This month’s message: GO SALTWATER FLYFISHIN'!
Warren is doing other stuff this month so I was asked to do another fly. Well as most of us will reluctantly be away soaking up the sun (or more likely the rain) I thought why not give you a saltwater pattern in the style of a deceiver type thing.
Saltwater fly fishing in the UK is still relatively unexplored in my opinion. The thoughts are that you need heavy rods and expensive reels with drags that would stop a truck but to be honest that’s not the case. Good quality reservoir rods and reels are perfectly suited to our inshore fly fishing and a 7 weight will be fine. Just remember after your foray to give everything a really good wash off in fresh running water. The difficult part is smuggling it past the guvnor! So a four piece that can be hidden under the suitcases full of wet weather gear and Play Stations is perfect. Nudge-nudge. And if you need to, check out Jim’s earlier master-class in issue four on the Oval cast. It’s perfect for casting the kind of fly I have for you this month.
So what’s the fly? Well as I said above it’s a deceiver style of fly. The Deceiver was tied originally for striped bass and to represent a bait fish swimming. And the style of fly certainly does that. It’s a style that we can use synthetic or natural materials to create the illusion of a big meal but without adding too much weight to the fly for casting. So here is my version of the style and how I tie it.
MATERIALS:
- Hook: Tiemco Saltwater 1/0 in this case.
- Thread: Sparton Pro in Red
- Tail: 2 Lime Green saddle feathers with a couple of strands of Crystal Hair (Blue) either side.
- Body: Under-body is red thread. Wound over the top is pearl Mylar covered in Bug Bond
- Under-wing: Funky Hair Shrimp colour.
- Wings: 2 Lavender Saddle Hackles with 3 strands of Crystal Hair either side.
- Head: Red thread covered with a couple of coats of Bug Bond Light.
So onwards and upwards....
Hook in the vice and run thread down to a point just above the barb. Strip the junk fluff from the
base of the lime green feathers and tie in. Here I unashamedly steal a technique from Mr Davie McPhail.
Take the thread to a point just about the mid-point of the hook. Do not trim the stalks off just yet.
Instead bend them back and tie them down for 6 or so turns of thread and then trim.
This method locks in the feathers, and any other materials for that matter, really well. Ok it creates a small bump but that can be filled in and levelled easily. Now add the Crystal Hair and
make sure that there are 2 strands either side of your feathers. It would be nice if the tail looked
something like this.
Now the observant amongst you may have noticed that pretty little piece of foam on the hook point. It’s for a couple of reasons. One is in the photo and the other is to avoid you catching the point with your fingers. No photo for that one folks!! These hooks are sharp and if you don’t cut the thread at least once you are not trying hard enough. You understand I did this on purpose, right?
Now for the body. This is the mylar tinsel. Tie it in at a point just back from the eye of the hook.
Now in this tying sequence the vice I am using is a rotary style vice. This next photo shows how the rotary function is utilised. Most of this style of vice has a bobbin cradle. Half hitch the thread and hang your thread in the cradle.
Hold the mylar and turn the vice by its handle. Take the mylar to the bend and back to the eye. Tie it off. It is a function of rotary vices that will help in tying in bodies, ribs and hackles amongst other things. The resultant evenly spaced rib or hackle turns are a revelation. Tie off and remove the thread for the next stage.
Coat the body with the Bug Bond. As I said before there are a few versions of these UV cure resins and they cut the tying times down greatly.
Re-attach the thread and now we tie in the Funky Hair. This is a synthetic material and great for adding a bit of bulk to the fly but compresses really nicely at the tie in point.
Next stage is for the top wing to be tied in. I tie the feather in with the feather sticking out over the eye of the hook and then pulling the feather back over the body as below.
Add the Crystal Hair to the wing by tying in 3 strands either side. Too much flash in a fly CAN be a reason for fish not taking the fly. Less is more in some cases.
Now for the throat hackle. The throat is red hackle fibres. This is a method I use in trout flies and salmon flies for putting in a beard or throat hackle. You choose the terminology to use but here is how I do it:
Pick the feather and remove the tip. In this case I have taken out the top half of the feather as the fibre length near the base suits what I need in this fly. In photo two of the set I have tied in the remainder of the feather. The feather is then pulled through the wraps and this has the effect of spreading the hackle. Tie it down with a couple of tight turns. Here’s how:
Again the rotary versatility makes tying this throat in a piece of cake. Invert the hook and you can see what you are doing nicely. Turn the vice back to the standard position, whip finish and coat the head with Bug Bond. De-barb the hook. Job done.
Just to wet the appetite of both your good selves and any bass that may be in the room with you here’s a picture of the fly wet. It has slimmed down a little but the Funky Hair has not collapsed and is holding the fly shape nicely. Hopefully nicely enough for the local bass, mackerel and pollack populations in your bit of the beach to take a fancy to it. They did the last time I used it!
Tight lines and dry holidays!
Finally... don't forget a set of tide tables for optimum fishing times. Also and probably the most important of all, make sure you let the nearest and dearest know when and where you're going, and when you expect to return. Your attire appropriate to anticipated weather conditions, some form of comms such as a mobile etc... you get the picture - just make sure you return home safe.