Aitutaki secret

 

This is a popular rubber tailed Gotcha type fly designed by Christopher Hall, an Aitutaki regular for targeting big bonefish.

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Materials

Hook Threads Bead Tag Body Beard Legs Wing
3X strong Gamakatsu SL11-3h Uni big fly thread throughout except for 3/0 Olive for the whip finish Double pupil orange dumbbell Orange dyed rabbit fur Silver krystal flash or similar Silver krystal flash or similar Silicon legs in olive or motor oil colour Beige dyed rabbit fur

Process

 

A
  1. 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 about the same distance from the back of the eye of the hook as the diameter of the dumbbell eyes.

  2. Apply a little head cement to the tie in before moving on.
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B
  1. Then continue winding the thread to the bend of the hook in tight touching turns.
  2. Tie in an orange tag. I have used rabbit fur cut from an orange dyed zonker strip. You can see more detail on this step on other flies on this site such as the red tag.
  3. Because tying in the tag has left a little ridge at the tie in position I am going to use a little of the wast rabbit fur to as dubbing to fill that gap.
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C
  1. Apply dubbing along the shank of the hook to fill in any ridges etc.
  2. Tie in 4 or 5 strands of silver krystal flash or similar along the top of the hook shank.
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D
  1. Wind the sparkle flash forward all the way to the back of the dumbbell eyes overlapping where necessary to build up a uniform cigar shaped body.
  2. Figure of eight wrap the sparkle flash around the dumbbell eyes then tie it off in front of the eyes.
  3. Lock the sparkle flash off in front of the dumbbell eyes but do not trim away the excess.
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E
  1. 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.
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F
  1. Take two lengths of the rubber or silicon leg material and tie them in on the front side of the fly with the legs extending above and beyond the back of the fly.
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G
  1. Rotate the fly in the vice and tie two similar legs in on the other side of the fly.
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H
  1. Rotate the fly in the vice so that its riding hook point up again.
  2. Select a small bunch of beige dyed rabbit fur from a zonker strip and tie that in as a wing directly in front of the dumbbell eyes and extending backward that further obscures the point and bite of the hook.
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I
  1. Do a couple of half hitches in the Uni big fly thread so that it's locked into place.
  2. Swap over to you 6/0 olive thread and build up a neat head of thread between the eye of the hook and the dumbbell eyes.
  3. Whip finish the head, trim the thread and paint the head with head cement.
 secret-i



Last Updated: August 23, 2017
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Categories: My tropical Pacific sand flats & coastal flies, Saltwater - tropical, Trout flies
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