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As the name implies this fly has been designed specifically for fishing into mangroves and other tropical structure such as gravel and rock bars. It has several attributes that make it the ideal fly to entice fish like Barramundi, Mangrove Jacks and Fingermark out of structure and to take the fly.

The key elements of the fly are of course colour, the movement of the body dressing as the fly swims, the hot spot eyes, its injured fish wobbling action, of course its rattle and finally the fact that it can be held in the structure for a long time.

Best tied on a solid hook that will provide plenty of "keel" stability and as long as available materials will allow.

I like to fish it on an intermediate line and occasionally a sink tip floating line with the depth of water just outside the target area being the determining factor. Fishes best if cast deep into the target area and just let it sit for up to 10 seconds. After that wiggly your rod tip so that the fly just shudders in the water activating the rattle. You can then retrieve the fly using a medium stripping action punctuated with plenty of stops and even let the fly float back to the surface and rattle the rod tip again. Strikes can be at any time. If you do get a hit but not a hook up continue your jerky punctuate retrieve because if the fish didn't hook up its likely that it didn't even feel the hook and that it will find the fly due to its wobbling action or noisy rattle and have a second or even third go at it.

Can be great fun.

Good colour combinations are red and white, pink and white and black/brown and gold.

Materials

Process

A	You can use glass rattles or rattles designed for insertion in soft plastics. If your using soft plastic rattles that are too wide sand off both ends off square as shown in the picture but without penetrating the bubble.

B	Glue two sections of closed cell foam together with contact glue. Cut a section which is as wide as the outside of the gape of the hook and about twice as long as it is wide. Trim the rear end of the section of the closed cell foam away into a V shape. Set you hook up so the penetration will be equal to the bite of the hook and along the center line of the closed cell foam.

C	Push the hook point through the closed cell foam and load the hook into the vice. Move the closed cell foam forward so that it is snug with the eye of the hook and with what will be the bib facing down. Tie your thread in behind the closed cell foam and cover the first 20% of the shank with tight touching turns of thread. Hook – winding thread onto the hook

D	Set the eyes in place directly behind the closed cell foam using using figure of eight wraps of thread. Eyes Continue winding the thread in touching turns to above the barb of the hook.

E	Pull the closed cell foam over the top of the eyes. Whilst holding the closed cell foam tightly in position tie the tip of the V onto the top of the hook shank above the barb of the hook. Continue winding the thread forward in tight touching turns to just behind where the foam covers the rattle eyes.

F	I often paint the foam head of my fly and this is the time to do that.

G	once your happy with the foam head return your thread to above the bark of the hook. The tail is an important element of the fly as it is responsible for helping the fly swim properly and with the coller adds movement to the fly. My favourite tail for a mangrove fly is a woolly bugger tail 2 or 3 times as long as the hook. Woolly bugger type tails It's not always possible to get marabou long enough to achieve a tail that long but there are plenty of alternative tails that work well. Dahlberg diver, deceiver and zonker tails all work well. Dahlberg diver tails Deceiver tails Zonker tails

H	Do the same with a good pinch of buck tail. Trim a big pinch of buck tail off the skin and whilst holding it firmly from the tip end and about half way down with your left hand tease out the short butt fibers. Tie the remaining pinch of long fibers along the top of the hook shank.

I	Select 4 similar saddle hackles. Wet fly – hackles Tie the first 2 in just behind the foam head on the front side of the fly. If the feathers have good hackle fibers that extend beyond where you have tie it in do not trim the butt section away as you can uses those remaining fibers to create the collar.

J	Tie the remain 2 saddle hackle feathers in on the back side of the fly. Both the front and the back saddle hackles should now be laying neatly along the side of the fly shrouding the complete under-tail of polar fiber and buck tail.

K	If the feathers you selected had enough butt fibers for you to leave on in step I3 wind the but sections of the saddle hackles forward and tie them off behind the foam head of the fly. If there are not enough butt fibers for you to use for the collar trim away the butt sections of the 4 side saddle hackles and tie a fresh hackle with fibers about twice as long as the gape of the hook and wind it forward and tie it off behind the foam head of the fly.

L	In either case trim away the butt section/s of the collar hackle/s. using either process you should now have a collar that looks something like this.

M	Place a stick on eye on each end of the rattle. Mix a small amount of 5 minute epoxy and coat the outside of the eyes. Epoxy Rotate the fly in the vice and coat the rattle and the exposed thread under the head with epoxy. Rotate the fly in the vice until the epoxy goes off.

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