Saturday, August 3, 2013

My List of Favored Striped Bass Flies!

Many times on various forums I frequent, this question comes up. What is your favorite flies, for (whatever species)! Since Striped Bass are my favorite tidal water species, here is a list of flies I've had success with in the tidal tributaries & main body of the Chesapeake Bay. These are listed in no particular order of preference as they all work well in a variety of situations.

Lefty's Deceiver: By far one of the most used flies in saltwater, and widely used in freshwater as well.
 Favored colors: gray /white, chartreuse/white, olive/white, all white, all black, black/purple
I've used Deceivers in all kinds of color's & combinations. Way too many to list. The ones I've listed work well and are good basic baitfish imitators. My most used hook sizes for these are a 1/0 & 2/0, but I tie them in a range of sizes.
Generally, a 5 or 6 inch long fly is a great size range to have, but again, not a bad idea to have a variety of sizes.

Clouser Deep Minnow: Between this fly & the Deceiver, you really could fish nothing else & be successful. Colors are the same as I listed for the Deceiver, but would add a pink/white combination. Many, many colors can be good at times. Sizes I use would be the same as well. However, most saltwater versions you'll see in catalogs & on websites will usually have heavy barbell eyes on them. Nothing wrong with tying some heavy, but a good idea to tie some with smaller eyes too, for use in shallow water. I use the various barbells too, lead, brass & tungsten. I'll also use bead chain for eyes, which can be very effective in shallow water situations. This will allow for an almost endless number of sink rates & jigging actions.

Clouser Half & Half: The best of both the Lefty's Deceiver & Clouser Deep Minnow. Not much else needs to be said.

Seaducers: Also called a Homer Rhodes Streamer or Hackle Streamer. I tie them with both saddle hackle & neck hackle. This gives different actions when retrieved. I'll also add barbell eyes, or other weight, even cones or beadheads. But, be sure to tie some unweighted.
Favored Colors: red/white, chartreuse/white, orange/white, pink/white, all chartreuse, all black, purple/black,
hot pink/chartreuse, red/chartreuse, orange/brown (First color listed is the front collar, the second color listed is the rest of the fly.) Can be tied in most any size desired, and is also an extremely good fly for Redfish or Seatrout (Weakfish or Gray Trout).

Murdich Minnow: This pattern can be tied in a number of ways, but I like it primarily tied with all synthetics. I first discovered this fly when I read an article written by Joe Cornwall on the Fly Fish Ohio website. (http://www.flyfishohio.com/Murdich_Minnow.htm)

I really liked the look of it & even though it's touted as a Smallmouth fly, Striped Bass & Largemouth Bass love it equally as well! I would expect any predatory fish species to attack it with vigor in the right situation!
My versions:


Tight Lines!

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