Bass, EP's, perch and saratoga flies

AKA "All depth booby". Boobies have been generally fished as a wet fly to target trout and other species This version is relatively neutral in buoyancy but can be fished at a a range of depths with the depth being determined by the speed of the retrieve and the fly line it's fished on. With a…

Peter Morse introduced his version of this fly to the members of the Illawarra Fly Fishers Club at their first meeting for 2005. The fly was developed to cover a specific niche in Peter's Bass and Estuary Perch fishing arsenal. With a heavy lead shot head the fly sinks quickly and can as the name…

Mudeyes are the nymphal stage of the Dragonfly. There are two families that are particularly important to freshwater fisher folk in Australia. The Couta Mudeye is of the Family Aeshnidae, genus Hemianax and is one of the most popular freshwater fish bait throughout Australia. The lava or nymph are…

Prawns and shrimp are crustaceans, of the family Isopod, and are endemic to our Australian estuary waters. They are toward the top of the food chain for a lot of coastal species of fish including bream, flathead and whiting. Prawns and shrimp are similar in form and function to each other and have…

This is a shrimp or prawn imitation which I made up as an alternative to my Mud Prawn for competition fishing trout fishing. That's right trout fishing. I had been using small versions of my Mud Prawn for trout feeding on shrimp with considerable success and I wanted to carry that success into my…

In the last few years I have identified three flies that have elements of their ties that are similar. Depending on who ties them they can be almost the same or can be diverse as two Woolly Buggers tied by two different fly tiers. The three flies I refer to are of course the Flash Harry, the Dirty…

Large populations of dark olive Yabbies of the Cherax Genus have developed in both Lake Jindabyne and Lake Eucumbene. Many anglers suggest that the Yabby has been responsible for changing the feeding habits of trout in the lakes as the populations of Yabbies have increased. In fact in both Lake…

If bass are not actively feeding they will generally sit deep and either in or close to structure and out of reach of dry flies and you'll find it easier to target them with a seductive wet fly fished deep and slow. When their active its a whole different story and they will be attracted to almost…

I have experimented a few times tying flies that have the wobbling action of a hard bodied lure. This is the closest that I have come to emulating that action. The problem of course is balancing the weight needed to make a lure work against the amount of weight that you can cast with a fly rod….

This fly has a number of particularly useful applications for Bass and Estuary Perch as well as trout. It main claim to fame is that particularly in discoloured or rough water the movement of the zonker strip and the inbuilt rattle are often enough to illicit a strike.  As a prospecting fly it can…

I had the pleasure of bass fishing with Peter Morse a couple of years ago and he introduced me to the concept of "fuzzeling" which I understand was developed between Muz Wilson and himself. It's dead simple and involves creating a dubbed body and then picking out the dubbing fibres with a strip of…

No this is not a fly promoted by a news network, rather the CNN stand for "Cheap aNd Nasty". I first tied this fly for use around structure where if you don't loose a few flies then your not in the game. The fly I had previously used in those situations was an estuary fly that cost between $2 and…

This wonderfully named fly came to light in Australia when John Horsey published an article about the 2008 Fly Fishing Championships that he came fourth in just a few months earlier. He went onto say 'I switched to a slime line and put a Black Straggle Fritz Taddy on the point, kept the Damsel on…

One of the best search flies in slow moving or still deeper water using a sinking line. If fishing from a fixed position cast it out, let the line sink to the desired depth, and then retrieve the line using a constant stripping motion, a pumping retrieve or a combination of both. The stripping…

One of the best search flies in slow moving or still deeper water using a sinking line and a booby. If fishing from a fixed position cast it out, let the line sink to the desired depth, and then retrieve the line using a constant stripping motion, a pumping retrieve or a combination of both. The…

Large populations of dark olive Yabbies of the Cherax Genus have developed in both Lake Jindabyne and Lake Eucumbene and many other places. Many anglers suggest that the Yabby has been responsible for changing the feeding habits of trout in the lakes as the populations of Yabbies have increased. In…

If you fish fast water and need a very buoyant hopper or a buoyant fly to support a nymph try this one. Materials Hook Thread Tail & over-body Wing Legs 4 to 10 2X long shank or bass stinger 3/0 thread for trout flies Wapsie 210 Denier thread for bass flies for bass flies Closed cell foam Deer…

