I've only been fishing the blob for a short while, mainly because I daren't be seen with one on the end of my leader. So the methods I have used that have been successful are these.

The blob patterns I have used have been the sunburst orange, the chartreuse, the black and the dark green with a chartreuse floss tail. All the blobs have been tied on black size 10 Sparton Hideoshi hooks.

I have had most success with the orange blob fished with a Teeny floating midge tip line. I have used a DI7 line and stripped the blob back as fast as I can, but have had poor results.

Best results have come with the blob sinking slowly, or suspended over deep water without retrieving at all. A few fish have been caught by ginking up the blob and fishing it on the surface.

But what about you? What's do you find the most effective way of fishing this "fly"?

Ron, have a bash at fishing the originals:

Dressing details for the Original Blob:

Mark 1 Blob

Hook: Kamasan #10 B270 Double. If you are fishing to international rules: **Wear safety Glasses** and very carefully bend over the hook eye in order to reduce the overall hook length.
Thread: any good strong fluorescent orange thread or floss
Tail: Hot orange marabou.
Body: Hot Orange fritz
Wing: Hot orange marabou (Due to the body bulk the wing will sit slightly posted, as it should)
Head: good sized ball of fluorescent orange thread or floss


Mark 1 Blob variant

Hook: Kamasan #10 B270 Double. If you are fishing to international rules: **Wear safety Glasses** and very carefully bend over the hook eye in order to reduce the overall hook length.
Thread: any good strong fluorescent orange thread or floss
Tail: Glo-brite shade 4 with a few stands of gold "sparkler type" tinsel tied on top
Body: Hot Orange fritz
Wing: Hot orange marabou with a few stands of gold "sparkler type" tinsel dressed either side of the wing.(Due to the body bulk the wing will sit slightly posted, as it should)
Head: Finish off head with Glo-brite shade 4, NOT orange thread or floss.

These flies were originally designed as a "KNOCK EM OFF" anchor fly for loch-style fishing, in front of a team of buzzers or bach's.
Method: cast out and fish as if you're fishing a team of buzzer or nymphs...no retrieve to a dead slow or static retrieve.
Hope this helps
Regards
Paul
See below: http://worldsbestfishingfliestheblob.blog.co.uk/


TUESDAY, January 3rd 2006
THE BLOB FLY AND ITS INVENTION.

It wasn't until a chance reading of a question put to the Fly Fishing and Fly-Tying Magazine discussion board that I found out who it was that designed and developed the now most killing of all still water flies (lures): THE BLOB. The inventor is Paul McLinden from Coventry Warwickshire England. An England International Fly Fisherman and past European champion fly dresser. Scotsman McLinden is known worldwide as a fly fishing materials guru and as being recognized amongst the world best amateur dyers of fly dressing materials. The invention of the BLOB FLY came about quite by accident. The Blob Mark1 was dressed slightly differently and more importantly according to McLinden fished completely differently from the fly we now recognize as the Blob.
The Mark1 was dressed on a #10 competition rules double, with a hot orange wing up front, tied tight to the fritz body, as a posted wing. The retrieve was crucial. The Mark1 was fished, and get this, on a floating line behind a team of buzzers and Bach's with a dead-slow to medium retrieve, with the occasional tweak. This is where the posted wing worked its magic sending out little pulses and flickers of colour and movement. As an anchor fly, fished in this manner, loch-style, it's still one of the best methods for knocking off those otherwise preoccupied bottom feeders. And up until now, one of the best kept secrets. McLinden explained that he had got hold of the fritz material, we now widely recognize as far back as 1985, when he purchased a quantity from Crump's of America.
The story behind the Blob's first wetting is as follows: Whilst fishing in a Severn Trent regional England eliminator on Draycote Water near Rugby, Warwickshire. McLinden had in his haste forgot to varnish the head of the Mark1 Blobs which he had dressed the previous evening. He had been drawn to fish with England's Gold Medal winning world fly fishing champion team member Lester Booth. On wetting the point fly the Orange Marabou winging material started to work its way out of the dressing, and on casting the flies, the winging material disappeared completely, he also found himself fishing shallow water, which meant seriously fast pulls in order to keep the point fly from snagging on the tree roots in Draycote's Toft Shallows. Fish after fish hit the wingless orange fly. McLinden's boat partner could no longer contain his curiosity, and ask to look at the fly which was "doing the damage." On seeing the fly Lester looked aghast and said: "It's nothing more than a blob of orange!" The name stuck.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
see here:http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/scot...ing.4184302.jp
see here:My reply: http://troutunderground.com/2008/05/...ant-it-banned/ pasted below.

