Summer Sunfish Saver: The Black Boudreaux

We're smack dab in the middle of SweatFest, except this year's "festival" is not being celebrated by anybody. Here in Louisiana, we've had the hottest June on record and with a few days left this month, it would take a major cold front to keep it from being the hottest July on record. The water is hot - 90 degrees here on the home lake - and the sunfish are lethargic.  Getting them to eat is a challenge.

I understand their reluctance to eat anything, much less anything of size.  Dissolved oxygen is very low and functioning in such warm water is strenuous. After working in the yard most of the hot day, my apettite for dinner is usually a salad. Fish don't eat salad - unless you're a grass carp. For sunfish, it's a downsizing from large bugs to tiny bugs.

One fly that works very well in these tough conditions is the Black Boudreaux and it's spinoffs, the Purple Boudreaux and Blue Boudreaux. This pattern was created by Ray Boudreaux of New Iberia, a longtime member of Acadiana Fly Rodders. As Ray tells it, he had just joined AFR and participated in a fishing outing at a local pond. One of the members was having great success catching bream on a small fly.  Ray tried to recreate the fly and in the process, came up with something different. Fellow member Bob Boese was so impressed with the fly, he named it after Ray.

Bob's variation of this fly uses brown or black hackle for the tail, and tinsel instead of peacock for the body. I tie the original body, but have adapted the hackle for the tail.

Here's the pattern materials I use:

• hook: size 12 Czech nymph, Hanak H333BL or similar thread: size 6/0 black
• tail: hackle feathers from near base of feather
• body: peacock herl
• hackle: dry fly hackle (black, purple, blue)
• eyes: small bead chain black

The original pattern was tied on a size 14 scud hook.  After much field testing, I moved it up to a size 12. While catching four and five-inch bream is still possible, I tend to hook up to more 6 and 7 inchers - and not have them swallow the hook as often.

As to why this fly is so effective... in his book, "Designing Trout Flies", author Gary Borger points out that color vision in fish allows them to distinguish food items against the background color of the water. In summer, when algae is highest, and sunlight is highest, the algae absorb red and blue light and the background space appears greenish yellow. "Iridescent feathers such as peacock herl, or a splash of fluorescent marabou, are very successful during opportunistic times because they stand out strongly against any of the background space light colors.".

If you're anxious to get some bream action in during this record "SweatFest", fish early or late, stay hydrated, and give the Black Boudreaux a try.  You won't be disappointed!