Dahlberg Divers

[karstopo]

Anyone use these? I got a couple in an assortment of flies as a gift. I've just started using them, but in limited action the largemouth bass have found them more than acceptable. Seeing the bass aggressively take one has me sold. I can also envision these being a good redfish pattern. I love how they dive down just below the surface shedding bubbles with great swimming activity and then rise slowly on the pause. And they are easy to cast which can't be said for some of the bigger deer body hair poppers.

Anyway, it's been a little while since I got excited about new to me fly pattern. I've already have some places in mind to test them on redfish. Meanwhile, I plan on seeing just thoroughly the LMB like them.

 

[Rip Tide]

I use this bend-back diver.
Very productive and you can cast it right into the salad without worry
The keel weight of the 3/0 saltwater hook is important

 

[huronfly]

They work awesome for bass and pike. I fish them on an intermediate or sinking line to get some extra bobbing motion on the fly. Fish can't resist it.

 

[karstopo]

They work awesome for bass and pike. I fish them on an intermediate or sinking line to get some extra bobbing motion on the fly. Fish can't resist it.

Interesting, how deep do they dive using that type of line? What size divers are you using?

I'd say the ones I used might have gotten as deep as about 1.5 feet. This was using Fluorocarbon Leader/tippet and floating line. The floating line comes in handy maneuvering and mending around snags that rise above the surface. The bass were laid up in the afternoon shade next to the bank and often near semi-submerged fallen trees or similar structure.

This particular ~ 80 acre lake lacks "salad" (once had abundant **** tail moss and other submerged vegetation) thanks to the overabundant grass carp and introduced Tilapia. It does have a few patches of lily pads and abundant Bald Cypress knees plus a good amount of fallen tree and branches type of structure. The lake is only about 13 feet deep at the most. Seems like much of the time, the Bass hang pretty close to the shorelines and the structure.

 

[Rip Tide]

This is typical of the bass ponds I fish
Weed guards are a must

 

[huronfly]

Interesting, how deep do they dive using that type of line? What size divers are you using?

The intermediate line barely pulls it under the surface, and can actually be used similarly to a floating line but gets more of a dive on the strip... A lot of pike anglers use intermediate with a popper to get more a 'pop' when retrieved. Same idea.

I also use a 3-4ips line and it'll get down at least a few feet. I'd imagine if tied more sparsely and using a countdown before your retrieve, you could get down further. The divers I have are store bought, probably in the range of 1/0 to 3/0 with bunny strip tail, I've also used frog imitation dahlbergs with this method and swimming the frog subsurface and has worked well.

 

[pnc]

Tie them or variations for salt also. Shape of head & collar impart dive & motion on dive & rise. Round glued collar not being hair for hair exact. Makes water break in different ways causing left right movment. Some I cut sides flat , short extended collar (kinda like a mohawk). Has more rear wiggle & can have sudden change of direction on way up.
Divers do just that when stripped. Sort of surface or sub surface jigging. Strip..... dive. Strip-strip-strip...... dive-dive-dive. Long strips.... long dives.
Can get explosive top water strikes. Fresh or salt. I'd use one for practice in that pond......lol. Keep the rest for oyster bars ! Reds on top can be laughs. Even when their missing. Had one try 3 times before if saw me on 4th charge. Finally someone besides me frustrated....lol. Laughed about it rest of day. Then I felt bad for the fish. Think he would have found something to eat if I weren't there.

........ pc

 

[bigjim5589]

I've got a box full of them. Haven't used them much over the last few years, but did a lot at one time. Great for tidal water bass, and agree should be for Redfish. I generally keep them simple in color, black, white, chartreuse, and yellow primarily, and don't get too concerned about the heads being tightly packed.

I have used them with sinking lines, but mostly with a floating line.

 

[karstopo]

I've got a box full of them. Haven't used them much over the last few years, but did a lot at one time. Great for tidal water bass, and agree should be for Redfish. I generally keep them simple in color, black, white, chartreuse, and yellow primarily, and don't get too concerned about the heads being tightly packed.

I have used them with sinking lines, but mostly with a floating line.

The two I got as a gift (part of a bass assortment) are black and the deer hair isn't particularly tightly packed. The tails look to be marabou, a little dark flash, and a couple of grizzly hackle. No rabbit Zonker on these and they don't look real big, maybe 2-2.5 inches long tied on some odd looking wide gap light wire bronzed hooks.

When I went to order a few more, they give 4 different color options, black, olive, chartreuse, and purple, but don't list the size or give any option on that with this specific pattern (but list the size on every other pattern I looked at on their website). I have mostly tied my own flies and have never ordered from this pretty well known vendor, but I noticed some odd grammar and word usage about various flies to the point where it made me feel like English was the second language for whomever writes their product descriptions.

I'll probably get around to making my own. I don't have any deer body hair and have barely ever done any hair spinning and trimming. I just want to get a better feel for color before ordering a bunch of deer body hair, a packer and getting a razor.

 

[Rip Tide]

I'll probably get around to making my own. I don't have any deer body hair and have barely ever done any hair spinning and trimming. I just want to get a better feel for color before ordering a bunch of deer body hair, a packer and getting a razor.

Deer season is right on the doorstep and the natural hair color is as good as any.
Plus if you can beg off enough from your hunting buddies,... die your own.
No hair packer needed. Finger nails are fine or use the head of a ballpoint pen.

 

[karstopo]

Deer season is right on the doorstep and the natural hair color is as good as any.
Plus if you can beg off enough from your hunting buddies,... die your own.
No hair packer needed. Finger nails are fine or use the head of a ballpoint pen.

