# Pistol Pete! Have you tried one?



## Grandpa D (Sep 7, 2007)

The latest thing to pull behind a bubble. A Pistol Pete.
It's a streamer like a woolly bugger with a bead and a propeller in front.
I have watched people using them with some good success.
A few weeks ago, I met a man that was using some of them that he made, and he was nailing the trout at a community pond.
I picked up some of the propeller blades at Sportsman's Warehouse and tied a few woolly buggers with them. Green and Black were the colors I used.
I was pleasantly surprised at the results.
You can buy Pistol Petes' ready to use at Wal-Mart, or like me, make some of your own.
They work great behind a water bubble.
I don't know whether to call them a fly or a spinner?


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## ScottyP (Sep 12, 2007)

I would call them a fly with a propeller on the front :wink:

Have heard of them, never tried one, probably never will..... not with a fly rod anyway. I hear they work great but I guess I'm too elitest to stoop so low...


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## Nibble Nuts (Sep 12, 2007)

ScottyP said:


> I would call them a fly with a propeller on the front :wink:
> 
> Have heard of them, never tried one, probably never will..... not with a fly rod anyway. I hear they work great but I guess I'm too elitest to stoop so low...


Come on Scotty, you should at least throw some corn on those flies or smear them in Velvetta.


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## BrookTroutKid (Oct 10, 2007)

Yeah I caught a whole bunch at Yankee Meadows this summer on it. Only had one and I only stopped using it when it got bent in half. Worked good for me other places too.


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## ScottyP (Sep 12, 2007)

Nibble Nuts said:


> ScottyP said:
> 
> 
> > I would call them a fly with a propeller on the front :wink:
> ...


Corn fly? You may be onto something.... I'll call it a 'globug'.


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## Grandpa D (Sep 7, 2007)

ScottyP, you got me thinking.
At what point is a new fly acceptable to the "elitist."
Beadhead nymphs are not accepted by some and nymphs in general are not acceptable to the dry fly elitists.
How long must a fly be around before it's accepted by the elitist?
Now I'm not picking on you here, but I do wonder what makes a fly acceptable to each of us?
As for me, if it catches fish, I'm all over it!


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## ScottyP (Sep 12, 2007)

I have had this conversation many times and I certainly use tackle and techniques that are frowned on by other fly fishermen just as I choose not to use some tactics myself. My standards are what I find sporting and acceptible to me and me only. I *do* nymph, use indicators, tie and use beadhead flies, and tie and use flies that have synthetic materials. I do *not* use baloons as indicators, I shy away from floro tippet material (it never breaks down), I never scent my flies, and I don't use or tie flies that incorporate a rappala style lip or a spinning blade. These things could be argued and hashed out again and again. Basically, these things are what we as the individual angler have to decide for ourselves. When I am fly fishing, I don't want to use flies that attract fish with action that doesn't come from me and the way I am working the fly-- like spinner blades and scents. That is just how I see it and those are the 'rules' I have designated for fly fishing. Those rules obviously change when I ice fish or fish plastics and gear with spin tackle (yeah, I still go slumming from time to time).


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

I have used this "lure" or "fly" numerous times. But I find it more appealing to fisherman than fish. In the early 70s it was common in sporting goods stores in the midwest and south, advertised as a hot bluegill fly. For me it was clunky to cast, twisted the leader and scared the bluegills away. I did catch a few crappies on it in white with a silver prop.

Best I can remember you could buy it here in Evanston in the 80s. In Wyoming trout would greet the contraption with a smirk, or sometimes a wide grin. But I found Arctic Grayling liked them in black and gold, fished super slow on the bottom.

We called them a "whirligig", among other things.

I no longer use the thing; could never keep the prop rolling and I just had better lures or flies. Hope they have improved them and you all have luck with them. I believe "Variety is the spice of life"; experimenting with new and different fishing methods is cool.


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