This is the big brother of my foam hopper which is a formidable trout fly. When I converted it for use as a bass and tropical fly fishing I added a sparkle chenille under-body and grossed it up dramatically so that it would withstand the aggressive nature of fish like Australian bass and tropical…

For a long time I simply sized up my trout stimulator and used them on bass. I grew out of the habit of tying them on as I always had a feeling that they just didn't offer bass a big enough morsel and even though they were bigger than anything I would use for trout they still landed too softly ……

When I fist tied this fly and asked my wife what it looks like her immediate response was "it looks like a guppy". Well it wasn't tied to represent a guppy and I don't think bass have guppies on their dinner menu but the name stuck. When bass are feeding on big insects like Cicadas and Hoppers that…

At the time of adding this fly to this web site John Schofield had now won six Bass Pro events attributing much of his success to his Bass Vampire fly. Its not surprising that the fly has elements of a Clouser Minnow because it was inspired by the successful black and purple Clouser Minnows that…

This is a good alternative to the zonker rattler particularly for estuary species. It lends itself to fishing on a fast sink line and a jerky active retrieve with plenty of stops. It's also a good idea to count the fly down so that you can identify what depth fish are holding at. Materials Hook…

One of my favour early season still water flies this fly is dressed with a skit around a marabou tail. It is very adaptable and is a great way of tying tails of two colours of marabou or just adding a hot spot at the base of the tail which fish find very attractive. The skirt can be made of several…

My first fish on fly fell to the magic of a Woolly Bugger and many have gone the same way since then. With its origins in America where it appears to be tied, as a Leach imitation there is also an English version with bead chin eyes called a Dog Nobler. Whatever the name it's a very good fly. The…

The Dunkeld is certainly one of my top 2 or 3 middle dropper flies for lock style fly fishing. Until mid 2012 I was using a version of the Dunkeld that had a hackle Palmered along the body as in the original. At that time I was experimenting with "fuzzeled" bodies an an alternative to bodies with a…

Beetles are of the order Coleoptera and there are over 28,000 species found in Australia. One species that is a popular food source for trout is the tea tree beetle. This representation is tied in shades of black and brown colours that have stood the test of time. Many of the recipes you see use…

My bass jig has been designed to be fished on a variety of lines with the choice of line being determined by the depth the target bass are holding at. With a 4mm tungsten slotted bead for weight it sinks well and when retrieved with a stripping action with a few protracted pauses provides plenty of…

Whilst the woolly bugger was evolving in Pennsylvania USA from a fly designed by Russell Blessing to represent the local hellgrammite or dobsonfly nymphs, probably from the woolly worm pattern, at the same time in England a similar fly that became known as a dog nobbler was also evolving. Dog…

Large populations of red claw crayfish of the genus Cherax Quadricarinatus are native to Tropical Queensland and have been farmed as a food source and for stocking purposes very successfully for a number of years. There preferred habitat is still water impoundments but they also fare well in slow…

This is a variation of a bead head woolly bugger that has worked very well for me in Lake Eucumbene and Tantangara Reservoir on brown trout and on Lake Maroon for bass. Materials   Hook Bead/weight Thread Tail Rib Body Hackle Collar Knapek S #6 to #10 Metallic/anodised TBH pink bead 6/0 brown…

If I could only carry one surface fly when fishing for Bass, Yellow belly and other native species my black Poll-Head-Popper would be it. When Bass or Yellow belly are feeding on big insects like Cicadas and Hoppers that crash onto the water they also become susceptible to poppers cast around their…

From what I can gather the original Wiggle Minnow was conceived by Mark Felty of Felty’s flies in Sydney. By varying the materials used, the colours and size I have accounted for trout, bream, flathead, mangrove jack and even barramundi on wiggle minnows. The recipe I have set out below is just one…

The Black Prince cicada can be found along the full eastern coast and hinterland of Australia. It is prolific in many forested areas in the wormer months and when it inadvertently falls or flies into the water more often than not provides a big protein rich snack for a range of fish species…

This is definitely my preferred popper for targeting Australian native bass in their natural river and lake habitat. Bass strike for 3 reasons. The fist and most obvious is when they are actively feeding. At those times bass can have an appetite for everything from nymphs, yabbies, small fish,…

For a few years now I have fished for bass on and off with wiggle minnows. I always thought they should have worked but the limited success made me wonder if it was all about the shape. Being pretty confident that bass take frogs I decided to modify the wiggle minnow concept so that it would look…

Boobies are a fantastic bass fly when fished on the surface but occasionally they hang so low in the water they get a bit hard for me to see. To overcome that when seeing the fly is necessary I added a back of 2mm closed cell foam – works like a dream. This is undoubtedly my favourite bass fly….

