Saltwater Bling

I have slowly but steadily been assembling an arsenal of saltwater flys. I normally convince myself that I'm buying them for "patterns" thinking that I will tie some up myself.

While most freshwater patterns are subtle combinations of natural materials, many saltwater creations are glittery, shiny, and flashy.

As Paul Jr. would say - just the thing to attract a Redneck.

I have been trying out some patterns here and there but since we got hit by heavy thunderstorms this weekend and I couldn't fish or work in the yard, I decided to pull out the tying bench and get busy.

Here are some of the creations I came up with.

This first one looks like a redfish killer to me. It is a spoon fly / crab-shrimp I saw in Bass Pro Shop. A local tyer had left one out on the bench and it really caught my eye. His had glitter embedded in the epoxy but I went with the clear look. After tying on the rubber legs and dumbell weight which will cause the hook to face up, you build a frame out of wire (I used copper) and coat with 5 minute epoxy. You need to rotate the spoon while the epoxy sets up and the result is a spoon shaped body.

I also tried this technique on a Mylar Minnow. I think this one needs some work.

These are called spoon flys. They are supposed to resemble a Johnson Spoon and are very popular. I tied these using materials cut from a sparkly pinwheel Tracy bought for me at Wally World. The light colored one is made from glow-in-the-dark tape. I stuck two pieces together and cut out the teardrop shape. I like things that glow....

This is my version of the gummy-glow-glass minnow.

This is what it looks like in the dark. I have high hopes for this little guy off the pier in the dark.

These are another "hot" bait in saltwater flyfishing - the gummy minnow. This guy is made with Sili Skin a silicone product that is made in silver, scale, mother-of-pearl, and other cool colors. It is stretchy, transluscent, and sticky. I moulded it over a form and added some eyes for a fishy look. The light colored one is moulded over the glow tape.

I call this one the "Luggage Tag". It is another glass minnow immitation that uses a clear rubber cord that comes with 3M self laminating luggage tags made for business cards. The body color comes from the Krystal Flash material you can see on the tail. I wrapped the hook shank before adding the clear rubber cord above. This is an unweighted fly which can float on the surface film or sink very slowly. I'm also expecting this to be good for the night time speckled trout under the lights.

Last but not least are the assorted poppers. These are designed after the East Cut Poppers which are sold locally for $3-$5 each. They are easy to make with pre-cut popper bodies, a little Krystal Flash, some eyes, and some glitter nail polish or epoxy.

I had a great time and learned some new techniques. Now I need to get them wet!