That is the question! So I'm making good progress with the Squimpish tied flies. Feeling a little swaggerish so I decided to go all in and break out the bucktail and tie a Beast Fleye.....maybe I shoulda stayed with the synthetics....
I dug through the hook bin and found a pack of Gami's in 6/0 and Owner's in 5/0. I went with the larger hook. I knew in order to tie a good Beast, or really a bad Beast, I would have to have somewhat straight mono for the extension. So I boiled up some water, dropped some peices in, and then worked them into some kinda straightness. Then away I went to the fly tying lair.
After about an hour of pure hell and 10 tie-ins I finished with some eyes and marveled at it. WTF is wrong with me? Why can I not get this fly down? Maybe this one would get better after a bath, or maybe after I lit it on fire. So off it went under the faucet, there is would surely just morph into what
a Beast is supposed to llok like, well it wound up looking pretty horrible after that. Now with air temps in the 60's and the Big D across the street I figured why not a field test. I drove down, tied it on, and let it fly. And you know what? Not all that bad, not perfect by any means, but......well I'll shut up.
The big question is? Is a badly tied Beast Fleye better than not having one at all. I didn't video it because I hate the low-res finished product like in yesterday's post but it really wasn't all that bad, in fact, I 100% guarantee a big fish, over 30 inches will eat that this spring. It happened last year with
the eyes always have it from me especially on herring flies. Back in the war room I keeled the fly with some lead on the bend of the hook and tucked it away with the other ammo I'm making for March 1st, which is only 56 days away. It will be here before I know it. I've been in contact wih my river buds and they are chomping at the bit also, cabin fever is setting in, even in the warm 60 temps.
With some time to kill I cut out that funky mono extension on yesterday's fly and repurposed it. The original fly it was on (upper right) wound up looking and being better after the removal. And the removed extension was built into the below fly which would look better if the picture was better.
I am going to have to really, really get Bob's fly down if I want to increase my catches this spring. Depending on where you are fishing the baits will be different. River herring? Bunker? Remember that early spring bite last year wasn't just soaking bloodworms and clams on the mudflats, it was a plug, rubber, and fly bite on big adult bunker. There's nothing that does adult bunker like a Beast. Below is Bob tying the Beast Fleye. You can see more great instructional videos on the Atlantic Saltwater Flyrodders, HERE. Check out Jason Taylor's stuuf too, you know I'm a big fan, his stuff is stupid simple, it's just that I'm simply stupid and can't get his techniques down either, but I'm getting there.
If you're a saltwater fly rodder or tyer then consider joining this great club.