If the fish are cooperating I would always prefer to catch my bass or other native species on a surface fly. Sometimes however you just can't convince them to come to the surface to take your fly but you know they are there because there still responding to your mates who are fishing on the "dark…

There is no doubt about it Andy's destroyer is a very good saratoga fly and I am confident it will work on other species too. My variant does not include the shroud of mara wool tips around the zonker tail. I have left that off because for me the currents around the body of the fly produce more…

This fly swims well and the propeller at the front adds an element of action that fish find enticing. You can tie this fly in any colour combination to mimic the colour of some of the more popular lure colours that your mates that fish the "dark side" use so successfully. My favourite colours are…

Beetles are of the order Coleoptera and there are over 28,000 species found in Australia. One species that is a popular food source for trout is the tea tree beetle. This representation is tied in shades of black and brown colours that have stood the test of time. Many of the recipes you see use…

I was ripping the black tailed version of this fly through the chop with some success when my boat partner asked what fly is that 'silver surfer'. I explained to him that it was just a woolly bugger variant tied with a black tail and silver UV straggle fritz. I tried to give it a real name such as…

This is a Peter Morse fly and is a great variation of a Woolly Bugger and is making its mark. It's dressed on a wide gape hook that creates an effective "keel" effect and sports a relatively long marabou tail and a dense collar which together create plenty of currents around the fly that really get…

This is a nifty little fly that merges the hares ear nymph and the traditional booby both very high pedigree flies into one very useful loch fly. It also has a bit of flash about it which helps the fly fill an important role in my fly box for an attractor fly to use on my middle dropper when I loch…

Designed by Jack Gartside this fly is one of those flies that just works. It's amongst the most successful surface flies for American small mouth and large mouth bass type flt fishing. In Australia it is also a very useful fly and when tied along the lines of the original it takes Australian bass…

One of my top 10 trout flies is my Kalkite special. It's no surprise therefore that I have a cousin to that fly, perhaps with a little influence from the yeti fly, in my bass fly box. Unlike the trout Kalkite special fly I seldom fish this fly as a single fly but find that if fished on a dropper…

I designed this fly in 2002 and when the yabbies are on the move it's one of my go to flies. My original notes on this fly are set out below. "In lakes like Jindabyne and Eucumbene you seldom catch a trout with a full stomach when the contents doesn’t include yabbies. Over the years I have…

Over the last two weeks or so I have had the pleasure of fishing with good friend Ray Ellis in various water ways around Gladstone. For a lot of the time we both fished fly and finished up with similar results. When the fly fishing got tough Ray swapped over to the "dark side" and fished with his…

If the fish is big enough it will take a mouse. This applies to trout, barra,cod, saratoga and a range of other fish. This little mouse lands right way up most of the time, swims well and has a reasonable mouse profile. The eyes and the ears are really only for the angler and hopefully add a little…

The Clouser in my view is the quintessential salt water fly. It can be tied in sizes to suit Bream or Bill fish and with the correct dressing and size is equally at home in salt water, trout and bass fisheries. Many flies whilst not acknowledging their heritage are based on the Clouser recipe. Have…

Poppers are a bit harder to cast than a normal fly because of the wind resistance but if you slow your cast down a little I'm sure you'll soon get the hang of it. Once you do you have another tool in your arsenal which is useful in three diverse situations: When pelagic fish are actively pushing…

Whilst not tied to imitate any particular insect this down wing style of fly can be tied with your favourite materials and in your favourite colours to imitate a range of insects. It is a good prospecting fly when nothing appears to be happening. In larger sizes it can be twitched or fished dead…

When bass are feeding on big insects like Cicadas and Hoppers that crash onto the water they also become susceptible to large noisy and obvious flies like Dahlberg Divers cast around their structure or twitched across the surface. At other times they just have a whack at these big flies because…