NO MORE MARKERS - PART 2 | The Mission Fly Fishing Magazine

As good as the initial Jigskinz poppers looked, they suffered from the same issue most crease flies have (in my opinion) -they were too soft. I tried all sorts of tricks using cut-able foam sheets until I decided that EVA blocks were the only option.

There were two issues I needed to solve for;

1)Using hot water to mold the jig skinz meant that I was severely limited in adhesive to secure the jig skinz. I got around this early on by poking around under the molded and dried jig skin using a bodkin and superglue. Messy and inelegant.

2)How the hell do I create multiple EVA foam heads of identical shape and geometry using a knife?

While staring at the ceiling one night I started thinking of other ways to apply heat, and other alternatives to adhesive. Superglue was not flexible enough, Silicone would survive the shrink but would probably not stick enough and might struggle to set with limited air under the skin (single part RTV silicone at least) . And so I ended up at the new silver bullet of adhesive that seems to be popping up everywhere – Pattex 100. A heat gun would be the seemingly obvious alternative to the suggested boiling water dip, although it’s worth noting it needs to be done slowly and at low heat. Cover your synthetics sticking out the back as the heat gun will make quick work of EP Fibre, SF Fibre, etc.

The second problem would be solved when the scroll saw at work started making eyes at me one day. I could make a template out of thin wood that I could glue on and pull off the EVA when complete.

*A small hobby sander helps to add chamfer to the Eva heads and can be repeated at same angle if it has an adjustable table.