Typically, in my saltwater fly box there are a few flies which I can not run out of. These flies are my go to patterns and I rarely deviate when I know the bait they imitate is around. They are white and chartreuse deceivers tied on Gamakatsu SC15 2/0 hooks, Cowen’s sand eels and a fly I have been tying for the past couple years which striped bass and bluefish love, this is my go to guiding fly.
While in the process of designing this fly over the years, I kept taking attributes from various other flies and lures for striped bass to come up with this one. First, I kept it simple with the colors. There is a saying a lot of old time striped bass fisherman have and it goes “If it aint chartreuse, it aint no use.” With this, I decided to make the day version all chartreuse and the night version all black… it was kept simple.
Next, I wanted a lot of motion with the profile of a baitfish, so I made the fly big with “married” or splayed in feathers and used bucktail to build out the profile to look like a baitfish from any angle.
Last, I wanted the fly to push water so the fish would be able to feel the fly with their lateral lines. This is an important part of how a striped bass hunts and I feel should be incorporated into flies when water clarity may not be optimal.
Now, to tie the fly:
First, you need:
- Deer hair belly
- Saddle hackle
- Gamakatsu SC15 3/0 hooks
- White bucktail (or chartreuse)
- EP sparkle fibers or any other kind of sparkle
First, I tie in the bucktail and then place the sparkle fibers on top.
Next, I tie on 2 saddle hackle feathers after taking out the webby bottom feathers and face them in (not splayed out) on both sides of the hook.
Next, I take a saddle hackle feather tie on and palmer around the hook only using the webby part of the feather for the collar of the fly.
Last, I spin a deer hair head and then whip finish.
Once the fly is finished I then take out of the vise and trim the head to form a cone shape and then it is ready to fish...
