Saltwater Flies

Essential Bonefish Flies • Andros

Essential Bonefish Flies • Andros / /

Although there are thousands of existing bonefish patterns,  spend any amount of time around dyed-in-the-wool bone fishermen and you will find that that the Pareto principle (also known as the 80–20 rule) definitely holds true.  Only a small assortment of proven patterns earn a spot their fly boxes, no matter where they intend on fishing.  Friends, guides, travel literature and most importantly personal on-the-flats experience have narrowed my list of must-have bonefish flies down to 7 essential patterns… in no particular order.  Ververka’s Mantis Shrimp, Cownes Bonefish Scampi, McVay’s Gotcha, Owen’s 90 Percenter, Chicone’s Tranqu-Hill-izer and Bone Appetit and Ginevri’s Avalon have all proven to be highly productive for Andros Island in the Bahamas.   These flies do a great job of mimicking a prey item and its specific movement. Understanding where the fly was intended to be fished, what factors led the designer to choose the materials he did, and why the pattern has evolved helps to give you the whole picture. Interviews with the fly’s designer will give you a peek into the heads of some of these innovative tiers and should help you to understand how they think and create new patterns as well as gives you a insider’s perspective, valuable insight, and hopefully encouragement to create your own unique patterns. Read More

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Essential Permit Patterns

Essential Permit Patterns / /

If you have ever tried to catch a permit on fly you are acutely aware that the deck is stacked against you. The notorious crustacean crunchers are nefariously critical of any crab-like offering and this is one of the reasons there are thousands of crab fly patterns existing today. In an effort to narrow the search and increase your success rate, here are step-by-step tying instructions for the Kung Fu Crab, Rag Head Crab, Inverted Merkin Crab, Bottle Cap Crab, and the McCrab. Read More

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Selecting Natural Materials

Selecting Natural Materials / /

 

 

Over the past few months, I’ve  given you snippets  from my latest eBook called Selecting Natural Materials. Simply click the icon above

for the complete Deep Dive in to What To Look For & Avoid When Selecting Hair, Fur & Feathers or click the link,  and download today for $7.99.

Otherwise, read on and I’ll recap all of the material covered.

1.  Cherry-Picking Saltwater Capes

2.  Caveat Emptor

3.  Plucking the Perfect Bucktail

4.  Choose Your Zonkers Wisely

5.  Zonker Strip Cutters…Try This at Home

 

For more information on how  you can improve your own saltwater fly patterns check out my website www.saltyflytying.com or;

For a deep dive into the world of saltwater pattern development, look for my new book Feather Brain – How to design better saltwater flies coming next August. You can Pre Order a copy by clicking here.

Thanks for reading!

~Drew

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Zonker Strip Cutters…Try This at Home

Selecting Natural Materials / /

 

This is the fifth installment of  Selecting Natural Materials which can be downloaded from www.saltyflytying.com

 

Zonker Strip Cutters are pretty rudimentary tools, basically they are a handle embedded with razor blades spaced to the desired thickness of cut. They are difficult to find in fly tying shops, so most avid fly tyers end up fashioning their own. The process of cutting the skin is a little tricky, and should be approached with an abundance of caution. Obviously when ever you are working with a handful of razor blades it can be a little dangerous if you are not paying attentions.

 

 

 

The easiest way I have found to cut the whole pelts is to secure one end by clamping it between two boards fur side down. Stretch tight the other end with your non dominant hand and slowly drag the razorblades across the skin with your dominate hand.

 

 

 

 

For the complete Deep Dive in to What To Look For & Avoid When Selecting Hair, Fur & Feathers click the link, or icon to your right and download today for $7.99.

 

 

-35 page downloadable pdf. illustrated Read More

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