Paul McLinden July 17, 2008 at 9:50 pm
When you receive one phone call about the latest controversy surrounding the blob fly, you smile. When you receive two phone calls regarding the latest controversy about the blob fly, you smile and shake your head. When you receive three phone calls, well, it just becomes annoying.
When England won the world fly fishing championship on Rutland water way back in 1987, I believe their most successful fly on Rutland was Brain Leadbetter’s Peach Doll, hardly the most imitative of fly patterns.
Indeed, I spent quite a bit of time corresponding with Brian Leadbetter just trying to establish the exact colour match for the Peach doll.
In 1990-91, I purchased a copy of “Success with Trout” by Martin Cairncross, John Dawson and Chris Ogborne. In that book the writers suggested there was so much mystique and baloney associated with getting the correct shade of wool for the Peach doll, and that the main reason for the Peach dolls success was overlooked: its effectiveness as a pure visual attractor, they then stated that this fly is best tied with the hottest, most fluorescent and hideously striking orange available. They also stated that it didn’t matter whether they body was tied using wool, chenille or whatever. The bright body was the key to the fly’s success. Let me repeat that, “THE BRIGHT BODY WAS THE KEY TO THE FLIES SUCCESS.”
The fly which the authors advocated as a replacement for the Peach Doll, is called “The Vindaloo.” They went on to advise the reader: if you’ve had no response after quarter of an hour, then you should remove this fly. No different to the blob then.
It’s July 2008 and progress is progress. So many technical advancements have been made since those red letter days when England once ruled supreme in the small bubble of competitive fly fishing. The only difference between the blob fly and those mentioned above is the material used in the fly’s construction; just another synthetic material which lends itself to seriously easy fly construction.
To those anglers and non anglers outside the bubble, competitive fly fishing is perceived as a pleasant and relaxing day out, afloat in a boat, delicately casting bits of fur and feather which represent the trout’s natural diet. Nothing could be further from the truth. Competitive fly fishing is, in my opinion, one of the most physically and mentally draining of any sport on God’s own.
Take any Olympic athlete, have them practice for two days prior to a match, and then fish the match over another two days, I guarantee they’ll be in bed for a week afterwards. It is, as I’ve said, exhausting.
Yobs with blobs, I think not. Sure things can get a bit tight during a match, when all the boats are drifting the same area, words will be exchanged; a bit like track athletes jostling for position, but I’ve yet to see “boat rage.” What’s said on the water stay’s on the water. I’ve yet to see a competition angler sin binned, Red-carded or hear of a tunnel punch-up after the match.
Indeed, only last year, when driving home from a match on Rutland Water the clutch cable on my car snapped, and I was left stranded in the middle of nowhere. The battery on my mobile was dead, it was 9 pm, and I was in trouble. A group of competition anglers upon recognizing me pulled up and handed me a mobile phone so I could contact my breakdown service. Those anglers waited by the roadside with me until the breakdown service arrived. The breakdown service arrived at midnight. During that three hour waiting period another competition angler stopped and offered to take my fishing tackle to a friend’s house nearby, just in case my car was laid-up on the grass verge overnight. I took up his offer with thanks.
Indeed, a great number of anglers stopped and asked if they could be of assistance.
Not a yob amongst them.
Bob Church got it spot on when he said, “It’s no good being able to fish more natural patterns if there’s no hatch for the angler to match! And lures often provide the most reliable alternative.”
Bob Church is the “singularity” of our sport.
We have fashions and trends in every sport, only last week during Wimbledon, John McEnroe mentioned just how much the synthetic material technical advancements had changed the game of tennis, and what did we see, the best Men’s Wimbledon singles final ever.
Fly fishing, like tennis, has seen many changes. We’ve progressed from using split cane rods to high modulus carbon fibre or graphite rods, lighter and larger capacity reels, from silk lines to polymer fly-lines which are designed to sink at exacting speeds, and the greatest improvement, the invention of fluorocarbon leader material which has almost the same refractory index as water, around .09 making it almost invisible.
As always, the most important piece of equipment in the fly fisher’s armoury, coupled with the retrieve style, are the flies which he or she has on the end of the now almost invisible leader. When I purchase a new rod or reel I have a plethora of tackle to choose from, but it’s down to my personal choice. Fly choice, and the right to choose which fly I wish to fish under certain conditions, again is my personal choice.
The fly in fashion just happens to be the blob, everyone’s wearing it, but like all other fashions, they come and go. The viva, soldier palmer and muddler minnow, will I’ve no doubt come back into fashion.
You cannot stop the crowd booing and jeering Ryder cup style, but I’ll make a deal with them… The deal is: when I hear of an angler having been suffocated by a hatch of peach dolls or vindaloos, I’ll stop fishing the blob. Paul McLinden(Quote)



