Tying
the Eyes Fly
By Richard
Carter
The original 'Eyes Fly' was developed
by a mate of mine, Grant Marshall. This out of a need for a match
the hatch fly, specifically size wise, for the small baitfish
that many pelagics come into the Pittwater region each year to
feast on. These pelagics include bonito, salmon and hordes of
rat kings (yellowtail kingfish to 12 or so pounds). I modified
the original fly slightly giving my version - prism eyes instead
of burnt mono eyes, adding some lead wire under the tinsel and
changing the body coating from epoxy to silicone. I tie them
in batches of 30 - 50 they are that easy to tie and use them
for most applications. When targeting tuna species the once recommended
method is cast long and strip fast, this with the rod under your
arm and a two handed retrieve. With this method fly poor casters
don't get much of a chance as they cannot cast far enough to
begin with and thus stripping time (consequently the time your
fly is in the water) is reduced significantly. With this fly
you get upwind of the moving, feeding and frothing mass. Cut
your motor as soon as possible and cast your fly out to the edges
of the writhing mass heading towards you and leave it there.
Maybe a little twitch or a slow wounded baitfish action type
retrieve, then just hang on for that first run. Absolute mayhem
but great fun too!
This fly is a real match the
hatch fly. There is not a baby baitfish that it cannot represent.
I have caught over 18 species with it from fresh water to the
salt water, it holds it's own as one of my 'go to' flies. I have
a full box of just these flies in sizes from 6 to 10 where ever
I go. Species capture list includes squire, flathead, bream,
slimies, tailor, salmon, tommy ruff, salmon trout, carp, bass,
spangled perch, whiting, Striped grunter (a 'shittie' by another
name in SA), bonito, Mac tuna, kingfish, spotted mackerel, rainbow
trout. What a great fly!! After I showed how to tie this fly
at fly club meeting and gave everyone a sample fly to test, everyone
in the club was using them. One day two of us got 35 fish all
on the one fly while the many other boats around us got nothing
- they were using large pillies, large lures, but even their
smallest lures were not the right size to match the food source
the fish were focused on - while we had the 'Eyes'.
I like to use small, strong hooks
for this pattern. These hooks need to be forged ones and good
quality as I have had some very large fish take these small flies
and you don't want them bending open. Hooks to use include (but
not restricted to) Mustad 34007 or a Tiemco 800s.
The main materials of the fly
are a little lead wire, some tinsel, some fake fur like polarfibre
and a bit of Flashabou for the tail, then some silicone and over
this a coating or two of nail polish. You will love this fly
purely for the results it will give you across a wide range of
target species. It is one of my 'must have' flies in my fly box,
for any 'SWOFFER' for that matter. (SWOFFER is an acronym for
'Salt Water Fly FishER', the O just helps it sound better).
Eyes Fly Recipe
Thread : Mono thread
Hook : Mustard 34007 or Tiemco 800s - sizes 6 and under
Weight : Lead wire - optional
Tail : polarfibre or craft fur, a few strands of Flashabou
Body : Tinsel covered with silicone and nail polish.
Tying Sequence
Wrap hook shank near
hook eye with several wraps of lead wire. Wrap shank with thread,
tying in lead wire while doing so.
Tie in tail material (equal to length of hook). Tie in flash
over top of tail.
Tie in tinsel, advance thread to hook eye and wrap tinsel over
hook shank, tie off at hook eye. Tie off and trim excess tinsel
at hook eye (thread too). Take a small dollop of clear silicone.
To stop the silicone sticking to your fingers dip them in a mixture
of water (1 cup) and dishwashing liquid (2 drops), not too much
water or the silicone won't stick to the tinsel. Dip fingers
in and shake them off - the amount of mixture left on your fingers
is the right amount of moisture needed.
Form a very thin body over tinsel under body. Attach a prism
eye either side on head area
Allow 24 -36 hours to dry. Give a few coatings of nail polish
- ensure you cover eyes to add durability. That's all, very simple
to tie, but very effective.
Other variations tied are usually
related to the colour and size of the fly. - I make a gold tinsel
and tan tail version for smelting trout and though the standard
one works too the rainbows just love the gold version. As for
their use - fast strips, slow strips, dead drift and strip/pause/strip/pause
- they all work. I usually fish this fly on an intermediate line
and medium length leader. Lately I have also been using the new
type of fly lines hitting Australian waters - that is the Ghost
Tip type fly lines. These are quicker and easier to pick up out
of the water for casting then the sinking and intermediate fly
lines. These Ghost tip fly lines are full length floating lines
with clear sink tip of about 10 feet long. This with an Airflo
- clear intermediate leader, then a meter of 6 -10 pound fluorocarbon
tippet. You could add six to twelve inches of shock tippet of
about 10 -15 pound, usually Jinkia trace material, but I find
this just adds more knots and complications to the set up and
if I lose a fly I can always make another. You could cast the
fly on a floating line depending on whether the target fish are
staying up long enough on the surface. If not (and this is most
of the time), this is where the intermediate and ghost tip fly
lines come to the fore.
Long casts, tight lines and fast
hard fish to you all. Richard.
Finished Patterns
Left - right : Gold Eyes & Original 'Eyes' by Grant Marshall.
