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Platinum Switch

Protubed Vanilla Bugger

May 6, 2014 By Eric Ishiwata Leave a Comment

Protubed vanilla bugger1

Mark Boname’s Vanilla Bugger is a killer pattern that I have never fished. Chalk it up to stubbornness or stupidity, but I’ve never found bugger-style flies to be particularly lively on the swing. Don’t get me wrong, their stiff body hackles are certified-deadly on the strip, but under the constant pressure of a dead swing, buggers end up looking pretty wooden.

Curiosity finally got the best of me and I recently set out to see if I could steal borrow the best attributes of the VB (its size and color scheme) and combine them with the best characteristics of swing-style streamers (a tear-drop profile, flowing hackles, and a weapon of a stinger hook).

I began by converting the standard bugger over to a Pro Sport Fisher Nano Tube. The benefits of tubes are well-publicized; the most significant being they allow you to use the deadliest hook in the game: www.gamakatsu.com/fishing-hooks.php?pid=1014. I then added some “swimability” by lengthening the marabou tail, oversizing the collar and body hackles, and replacing the standard cone with a Pro Tube Ultra Sonic Disc. Last, to keep the fly swinging in “the zone,” I added a tungsten Raw Weight, which I hid between the body hackle and the collar.

I test drove this “new” variant last week using my Platinum 8wt Switch with 9′ of T-11, 4′ of 6lb Maxima to the Protubed VB, and 2′ of 6lb Maxima to a Kool Herc (white/dun/red). The results were impressive. While I couldn’t say for certain that those fish wouldn’t have just as readily grabbed a standard VB, the hook advantage of the Gamakatsu Octopus was undeniable. I went 7 for 7 with the Protubed VB and never once worried about the hook being thrown or bent. Confidence.

Protubed VB:

Tube: Pro Sport Fisher Nano Tube (clear) + Medium Pro Hook Guide (clear)

Tail: Marabou blood quills (cream or tan) + 2 strands of Midge Flash (pearl)

Body: Wool yarn (cream) + Whiting Farm Bugger Pack (golden badger) + wire rib (gold)

Weight: Pro Sport Fisher Raw Weight (med)

Collar: Whiting Farms Brahma Hen (golden straw)

Head: Pro Sport Fisher Ultra Sonic Disc (med; gunmetal)

Hook: Gamakatsu Octopus #6

 

A Protubed Thin Mint worked as well…

protubed thin mint

And, bycatch on the Herc…

kool herc walleye

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: flies, Ishiwata, Platinum Switch, Rockies, trout

Eddie K. on the Ark

April 12, 2014 By Eric Ishiwata Leave a Comment

Eddie getting techy on the Arkansas.

Rod: Classic 5/6 Switch

Line: Elixir Switch 325

Leader: 9′ tapered 5x to first fly; 2′ of 6x to trailer

Flies: #16 olive Ice Dub soft hackle to a BWO emerger

eddie k

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Platinum Switch, Rockies, trout

Town Brown

March 12, 2014 By Eric Ishiwata Leave a Comment

Water temps are still pretty low, but the swing bite through Town is starting to heat up.

Rod: 10′ 5wt Platinum Switch

Head: 325gr Skagit Short

Tip: 5′ of T-8

Fly: Ish’s Smalls (black/chartreuse)

3.11.14 town brown

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Ishiwata, Platinum Switch, Rockies, trout

Winter in the Rockies

February 5, 2014 By Eric Ishiwata Leave a Comment

wyo

Swinging for trout in the dead of winter is an exercise in misery. The days are short, the weather is lousy, and the fish are lethargic. You’d be better off staying home.

bow

Rod: 8wt Platinum Switch

Head: 475 Tonic V2 Switch

Tip: 7’ of T-8

Fly: Idylwilde’s Grand Master Flash (tan/gold)

Photos: Aki Koyama

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Ishiwata, Platinum Switch, Rockies, trout

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