly wrong !!