[TheCream]

I'm working on saltwater flies again. I finally got my move finished and done with, so after almost 2 weeks of no tying I was able to get some bench time in last night.

The shark flies i completed a while back and recently took pics to share here. I'm hoping for a shark on the fly again this trip, I am pretty optimistic that I can pull it off if I get favorable conditions. All the shark flies are on hooks sized 3/0-6/0.

Lefty's Shark Fly:

Some heavily cemented/armored Deceivers:

These are huge creations I came up with. Two magnum rabbit strips for the tail, like a double bunny, then a collar of reverse tied bucktail, and a head of Baitfish Emulator Flash:

Shark box:

And last night I tied a few Surf Candy variants from a guy in NC, Capt. Matt Wirt. He uses a small rattle inside the body of the Surf Candy:

 

[Lance]

They look great! How long till the salt trek?

 

[TheCream]

I leave on July 13th...Friday the 13th... :16suspect1::yikes:

 

[GMbuck]

Really nice looking stuff Cream. If I could tie like that, i wouldn't buy another fly!

 

[TheCream]

Really nice looking stuff Cream. If I could tie like that, i wouldn't buy another fly!

What were your most productive flies on your trip, GM?

 

[GMbuck]

What were your most productive flies on your trip, GM?

I posted in the other thread that I caught everything on a clouser. That's not quite accurate. I caught the biggest ladyfish (still probably no better than 20') on a sand eel and also caught a couple on a small EP type pattern. The best colors were white and chartreuse with some flash. The flies I tied were surprisingly productive. I tied a white with a red head, a white with a little bunch of yellow bucktail on top and an all white. Each had a little flash tied in the middle. They were too heavy though. I had a hick of a time trying to cast them. I'm pretty sure that the trout came on one of mine.

Mornings were way better than the afternoons. typically, I'd fish from first light for about 2 hours. Mornings were typically very calm. Spotting the schools of baitfish and disturbances on the surface were good indicators of some predator fish around. Every now and then, a lady fish would hammer the fly. most of the time, even the snook, the fish seemed to just swim up to the fly and hang on. Of course, only the snook were big enough to really hit hard anyway.

I didn't fish much in the afternoon, I think 3 times total. Twice on the beach where I did most of my fishing and once on another section where all the snook were. I think I landed less than 5 total in the afternoons. Maybe some other colors would've been better. I know the trout came just before dark. My biggest regret fishing wise was that I didn't make the effort to get to the more remote part of the beach where the snook were in a morning even though I thought about it. Given that I had several snook hook ups on the other beach, I think the fishing might have been very good.

 

[TheCream]

Next week, I go to war. I finished up 4 large hand-made balsa tube popper for sharks over the weekend. Pretty simple design, one body color basic paint scheme. The collar on the tube is Baitfish Emulator Flash, the hook portion is just bucktail, flash, and some wrapped saddle hackle to add a little body without adding real weight. The hook is a short shank 3/0 tarpon hook.

Turned balsa bodies:

Epoxy curing on the heads:

Completed flies:

 

[GMbuck]

Holy Stuff! What are you going to throw those things with?

They look great, I hope the sharks think so too!

 

[TheCream]

Holy Stuff! What are you going to throw those things with?

They look great, I hope the sharks think so too!

10wt :bouncy:

 

[Lance]

Those things are some porkers! I wouldn't want got hit in the back of the head by one of those! :yikes:

 

[TheCream]

Those things are some porkers! I wouldn't want got hit in the back of the head by one of those! :yikes:

I purposely made them as light weight as possible. The heads are balsa with light epoxy. The collar is synthetic so it will shed water. The tail portion is bucktail/hackle/flash, so it should stay relatively light for its size. At least that's the idea.

 

[Lance]

Good luck!

 

[GMbuck]

10wt :bouncy:

I was thinking catapult