The greats say fly design and tying is used to solve a fishing problem. Well I have one. I've been big on the popper/dropper thing for a bit but the success rate with that approach has seen me watch fish, a few good ones, explode up on one of the two flies without committing. Is it to confusing? Are they just
getting angry at it and just looking to stun the bait (flies) and have them go away? I'll never be good enough to design a fly from scratch. I'll never probably be good enough to tie the already well known and productive flies as they were intended to be tied, although, and I've mentioned it before, I do okay with those Tabory Snake Flies, at least my own version of them.
So as soon as I got home I went into the tying room. I had purchased some really long shanked hooks a way back and I thought I might break them out and tie like a Spook type fly. That's something that has been around for a few years so it would just be an attempt on my part, not my original idea. I couldn't find them so I just went with the longest shanked fly I could find. I also busted out the silicone and Photo-Flo because I wanted to experiment.
I first started tying in some buck tail off the back. I then keeled the back of the hook with lead wraps. Why there? Who knows. I was thinking maybe that ass-end weighted down in the water might give it a little side to side or up and down action depending on the retrieve that I used. I loaded the shank up with deer belly hair and gave it a tapered trim with a boxy front. I coated the front with silicone creating some kind of v-shape in the front
of the fly. Why? I don't know. I could just use a tried and proven simple popper like a Bob's Banger or Surface Seducer but why make it easy and just catch fish. It's a good sized fly and might just be the Scooby snack a bass patrolling the lip might jump up and out of for. I don't think this is a open water long cast fly, just something in tight quarters in somewhat smaller water?
Looking at it above I don't think the weight is enough to really make an impact. The deer hair will keep it up and the shape might push water, but then is it just an attractor fly and not really matching any hatch going on underneath the water? Where I go there hasn't been any bait yet and the bigger flies that may work if there was say bigger bunker around aren't getting any love because they're not tuned up on them yet, at least on the northern Jersey Shore.
I'll give this a go on my next outing when dark to turns to light. Mostly likely it'll be a few casts with it to expose it's ridiculousness before I go back to something that might work.