Although as much as fly anglers might hold gear chuckers in distain, there is some inspiration to be had when it comes to the hard baits they attach to the end of their braided lines and stout leaders. One can only marvel at entire walls and aisles in fishing retail stores adorned with hard baits of every shape, size and color. Divers, deep divers, floaters, twitchers, poppers, jerkers, fat ones and thin ones, the choice is immense. It is often said that a great many fishing products are designed more to catch the angler than the fish, but the prolific variety of hard baits on the market must mean they are effective fish catching pieces of tackle. But when you look at the variety of common bait fish flies on the market, regardless of style, you don’t find near the quantity or diversity of patterns that you find in hard baits.
When you think about common bait fish fly styles—deceiver, clouser, EP minnow, or for that matter any baitfish imitation, there are generally four aspects to consider—profile, movement, weight and color scheme. For the fly tyer, color scheme is one aspect where you can find inspiration from the land of Yo-Zuri, Rapala, and many other brands. When I am tying for both the salt and freshwater environments, I’ll occasionally look at the offerings from a number of hard bait brands to see if there is a color scheme I can mimic to some extent with a baitfish fly pattern.
Take for example this Pinfish hard bait:
And some flies that might replicate it to some extent:
Lots of different color schemes out there in the land of Yo-Zuri, Rapala etc. to inspire you.
When you think about common bait fish fly styles—deceiver, clouser, EP minnow, or for that matter any baitfish imitation, there are generally four aspects to consider—profile, movement, weight and color scheme. For the fly tyer, color scheme is one aspect where you can find inspiration from the land of Yo-Zuri, Rapala, and many other brands. When I am tying for both the salt and freshwater environments, I’ll occasionally look at the offerings from a number of hard bait brands to see if there is a color scheme I can mimic to some extent with a baitfish fly pattern.
Take for example this Pinfish hard bait:
And some flies that might replicate it to some extent:
Lots of different color schemes out there in the land of Yo-Zuri, Rapala etc. to inspire you.
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