Transparent Baitfish fly

I'm not sure who the originator of this type of pattern is, but no doubt it was designed with Sea Trout in mind, however it's one of those patterns that is far more versatile than perhaps the originator intended. Certainly it will take Bass and Pollock here in the U.K but no doubt many other species around the world will find it's simple elegant form attractive enough to munch on !

So here's a variation that I have come up with. The body is made from Sybai Polar Flash Dubbing which is a beautiful soft translucent material that I think suits the design parameters of this pattern down to the ground. In the core is a tiny pinch of Deer Creek Laser Dub in red, a very thin mylar tube is used for the tail to which I have inserted a grizzly hackle to form the Caudal fin. The head is finished with a small amount of Deer Creek fine flex UV resin. I'll certainly be carrying a few colour variants of this fly in my box next season !

Flash Blend Flies

Flash Blends are a staple material for all sorts of flies for Predators both Salt and Fresh water ! sheds water well, light and castable, good movement and looks great !

This fly is tied Hi Tie style with my own 'SPF' ( Saltwater and Predator Flies ) version, chosen and hand blended by me for consistent quality and value. 

Busy times !

Time for an update !


As for other current projects we are now coming into freshwater Predator season here in the UK so the focus is on Pike, Perch and Zander which begin to feed more aggressively as temperatures drop and winter approaches. Now is a great time for the predator angler to focus on a fly fishing approach for these species so I've been busy tying up some baitfish patterns in readiness !

These are my double Bunny Baitfish that feature a twin Zonker tail for plenty of movement !

Next up are some Hothead Baitfish

These feature a nice long flash blend tail, again plenty of movement in the water.

And some Hot coloured Baitfish

All of the above flies are tied on size 3/0 Sakuma 420 hooks.

Sea Trout and Bass Flies

Here are a couple of recent patterns I have tied for Sea Trout and Bass. They are both designed with a Sandeel theme in mind as you will see by the colours.

EP style Baitfish

For my own fishing this year I am trying to focus mostly on using Baitfish imitations like the ones in the picture below....
Now these are actually made with Deer Creek Baitfish fibre which closely resembles EP fibre and therefore can be tied in a similar fashion, hence the 'EP style'. I have tweaked these slightly during the tying process and used slightly more material around the body and head than is the norm for this type of pattern to give a slightly fuller more rounded profile, however they still remain light and castable, shedding water well on the back cast.... I was easily hitting 30yds with them while test fishing them the other night and the fish also gave them the seal of approval...
They are tied on a 1/0 Sakuma saltwater hook and measure around 4 inches.

Bunny Baitfish

Here are some recent Baitfish patterns I have been tying, they are made with the awesome Deer Creek Mega Laser Dub and some rabbit Zonker.The Flies are finished with Gator Eyes and Diamond Fine Flex Tack free UV resin, also available from Deer Creek
They will fish great for any freshwater predator with lots of movement coming from the Zonker and some nice flash from the Mega Laser dub. Tied on my favourite Sakuma hooks.

Firetigers and Fatboys

 

 

 



Mega Laser dub Firetiger Baitfish with Tail Hackles

Fatboys

More Baitfish patterns

I've been working on some more baitfish patterns of varying styles and profiles, here's a couple of Perch imitations that I did recently. I've tried to blend several colours of Deer Creek Baitfish fibre, ( similar to ep fibres ), to achieve a semi realistic natural colour scheme.

Baitfish flies and tying 'v' style

After a little break I've returned to the vice with a renewed vigour and have really been getting into tying again.

I have been working on some different tying styles recently, particularly the Muddler and trimmed type Baitfish patterns that use the Johnny King 'v' style of tying.
Here are some of my latest ties and if you like them and would like to know more about how to ties this type of pattern I have added a new step by step tab. Hope you like them !

Shrimp fly

This is my latest Shrimp design, something I have been tinkering with for a while and I think I'm pretty happy with it now. This will certainly have a place in my fly box for next season..

Surf Candy

The Surf Candy was is one of those flies that all newcomers to saltwater fly tying aspire to..
Originally designed by Bob Popovic, this beautiful fly is a winner all over the globe and is one of my personal favourites, not least because I love playing with resin but also because it is just a lovely fly to tie.

More Sandeels

 

 

Sandeels, fishing hook down. Made with Bucktail and E Z body mylar tube covered with UV Resin which makes it translucent and enhances the integral flash !

E Z body Squid

I'm having a bit of an obsession with E Z body mylar tube at the moment, and I came up with this Squid pattern. The E Z body is coated with U.V resin and the 'wings' are carefully built up using layers of U.V...

Eazi body baitfish

These are fun little flies to tie and are ideal for freshwater predators such as Perch or any other fry feeding predator !

The shank of the hook is wrapped in holographic tinsel which really adds to the appeal of these little gems ! I've also wrapped the thread wraps with some crystal flash to give them extra zing !

Clouser Minnow

Bob Clouser gave us the Clouser Minnow, which is probably the most common Saltwater fly in use today. A generic pattern that will catch most Saltwater species. It can be tied a few different ways with a variety of materials, but I personally like to keep it simple. I call these Fish Candy....

Hi Tie Baitfish

These Hi Tie baitfish are Perch and Roach imitations.

 

 



These should grab the attention of a few Pike !