Rainy's DINKS Panfish Diver Bodies

Quite a while ago, we picked up a few packages of the Rainy's DINKS foam diver bodies.  These come in four different colors and, according to the Rainy's site, should be tied on a size 10 Mustad 3366 hook.  For around six dollars you get six bodies to a package.  Working on another special order, we put a few of these together in color combos that are similar to the poppers we sell.

A few pros and cons about these divers.  First up, the cons.  I do not believe they will work on a size 10 Mustad 3366 hook without modification to the underside of the body.  By modification I mean excessive sanding.  I simply do not see how, if you use the recommended hook, you would ensure a proper hook set given the size of the gap between the body itself and the point of the hook.  The below photo should illustrate what I mean.  This diver was tied on a size 8 Mustad 3366 hook.

If you use the size 10 Mustad 3366 hook, the body itself takes up the entire shank of the hook and sits directly over the point of the hook.  The problem remains... making sure a proper hook set can be achieved. You could sand down the underside of the foam body but I don't see why you would want to.  We found that by turning the body around and making it a popper rather than a diver, you open up the gap between the hook point and the body of the hook.  We also switched the hook from a Mustad 3366 to a Gamakatsu B10S stinger hook in sizes 6 and 8.  This hook has a wider gap which will aid in a proper hook set.  Using a larger hook does take away from the whole idea of these being marketed for panfish, though.  Here are two photos showing what the diver looks like on a size 10 Mustad 3366 hook.

Another con, for me and only me, is that there isn't a lot of creativity involved in using these foam diver heads.  We enjoy painting our poppers.  When painting poppers, the sky is the limit in what color combos you can create either through stippling.  These guys currently only come in four different colors which are black, white, yellow and chartreuse.  I would also love to see an olive, orange, blue, red, and cinnamon colored head.  I think that would open up the creativity a bit. 

Pro....these bodies are easy and fast to tie with.  Start to finish, one can make a popper in under five minutes.  A quick and easy fix to filling those gaps in your warm water fly box at the beginning of the season.  The only thing you need to wait for is the glue to dry.  We used marabou for the tails, hackle and round rubber legs.  If you are going to go with a size 8 hook, we would recommend not using the round rubber legs.  There really isn't enough space to add legs if you are using a tail and hackle.  This could be solved by threading the legs through the body but we do not like to do this. As for the eyes, we found that the Montana Fly Company 3mm eyes looked the best on them.  This, of course, is really up to the individual tyer.  Add bigger or smaller eyes depending on your preference.   

Overall, we enjoyed using these and I look forward to fishing them when I can.  If you are looking for a quick, down and dirty popper to make, give these little guys a try.