My fishing hack
Noteworthy concepts, ideas and innovations from Inner Circle Members, as posted on the Clubhouse Wall. Too good to allow to disappear forever, these have been rescued from the stream and saved for all time. A huge thanks to each and every member whose great hacks end up here.
The Funnel Fly
For a Dutch magazine I recently did a step-by-step of one of my favourite universal predator flies, the funnel fly. This fly has an irresistible light wiggling action that will trigger the strike response of a number of freshwater and saltwater fish. I have caught at least seven species on it, under a variety of circumstances, in a variety of depths.
As it should be with flies, the pattern isn’t set in stone. Feel free to experiment, but remember the strong (trigger) points of this fly: the funnel head, the soft, transparent body, a soft tail that enforces the action of the fly and some UV material tied in.
Materials:
- Hook: Sakuma 430, size 6 (similar to the Varivas 2610)
- Head: Marc Petitjean Magic Head, size R13. I cut the funnel to size if I feel it is too big. Rule of thumb: the width of the funnel equals the size of the hook gap.
- Tail: marabou with four strands of Fluorescent crystal flash tied in
- Body: Sybai Polar Flash dubbing
- Hackle: Whiting spey hackle, palmered (a soft schlappen hackle also works)
- Thread: Veevus PB5 140D
- The business end of the funnel fly is the Magic Head. I cut a little corner in the bottom part, to soften the action and the drag of the fly.
- Tie in the tail in three stages. First the bottom bunch of marabou, then the crystal flash and on the top the second bunch of marabou. To optimize the tracking of this fly, tie in the tail at a very small upward angle. This forces the fly to ride with the hook gap downwards.
- Make a dubbing loop from tying thread and tie in the hackle
- Spread the dubbing evenly over the loop, spin the loop and brush the spun dubbing to make the material stand out. Turn the dubbing over the hook shank.
- Palmer the hackle towards the eye of the hook.
- Use a stiff (copper) brush to give the dubbing and feather some tough love and to give the body of the fly the suggestion of mass and transparency
- Whip finish and tidy up the fly with a the brush.
- Using the right lines, a funnel fly make a deadly lure that can be fish fast or even nearly static to get a response from a number of predators, like this pike.
To see this style of fly in action, click here.
~ Jeroen Schoondergang
(extracted and reposted with Jeroen’s permission)
