|
|
|
||||||||
|
HOW THE DAN Z ZONKER WAS CREATED
|
||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||
|
One spring day I was fly-fishing for steelhead with the normal flies that are
sold on the market for steelhead. I noticed many guys having luck with
minnows, shiners, and bait patterns. So I decided to tie the closest fly pattern
in color and presentation to these baitfish. I had to do some research to make
this exact fly.
On a nice spring day I took a trip down to the Rocky River and grabbed 3
large buckets of water and some rocks and vegetation from the riverbed. I
took my samples home and set up a nice size aquarium to serve as my testing
ground. I set the aquarium in the direct path of the sun so it took a maximum
amount of sunlight plus it also had an area of shade.
I did my best to recreate an area which I saw a school of small baitfish
hanging out in before I collected the samples. I let the Tank sit for a couple of
hours and returned to the river to catch some small baitfish. I borrowed a net
my father used to catch bait fish in the lake. The system worked fine for me
and in no time I had my 30 or so baitfish ready for testing. I returned home
and placed the fish in the recreated riverbed and let them sit for two hours.
They seem to school together as they did in the river.
The tank was still in the sun and had a small amount of shade in it also. I set
up a position somewhat under and to the side of the tank. I readied my digital
camera for pictures. What I was trying to capture was the color of the under
belly of the baitfish as they scatter, jump, and swim for their life. I used a Jack
Dempsy as the predator fish. He was mean and aggressive but not big enough
to eat the fish. I had a friend put him into the tank while I steadied my position.
As the Jack chased the baitfish I clicked off about ten pictures of the fish
swimming in the sunlight from the big Jack.
After the test all samples and fished were returned to the Rocky. Now here
is the part I needed connections for. I have a friend that works for a home
improvement store, which I will not name so he can keep his job. This store
had a scanning device, which can scan any piece of material and compare
colors for a match. It is used for people looking to match paint color but what
the hell why not use it for fly-fishing. I took the pictures of the baitfish in and a
bunch of material I bought from a local fly shop. It took us about a half-hour to
recreate the color of the under body of the baitfish with the store bought
material. I took this combination and tied it into a bait pattern.
I use a beadhead or weighted hourglass eyes to recreate the moving motion.
That is how the Dan Z Zonker was born and has not stopped catching fish to
this day. The fly can be used on any fish that will chase a bait pattern. I have received e-mail feedbacks from Florida(Bass fisherman) To Canada ( Salmon and Steelhead) on how good this fly works
|
||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
|
Back to the RECIPE
|
||||||||||||
|
Back to the Dan Z Zonker
|
||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||
| page created with Easy Designer |