It's typical, as a person gets older, that they become harder to 'buy for'. In other words, it's harder and harder to find gifts for them that they either need or will be surprised with or generally find to their liking. I'm no exception to this. I have pretty much everything I will ever need or want, within reason, and so my sons really have to use a lot of ingenuity to arrive a something that will be unique and useful to me when it comes time for my birthday anniversary. But they have most always managed to meet the challenge and I will devote this story to one of those recent instances. The story of the flies, fishing that is, as in artificial fishing flies for salt water fishing.
A short time ago, I received a small plastic box with this label. The box contained 6 different salt water fishing flies expertly hand-crafted by Douglas for me as a birthday present. These flies are intended for use along the Gulf Coast where I do most of my fishing these days, and are specifically for use on red fish, speckled trout and flounder, but could also be effective on snook, mackerel, pompano, cobia and tarpon. I'll describe each of them and their characteristics, so you too will become an expert on salt water flies.
This first specimen is a subdued variation of the Seaducer, deadly on seatrout. It's a simple pattern, but one that can be varied to make the fly behave so differently
in the water that you may begin to think of it as actually being several different patterns. By using bright contrasting
colors, like red and yellow or red and white, the Seaducer can be a great attractor pattern. By using subdued colors
like mottled browns, grays, or greens as shown here, the Seaducer has the more realistic appearance of many types
of natural baits.
This fly imitates a minnow and is named the Deep Clouser Minnow, great for snook and flounder when fished near the bottom. All saltwater flies are intended to be fished in the water and most are bait fish imitations as opposed to floating flies normally used in fresh water and that imitate actual flies or stages of flying insects.
Here
is the Spoon-Fly. This is an attempt to make a fly rod version
of the popular gold spoon that has long been a favorite lure for redfish. Like the gold spoon, the Spoon-Fly is
shiny and highly visible to the near-sighted redfish., and it usually has an enticing wobble that looks and sounds
a lot like many types of swimming bait fish.
The bright version of the Seaducer is shown here. This color
combination is a favorite of cobia, mackerel and tarpon, and as with many Gulf Coast flies, chartreuse is the most
popular color. The hook is cleverly hidden by the feathers so you can really put the ants on 'em with this baby.
Of
the thousands of fly patterns that imitate bait fish, the Hy-ty
may be one of the simplest to tie. There is no body, tail or hackle, only discrete clumps of material tied in a
row along the top of the hook shank. One of the characteristics of the Hy-ty that makes it so successful is the
horizontal banding effect created by the clumps compressing and lying almost flat as the fly is pulled through
the water. This fly can produce trophy-sized fish in nearly all weather conditions.
This
last specimen is the salt water version of the famous and successful Royal Coachman used for years on fresh water trout. The body has been made thicker for salt water and the overall size
has increased because of the larger fish abundant in salt water. The basic style however is mostly unchanged and
has continued to be as deadly on salt water fishing as its fresh water counterpart. The Royal Coachman "breathes"
as it is moved through the water, giving the fly a lifelike appearance even with a slow retrieve. But it also compresses
when wet, making it less air resistant than more rigid material such as saddle hackle feathers or bucktail.
Disclaimer: The descriptions and claims made of the fishing flies shown here are not intended to infringe upon or violate any patents or copyright or other ownership in any manner and are for information only not for re-sale or distribution to the general public without the consent of those who may claim rights to the designs shown.