Where exactly on the deer does this deer body hair come from? The body, but where on the body? Do I need the hide need to be with it? This dye, any particular type that's better?

Deer are practically vermin in much of Texas so I have plenty of sources. I've even harvested a few, but prefer to let others do the deed these days. Does it matter what type of deer?

 

[karstopo]

I looked it up, seems like deer belly hair is what I mostly want for bass bugs.

---------- Post added at 09:40 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:32 PM ----------

Making Natural Dyes from Plants

Might be fun to make dyes from plants growing in the yard.

 

[toothybugs]

Belly is great for dyeing but I use back hair a LOT. I have a full pelt so I use most all of it. The fine hair from the upper neck and mask is great for EHCs, Comparaduns, and small flies, the back hair and flanks are good general purpose gray-brown hair (and is usually longer it seems), and the belly hair is coarsest and of course white.

I would make your first few patterns something like the single-hook version of a Zoo Cougar or Muddler so you can get by with less dense packing, though dense heads on a ZC make the fly dance a big more. It's a good pattern to get used to deer hair with before you make the leap to topwater bugs like divers, poppers, etc.

The common deer hairs used are whitetail and antelope, though I've used mule and it wasn't bad. Moose and elk are generally used for things like Stimulator wings but there are a lot of creative options for these materials. Those are also all northern deer species - I have no idea if southern species would work as well because thick hairs are good for insulation from the cold. You guys down south don't have that problem!

 

[karstopo]

Belly is great for dyeing but I use back hair a LOT. I have a full pelt so I use most all of it. The fine hair from the upper neck and mask is great for EHCs, Comparaduns, and small flies, the back hair and flanks are good general purpose gray-brown hair (and is usually longer it seems), and the belly hair is coarsest and of course white.

I would make your first few patterns something like the single-hook version of a Zoo Cougar or Muddler so you can get by with less dense packing, though dense heads on a ZC make the fly dance a big more. It's a good pattern to get used to deer hair with before you make the leap to topwater bugs like divers, poppers, etc.

The common deer hairs used are whitetail and antelope, though I've used mule and it wasn't bad. Moose and elk are generally used for things like Stimulator wings but there are a lot of creative options for these materials. Those are also all northern deer species - I have no idea if southern species would work as well because thick hairs are good for insulation from the cold. You guys down south don't have that problem!

I might give Axis deer a shot. That's what my family mostly harvests. There's some interesting tan and bronze hues in their hair that could work.

Sent from my SM-J320V using Tapatalk

 

[bigjim5589]

The two I got as a gift (part of a bass assortment) are black and the deer hair isn't particularly tightly packed. The tails look to be marabou, a little dark flash, and a couple of grizzly hackle. No rabbit Zonker on these and they don't look real big, maybe 2-2.5 inches long tied on some odd looking wide gap light wire bronzed hooks.

When I went to order a few more, they give 4 different color options, black, olive, chartreuse, and purple, but don't list the size or give any option on that with this specific pattern (but list the size on every other pattern I looked at on their website). I have mostly tied my own flies and have never ordered from this pretty well known vendor, but I noticed some odd grammar and word usage about various flies to the point where it made me feel like English was the second language for whomever writes their product descriptions.

I'll probably get around to making my own. I don't have any deer body hair and have barely ever done any hair spinning and trimming. I just want to get a better feel for color before ordering a bunch of deer body hair, a packer and getting a razor.

I don't believe that color is all that important. It's the action & movement of the fly that gets the attention. I like to have light & dark colors, and those I mentioned have been good. I've seen great looking color schemes on Dalhberg style flies, and certainly appreciate the artistic part of creating them, but don't feel it's necessarily going to produce any better than keeping them simple. Those I have are as you've mentioned, marabou tail, some grizzly hackle & flash too.

I have 3 sizes, and they're tied on older Mustad Accu Point light wire hooks. I think they were sizes 2, 4 & 6, and the size 2 is closer to a 2/0 for other style hooks. That produces a fly around 3" on the size 6 & closer to 5" on the size 2.

There are versions tied with rabbit strips, and they're a good fly, but those I have are tied with fairly long marabou tails. As much as I love tying & fishing with fur strips, the marabou is a lot lighter once wet, and is easier cast with a lighter weight rod. I've used the size 2 with my 6 wt. I have tied the rabbit strip versions & they're best cast with a heavier weight rod.

I generally prefer the belly/flank hair for bass patterns, but have used back hair for Dalhbergs also. It's not supposed to stay on the surface, although tying a tighter, denser head will allow it to stay floating longer. That's why I don't get too concerned about the heads, and I know it's going to sink some anyway. I trim the heads with scissors, don't even bother with the razors.

Only thing I messed up on was not adding weed guards. But they're not a fly I like casting into really nasty snags anyway. For one, the hooks I've used are too light for that & I feel like I get better reactions when they're fished along edges in more open water areas and with fairly long, yet sharp strips that allows the fly to dart around & rise & fall with each strip.

I don't view the Dahlberg Diver as a bass bug, but more so as a streamer with a buoyant head.

 

[Druunkonego]

These are one of my go-to flies for lake fishing. I grew up on a lake with good sized Pike and largemounths and learned to double haul by hurling large Dahlberg divers for pike and bass. Probably my favorite method for pike. Watching that top water explode just as it returns to the surface gets my heart racing every time. I want to learn how to tie them... i still need to master spinning and stacking deer hair.