When fishing extremely heavy schools of bait, you need a fly which matches
the bait but stands out from the rest. One thing these baits all have in
common is they flash. In large schools these fish dart, turn and leap out of
the water when pursued by larger fish. Sunlight strikes their silvery sides
and reflects back a flashy, shimmering effect in the water. For as long as I
can remember, spin fishermen have used spoons which produce good catches. To
me a spoon doesn’t resemble a baitfish, but suggests the flash of a fleeing
one.
I’ve spent a lot of time at the tying bench and have come up with a pattern,
which is easy to tie. It resembles a Bay Anchovy and has a flashy underside.
Local fishermen and myself have fished this pattern for Striped Bass and
Bluefish successfully throughout the year. This fly also produces Albacore
and Bonito on days when these fish can be frustrating.
Materials
Hook: Tiemco 800S 2 or 4.
Thread: Monofilament ultra fine.
Lower Wing: White fish hair or smoke super hair.
Center Stripe: Silver sparkleflash.
Upper Wing: Olive super hair.
Body: Witchlite decorator tape #193.
Eyes: Silver adhesive eyes.
Epoxy: Devcon five-minute.
Tying Steps:
- Place hook in vise point down, wrap mono thread behind eye of hook, tie
in one eighth inch bunch of fish hair or super hair (white or smoke) on under
side of hook, wind thread three quarters of the way down the hook shank,
split fish hair into equal parts on each side of hook bend and then wind back
to hook eye.
Originally published April 2, 2001 on Fly Anglers Online by Capt. Bob Turley.