Tadpolly (revisited)

[FlyChucker]

Earlier this week while flyfishing on the lower Umatilla, I was standing in the river talking to another fellow. I happened to look down and saw a plug lieing in some moss. I commented "Look here, I just found $5". I grabbed the plug and stuck it in my jacket pocket. I forgot about it for a couple of days but finally retreived it one evening changed the hooks and cleaned it up.

On Thursday of this week I had a chance to fish a couple of hours after work so I thought I might give my "new" plug a try. Within a short time I had a fish on. I'm thinkin' I'll like this plug.

On Saturday, we floated and fished again. The first plug that I used was my "new" plug. Within 10 minutes - fish on. Being one to experiment I tried other plugs (warts) with only marginal success.

Sunday 12/9, same float as Saturday. I decide to stick with my "new" plug all day. Take down in first 15 minutes, 10 minutes after that fish on - nice keeper. Moved to next hole - same story a take down then fish on and landed (native). At this point, my two buddies were ready to pay streamside prices for my "new" plug but I wasn't sellin'.

We floated to the next hole. No take down this time - Fish on and landed (keeper). At this point I've had 5 take downs or fish on while my buddies haven't touched a thing. I'm thinkin' this is pretty cool.

We're still in the same hole as the previous fish. Get the fish bleed and put away and start fishing again. Fatal mistake. My line is in the water for a couple of minutes. Fish on. My buddies are going nuts, ready to throw me in. I get the fish close to the boat ready to land and the line breaks. Good bye fish, Good bye magic plug. In my haste after the last fish, I didn't retie the plug on. What a dummy.

What was my "new" plug? I'm told it was a Tadpolly. I checked the store today to buy a new one but apparently this "new" one was an older model. It had a wide bill with a recessed area on both sides of the eye that had reflective tape in it and it also had two eyes to adjust the diving depth.

I didn't touch a fish the rest of the day. One of my buddies caught 3 fish on warts in the last hole before the take out while the other guy could only shake his head in disgust.

By the end of the day we had 9 takedowns or fish landed in a 4 1/2 hour float.

On another note: The Umatilla hasn't been off color or high in over a month maybe longer. Quite a few fish in the river.

[Deleted User]

Another Pendletonian on the board? I thought I was the only one!

Did you do any drift fishing on your float? I had bettr get on the river....

Any relation to 'Fly-Flicker' from Blue Mt Angler and Fly Shop?

[RipDatLip]

You make it sound soooo good... Old school was the way to go on this trip. My question is, what is the color of the plug and tape? That must have been a big part of your success.

Matt

[Gizmo Man]

FC: from your description, it sounds like a plug called a willeys worm and not a tadpollie.

Was the area where the reflective tape was attached recessed?

Check wal mart, I think they are now carrying this brand of plug.

By the way, what was the base color? and the tape color?

Giz..

[parker]

Honestly, I don't think color is the most important part of that *magic* plug. Probably it's action had everything to do with it's success.

Some plugs just work better then others. I don't know if it's just a small vibration or what, but if you take 6 TadPolly's of the same color and use them, I'd bet you'd find only one or two that were fish catching machines.

As a kid, I used to fish at the Ballard Locks in Seattle where just about everyone plunked L9 Flatfish. Everyone used the same red L9's - some put flash tape, or eyes, or things like that, but for what it was worth, it was stil a red L9. There was one particular L9 that would get lost and found by various people over the years. This L9 would consistantly catch fish over all others. It would eventually get lost by the owner, and found by someone else (like me). We all knew it from sight - had more teeth marks on it then any plug I have ever seen. In the short time I had it, it caught 6 fish for me...in a time where I would maybe get 2-3 fish a season. I moved away from Seatle during that steelhead season and sold it to someone for a $1.

