Species: speckled trout, smallmouth
Remarks:
The plastic H&H Cockaho Minnow is a favorite lure among speckled trout enthusiasts in the lower Barataria and Terrebonne Parish bays. The Coma Cockaho was created to match that plastic lure - it's a "full body" fly that has incredible flash and tail action.
It has been especially effective in the Fall months over reefs and in deadend canals across the Louisiana coast. Since 2006, it's also been used for smallmouth bass and in some cases, crappie, with fine results!
Best overbody-tail and body colors are chartreuse / chartreuse (green water), sand-orange / pearl, and pink / pink. In winter or heavy overcast days, purple / purple works well.
Materials:
- Mustad 34011 stainless hook, size 1.
- 1/50 oz lead dumbell eyes, or equivalent.
- medium ice or estaz chenille.
- mylar tubing, pearl small
- Silli-legs.
- thread to match body or overbody color
Preparation:
Silli-legs usually come in segments with 1/4" solid at both ends and
strips in the middle. Fold the segment in half evenly and cut in half. Each half will make one fly.
Also, cut a section of mylar tubing the length of the hook and remove the filler.
Instructions:
- Tie in eyes about 1/4" from eye of hook.
- Wrap thread toward bend of hook and stop above the barb.
- Tie in one end of the mylar tubing (tubing facing back).
- Secure estaz, then wrap thread back to just in front of the eyes. Wrap the estaz around the hook toward the eyes. Loop each wrap just in front of the previous wrap. Make one wrap in front of eyes, then secure with one wrap of thread.
- Tie in the solid end of the Silli-Legs just in front of eyes.
- Wrap the estaz over the secured piece of sillilegs, then tie off the estaz with a large hand whip finish and cut thread.
- Tie in thread at the end of the Chenille body.
- Divide the legs up into two even sections. Pull one section back over the top of the estaz, stretch it quite a bit, then make 2 wraps of thread over it.
- Pull back the other group of legs under the body, stretch and secure with 2 wraps of thread.
- Now that the tail has been created, knot off the thread with a whip finish.
- Trim the tail back so its as long as the body (about 3 inches on a size 1 hook)
- Apply a light coat of Hard As Nails, or 30 minute (2 Ton) transparent epoxy, or UV epoxy to the sillilegs on top and below the body. This will prevent them from breaking after several strikes from toothy fish.