09.21.23 Tying up some bait after work....

     Got home late from work but wanted to bang out some ammo for the quiver for my next shot down in the salt. Tides aren't the best at first and last light this week but we do have a nor'easter or tropical storm brewing and hitting NJ this weekend. Great, snotty weather fishing! I just have to make sure the waterproof is in the Jeep so I don't take a bath like I did on my last outing. 

     I'm no expert fly tyer but I would have to say I am satisfied with my Snake Fly creations. On of the things I like to do is palmer marabou between the ostrich plume out the back and the first tie of deer belly hair. I learned something from expert tyer Jason Taylor a while back. He strips the marabou down on each side and then does something with it which is above my fly tying paygrade. What I do is lay them on each side of the shank and then palmer one that doesn't have as thick of a stem like the one above. 

     I got this Mother Lode of marabou when I was picking though the booth at the Long Island Fly Expo this past spring. There were many and I wish I had enough scratch on me to but it all. There were many colors and would have been good to have and share. At it was I had already borrowed money from Neil who joined me to make the purchases that I did. 

    In my haste I tied the above Snake without the palmered marabou but I did remember it in the below fly. You can see the bulk difference in the body section. One thing to note is you can either leave the 

collar from the rear belly hair tie in (second) or trim it down like the one on the top. I got a message from flat-wing tyer Ken who inquired about what hook I tied them on the other day. They were tied on Owner 5/0 aki hooks, whatever that means. 5/0 may sound like a lot of hook but hooks come in all different sizes ecven if they are labeled as the same size. A little bigger hook is good because the spun deer hair takes up some space in the gap. One thing I have to remember is to get that barb down 

before I take these for a swim. I like the middle one below tied in a tan and white with a ring of olive in there. The ostrich swims sweetly and the marabou gives it some movement as well. If you want to 

keep them up in the water column an intermediate line will suit you just fine and the deer hair helps with the buoyancy. To get underneath a 300 gr. sinking line is what I like. And as always I fish them in a two-fly set-up to increase my chances of getting them noticed and bit.