To this day, I am 100% convinced that not all plugs are the same and that color doesn't really matter. It's all about the action of the plug. I've got a Tad or two that will outfish just about anything. It's to the point where I won't use the Tads because I'm afraid I'll lose them! How crazy is that??? Although, if I'm in a stretch of river where I know I can't lose my Magic TadPolly, I'll put it on. You know the rest as it's only a matter of time before Fish On! :wink:

[ 12-10-2001: Message edited by: parker ]</p>

[Tilla]

My best friend was this Tiger wigglewart a few years back. I could put that plug on anyones line and it would produce. It had a painted flaw on its chest that allowed you to see the rattle. It broke off on a steelhead on the end of my dads line. I do mark my more successful ones with a filemark on the beek. A hand painted flo/Pink wigglewart outdid everyone one day on silvers this year, and my brother lost it the following week. :shocked: I'm gonna start keeping the good ones to myself. Had the same thing with Chinnok and Alvins, 6 out of 7 on the same spoon, and 10 or so to choose from!

[FlyChucker]

Boy, I spoke to soon.

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>
The Umatilla hasn't been off color or high in over a month maybe longer
<hr></blockquote>

We usually get off work between 1:00 and 1:30 then race to the river for a couple of hours of fishing. Today the river was quite a bit higher than yesterday but not off color. Did a quick float but did a dumb thing and let my rod hang up on some brush and snapped it in two (St Croix Wind River). Dumb Dumb Dumb! My buddy only got one takedown. Suppose to get colder so river should drop again. We're hoping to go again Wed.

Eastside Dave - we're in Hermiston. We moved from LaGrande 2 years ago. We are doing all of our floating from Stanfield to Three Mile Dam. I've seen your previous posts and noticed you're from Pendleton. No, we didn't drift fish, only plugin. No relation to Dale at Blue Mtn. Anglers but I've been in there quite a bit. We plan on doing some floats up your way but now most of the fish are down here.

RipDatLip - the base color of the plug was silver with a red back and ribbing, but overall it was pretty beat up.

Gizmo Man - I hope you're right and it is a Willy's Worm. I hope it is anything but discontinued. Our Bi-Mart store had Tadpollys and our best stocked fishing store (High Desert Marina) is closed on Sun & Mon so I'll probably check tomorrow. I bought 2 Tadpollys yesterday and fished them today but they seemed to need faster current for proper action. Anyone agree? We're finding most of the fish in the soft winter water.

Yea Giz, you got it nailed, the reflective tape was in a recessed area on the the bill. The tape was a holographic prizm type. I also liked the idea of have two eyes on the bill to fine tune the diving depth.

I'm new to this plug fishin' and haven't try bait/drift fishing yet. Most all of my fishing experience has been with flies. So I know there is no "magic" fly/lure. But on Sunday it seemed like magic when for some reason those fish were tuned into the action of that plug. It sure was fun.

I'll shop around in the stores and on the Net for a Willy Worm but right we're going to do the Christmas tree thing.

I'll let you know.

Mike

[Thumper]

I tell ya....this Gizmo guy knows his plugs....heh-heh-heh....

[fop]

http://www.ifish.net/uploads/145919343.jpg

Pretty much sounds like you found a Willy's Worm.

A Tadpolly on the left and a WW on right. fop

[FlyChucker]

That's it. Mystery solved. Thank you. Willy's Worm is a weapon that will be added to my arsenal. I can see the dollar bills flying out of my wallet, buying a wide array of colors.

Willy's Worm Web Site (http://www.marinews.com/producer/producer_willy.htm) shows the colors that are available. The colors on the web site are much more brilliant than the one I had or the one that FOP showed but I'll have to shop around to see what's available.

What has been anyone else's experience with Willy's Worm? Is it a commonly used steelhead plug? Was my experience a short term fluke? Warts seem to be the industry standard but I fished Willy's Worm 3 times and Willy out produced the Warts hands down.

I'd like to hear from you.

Thanks

Mike

[Snapshot]

:cool: That gizmoman is GREAAAAT. Now if we could just find out the color, if that really matters..

Tie one on and let it happen.Good fishing to all

[Gizmo Man]

SS: fc did reveal the color....reread his last post...

I have fished these plugs for a number of years. They do perform well. I have favored wiggle warts over the years.

I find that technique and presentation has a lot more to do with catching fish than the brand. They all catch fish when fished in the correct part of the water column.

I do agree that some plugs seem to outperform others of the same brand.

Giz...