Hope this kind of helps Ron .
Kindest regards
Paul McLinden AKA TheDeadSkunk

Thanks very much Skunk for your post.

I am waiting at the moment for a shipment of cactus chenille (Fritz) from Sparton Tackle so that I can start tying more blobs. I'll give those you suggest a try.

"Draycote's Toft Shallows".

A wonderful spot on one of Englands finest Ressies. I've had some cracking browns and rainbows in this area.

I hope we can get Draycote re-opened post haste. It's up to how we vote on 6th May I guess!

---------- Post added at 08:12 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:06 AM ----------

Oh by the way, doubles are banned on the water I am fishing at the moment.

Same goes for me. Been fishing blobs in various colours, sizes and hooks for a while now and cannot recall any fish caught moving them any faster than a slow fig8. I have, however seen others catch stripping them ferociously but its never happened for me. Try tying some very small blobs, sometimes coming down a hook size if the fish loose interest can bring more takes.
Scotty

__________________
i was walking far from home, where the names are not burned along the wall, saw a building, high as heaven, but the door was so small

Ron

Welcome to the interesting world of Blobs!


I began fishing them at a small water using an intermediate and a slow sometimes steady F8 or long slow pulls. It did very well indeed.

Since then, I have been using them more and more on ressies.

This weekend, at Hanningfield, the fish were heavily on the daphnia and blobs pulled quickly seemed to do the trick albeit some also seemed to do well on nymphs on a slow glass or fast glass but, by and large, it was blobs pulled on floaters down to Di3 lines.

They can work well, too, on your top dropper, above a team of nymphs as an attractor fly.


Enjoy!


Ben

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Another deadly fly I have used recently is the Booby Blob. This thing has bright orange foam "eyes", a bright orange fritz body and a hot orange marabou tail.

Chuck it out on the end of a DI7 with a shortish leader and either let it sit after tightening up or use a strip and pause retrieve.

And for goodness sake hold the rod and strike at the merest twitch. Then you will hook the trout in the scissors and not in the gills!

Never seen such a 180 turn around in all my days on the forum.......cant believe what I'm reading.....

Have you seen that film when the aliens replace locals with "pod people"?

__________________
an interesting mix of apathy and panic

Clive M

April Fool's has been and gone, hasn't it??



Next up on today's Programme 'Ron Clay and the buzzer under the bung method'.

Gripping stuff; I am glued to my monitor in anticipation!!


Mind you, I need not remind fellow Forumites that I am a closet Ron Clay fan having avidly read his articles on nymph fishing as an impressionable budding angler in my teens.

He also wrote an informative chapter in a book compiled by one of my favourite authors; the late but great Charles Norman who did much to promote both bass and trout angling in Southern Africa.

It is quite a delight to see Ron chucking out a blob now!


Ben

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Tackle Essentials - Pliers, Snips, Pimps etc

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