Candy – hardyhead

 

When tuna attack a bait ball they absolutely guts themselves and if captured it's not unusual for them to cough some of the fish they were feeding on. In this recent capture on the "dark side" one did just that revealing what they had been feeding on ... in this case hardyhead.

 

hardyhead1

Each year the north easterly winds bring the coral blooms in toward Gladstone and I expect right along the coral coast. Not long after that big schools of the these little (about 10-13cm long) hardyhead turn up to feed on the spore that makes up the coral bloom and shortly after that big schools of tuna and queenfish turn up to feed on the hardyheads.

Progressively, I have developed this hardyhead fly as my goto fly when targeting pelagics hunting schools of hardyhead or similar baitfish in open water.

 

photo

Materials

 

Hook Head thread Dumbbell eyes / weight Body thread Body Flashy sides Belly Bleed Lateral lines Back
Mustard size #4/0 34007 Gutermann polyester thread - olive Dumbbell eyes 7/32 white with black pupil Kevlar 200 thread - white H2O flash blend - white Flashabou magnum - silver Fish Skull faux bucktail - white Flashabou - blood red Flashabou - mackerel Fish Skull faux bucktail - white

Process

 

A
  1. Starting about 4 mm back from the eye of the hook lay down a bed of the olive along the balance of the first 25% of the hook shank.
  2. Put a drop of superglue on top of the olive thread.
hardy-a

 

B
  1. Using the olive thread tie in a set of dumbbell eyes in on top of the drop of super glue using tight figure of eight wraps. To make sure that the eyes don’t rotate on the hook shank include a couple of tight wraps the thread around the base of the eyes on top of the hook shank and between every couple of figure of eight wraps take a firm wrap of thread around the hook shank.
  2. Tie the white Veevus thread in directly behind the dumbbell eyes.
 hardy-b

 

C
  1. Trim away the olive thread and the tag of the white Veevus thread.
  2. Clip a bunch of flash blend off the hank and tie that in on top of the hook shank directly behind the dumbbell eyes. Make sure there is enough facing over the rear and the front of the hook to form a body that is 1.5 times the length of the hook.

hardy-c

 

D
  1. Fold the forward facing flash blend back on top of the rear facing flash blend and lock that into place with just a single figure of 8 wrap around the dumbbell eyes.There is a good picture of two figure of eight wraps in step "j" below.
  2. Take the thread forward to in front of the dumbbell eyes and take a couple of half hitches to ensure noting comes loose.

hardy-d

 

E
  1. Take another bunch of flash blend that is only about as long as the hook.

hardy-e

 

F
  1. Tie that in on top of the hook shank directly in front of the dumbbell eyes with half facing forward and half facing back.

hardy-f

 

G
  1. Fold the forward facing flash blend back on top of the rear facing flash blend and lock that into place with just two figure of 8 wraps around the dumbbell eyes. The idea for this bunch of flash blend is to fill the area in on the bottom side of the hook directly behind the dumbbell eyes. Don't worry about that tie in not being particularly permanent looking as they will get locked in when the head of the fly is epoxied.

hardy-g

 

H
  1. Trim away the excess flash blend from this last two steps leaving just enough to fill the gap behind the dumbbell eyes.

hardy-h

 

I
  1. Select 6 long strands of flashabou magnum and tie that in on the underside of the hook shank directly in front the dumbbell eyes. Make sure there is enough facing over the rear and the front of the hook to form a body that is 1.5 times the length of the shank of the hook (not the overall hook length).

hardy-i

 

J
  1. Fold the forward facing flashabou magnum back on top of the rear facing flashabou magnum and lock that into place with just a single figure of 8 wrap around the dumbbell eyes.

hardy-j

 

K
  1. Clip about 30 strands of white faux bucktail of the hank and tie that in with, just a couple of tight wraps of thread, with the rear facing tips extending 1.5 time the length of the hook behind the fly.

hardy-k

 

L
  1. Trim away the butt ends of the faux bucktail and put a drop of super glue on top of the tie in of the faux bucktail.
  2. Put add additional wraps of thread which will help the superglue penetrate into the tie in and to lock the faux bucktail permanently in place. Faux buck tail is not like natural bucktail and needs the effective application of super glue to ensure it stays in place.

hardy-l

 

M
  1. Take about 10 strands of blood red flashabou each about twice the length of the hook shank.
  2. Tie that in on top of the hook shank in front of the dumbbell eyes, with just a couple of tight wraps of thread, with half the length facing forward and the other half facing back.
 hardy-m

 

N
  1. Fold the forward facing blood red flashabou over the rear facing flashabou and lock that into place just a single figure of 8 wrap around the dumbbell eyes.

hardy-n

 

O
  1. Turn the hook over in the vice.

hardy-o

 

 

P
  1. Take 4 strands of makerel coloured flashabou and tie that in on the front side of the hook shank in front of the dumbbell eyes. Make sure there is enough facing over the rear and the front of the hook to form lateral lines on each side of the fly that are 1.5 times the length of the hook.

hardy-p

 

Q
  1. Fold the forward facing makerel coloured flashabou over the hook shank with the tips extending down the far side of the fly and lock that in position behind the eye of the hook with firm wraps of thread.
hardy-q

 

R
  1. Clip about 30 strands of olive faux bucktail of the hank and tie that in with, just a couple of tight wraps of thread, with the rear facing tips extending the same distance behind the fly as the whitefaux buck tail belly of the fly.
  2. Put a drop of super glue on top of the tie in of the faux bucktail.

hardy-r
S
  1. Trim away the butt ends of the olive faux bucktail.

hardy-s

 

T
  1. Swap back over to the olive thread and add additional wraps of thread which will help the superglue penetrate into the tie in and to lock the olive faux bucktail permanently in place.
  2. Stroke all the materials carefully into place and tie them down tight at the back of the hook shank with a pipe cleaner.

hardy-t

 

U
  1. The final step is to apply a coat of 5 minute epoxy over the head area and 3 or 4 ml behind the dumbbell eyes to build up a neat head shape and to further lock all the material in place.

 hardy-u


Last Updated: December 14, 2020
Author:
Categories: Big fish flies - temperate & tropical destinations, Flies
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