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If your heading off on a fishing trip the gotcha fly in a few colour combinations and a couple of sizes should definitely be included in you fly box.

Whilst preparing for a trip to Aitutaki I came across a video of Etu tying a fly like this for Paul Worsteling from the Tackle World franchise ... the story line was that the bonefish had refused every fly they had offered the day before so for the next days outing Etu tied this fly on the beach and then he and Paul walked straight into the water and immediately hooked a fish ... gee it must be a good fly.

Anyway I do like it because Aitutaki bonefish do seem to like flies that incorporate a yellow component.

Materials

Process

A	Wind the thread in touching turns from the 95% position to about half way to the bend of the hook and then forward to a point where you can tie your dumbbell eyes in. I like those eyes to be tied in 2/3 of the way long the hook shank measured from a position on the shank directly below the end of the barb to behind the eye of the hook. Understanding hooks Apply a little head cement to the tie in before moving on.

B	Then continue winding the thread in tight touching turns to the end of the hook shank as described in step A above. Tie in an orange tag equal in length to the gape of the hook. It looked to me like Etu uses dyed rabbit fur plucked from a zonker strip but just to keep it interesting I have used some SLF material for the tag. I have used rabbit fur for tags on plenty of flies and if you want to use that have a look at the process for a red tag. What I have done with the SLF material is to take a pinch, roll that in my fingers and then tie it on at the half way along the rolled up pinch.

C	To give the tag some volume I have simply folded the front part of the roll back and locked that into position with a couple of wraps of thread.

D	Trim the straggly ends up square to complete the tag.

E	Interestingly when Etu tied this fly he made a point about bone fish being very attracted to UV materials and then he added just a couple of long strands of UV

F	I noted that Etu started the body of his fly just a little up from the bend of the hook effectively leaving a a 1 or 2 mm collar between the tag and the body of the fly ... On my version I tie the body from the end of the hook shank as described in step A above all the way to directly behind the dumbbell eyes. Economical use of synthetic fibers Take the thread forward to just in front of the dumbbell eyes. Wind the krystal flash forward all the way to the back of the dumbbell eyes overlapping where necessary to build up a uniform cigar shaped body that. I like the finished body to be twice the diameter of the shank of the hook. Figure of eight wrap the krystal flash around the dumbbell eyes then tie it off in front of the eyes. Turn the fly over in the vice and pull the excess sparkle flash to what is now the top side and extending backward partially obscuring the point and bite of the hook. Lock the sparkle flash off in front of the dumbbell eyes and trim the excess krystal flash away.

G	Etu used fox fur for the wing but I had none so have used rabbit fur that has been dyed beige. Select a small bunch of fur and discard the guard hairs and the base fluff. Tie a wing in directly in front of the dumbbell eyes extending backward that further obscures the point and bite of the hook

H	Take two lengths of the rubber or silicon leg material that you have chosen that are at least twice the length you want the finished legs to be and at the mid point bend them around the thread. Pull the thread down onto the shank of the hook just behind the eye of the hook and lock it into position with one or two wraps of thread ... keep the pressure on the thread so that the leg material does not move.

I	Take hold of the 4 tips of the leg material and whilst still holding pressure on the thread stretch the leg material back over the dumbbell eyes causing it to stretch and get thinner. Whilst holding it in that position lock it in place with several firm wraps of thread between the eye of the hook and the dumbbell eyes. Before taking the pressure off the thread do a couple of half hitches to ensure the legs don't move.

J	Build up a neat head of thread between the eye of the hook and the dumbbell eyes. Whip finish the head, trim the thread and paint the head and the tie in of the eyes with head cement.

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