Species: bass, panfish, pickerel
Remarks: by Catch Cormier
At the Acadiana Fly Rodders annual conclave in 2002, I won a posterboard of flies in a raffle. It contained over a hundred flies tied by members of the club, or by folks who had donated old flies to the club.
When I got it home, I started picking through the collection, seperating them into boxes for salt water, bream, bass and coldwater trout. Turns out there was one fly that had fallen from the posterboard the night I brought it home. When I discovered it, my wife claims I set a new record in the 400-meter dash. That’s about how far it was from my back door to the edge of the neighborhood pond.
Four of the five voices in my head told me this fly was going to be special. The instant I cast it out and it hit the water, the fish were over it like crawfish etouffee over rice!
I made every attempt to find out who tied this fly and what it's name was, but no one knew. I then perused the internet hoping to find the pattern somewhere, but again to no avail. Someone suggested I call it the "Amnesia Fly", because it doesn’t recall what it’s real name is, or who tied it.
I’ve done very well with this fly for bass, bream, crappie and pickerel. I’ve even tied a saltwater version for redfish, and it’s done well too. I'm sharing this pattern recipe just in case I get amnesia myself and forget.
Materials:
- Hook: Mustad 9672 sizes 6 or 8 (larger sizes for bass)
- Tail: Marabou
- Body: Metallic braid wrapped around the shank, with one strand of flashabou on each side extending just past the tail
- Ribbing: monofilament or small diameter v-ribbing
- Head: Built up with thread then epoxied over
- Alternative head: 3/16" black bead brass (mid-depth) or tungsten (deep)
Best colors: black, olive, purple
Instructions:
- Tie in the marabou tail. The length should be same as the hook shank length.
- Tie in one flashabou strand each side, with the strands going forward (not towards the back).
- Tie in the ribbing on top the hook, starting just behind the eye (or bead) and going back to just before the bend.
- Tie in the metallic braid to just before the bend. Bring the thread to behind the eye.
- Wrap the metallic braid going forward and tie off at the eye.
- Pull the flashabou strands back toward the tail. Pinch in place while wrapping the ribbing forward.
- Tie off the ribbing at the eye.
- Trim the flashabou to just past the end of the tail.