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The Evolution of Striped Bass Flies

The following was a withheld from the author's book Fly Fishing for Trophy Striped Bass, Tackle, Techniques, and Flies for the Fish of a Lifetime; Stackpole Books, 258 pages, hardback, $49.95, ISBN 978-0-8117-3656-5.

The Evolution of Striped Bass Flies
The following was a withheld from the author's book Fly Fishing for Trophy Striped Bass, Tackle, Techniques, and Flies for the Fish of a Lifetime; Stackpole Books, 258 pages, hardback, $49.95, ISBN 978-0-8117-3656-5.

Over the last hundred years that we’ve kept the history of striped bass flies, hundreds of fly designs have been tried and tested. Each has its own story and life. Facing much the same challenges with fly design, within the context of current materials and techniques, it’s logical that different fly tiers may have simultaneously created a similar pattern or innovation. In the beginning, there was no social media to “telegraph” ideas instantaneously. In the 1960s when things really started happening in saltwater fly fishing, you had tournaments, word of mouth and print to spread the word.

There have been lots of authors who’ve described the history of striper flies, from J. Edson Leonard, Nick Karas, Ken Bay, Joseph Bates to Jim Klausmeyer. I’m going to describe the features I think made saltwater flies better at imitating baitfish and juvenile fish. Even the first known striper fly tied in the mid-1920s by Tom Loving of Baltimore, Maryland, used turbulence to make the tail move more. It had a palmered-hackle collar which increased the movement of the bucktail body. There were several other stripers flies in the next twenty years that used hackles parallel to the hook shank, either facing inward or outward and a bucktail body above the shank. Some had a tiny beard or throat.

In Lefty Kreh’s book, My Life was This Big, he wrote that most striper flies didn’t work well until, “…I think it was around '57 or '58–I stumbled onto one that worked." As he described it, “They were a wing of four to eight saddles tied at the back and a simple bucktail or calf tail collar at the front." The Deceiver was the first that could resemble the deep shape of baitfish in the herring family because you can tie a bucktail collar on top and bottom and spread them to meet at the “lateral line.”

Lefty Kreh sitting at his fly-tying vise.
Lefty's Deceiver was the first striper fly that could resemble the deep shape of baitfish in the herring family because you can tie a bucktail collar on top and bottom and spread them to meet at the “lateral line.”

The late author, painter Russell Chatham tied a fly in the early 1960s he called the Black Phantom. It was an all-black 8-inch Deceiver type fly he tied with a mono-extension to use at night. He caught his IGFA World Record striped bass weighing 36 pounds, 6 ounces in 1966 in San Francisco Bay. The framed fly and skin mount hang in the Angler’s Lodge of the Golden Gate Anglers and Casting Club.

I asked the late fly tyer Bob Popovics what he thought were the top saltwater-fly innovations in the years from 1980 to 2020 and he replied, “The Clouser was the most groundbreaking in the early 80s. Lead-weighted flies were introduced in the 1970s, but it took ten years for the fly guys to accept the use of a weighted fly as sporting.”

Tom Schmeuker, the now-octagenarian owner of Wapsi Fly, invented and manufactured the first known lead dumbbell eyes for flies. Karl Schmeuker told me that in the 1980s his dad fished a bead-chain-eyed rabbit-strip fly but wasn’t satisfied with its depth. He melted lead into the cavities in bead-chain for them, but it didn’t sink enough. Then he soldered brass rod and beads together and made a positive for a mold for lead dumbbells. 

Tom tied lead-eyed samples with bucktail and rabbit strip and tested them on smallmouth bass in Crooked Creek, a tributary of Arkansas’ White River. Since they were amazing, he sent samples to Lefty. He liked them too and shared them with fellow fly designer and guide, Bob Clouser, Middletown, Pennsylvania Bob tied his own version and named it the Clouser, or Clouser Deep Minnow. The people at Wapsi were “over the moon” with the success of their product caused by the well-known Clouser.

Popovics also added, “Viable synthetic winging material was another innovation. The first was crinkle nylon, but it had limitations. Later came variations in denier, texture and translucency which were valuable for a wide range of fly sizes and imitations. The development of Mylar flash was important. Glues and epoxies were important for shape, durability and more. Silicone was one and much later, light-cured acrylics.” (Bob tied his first 5-minute-epoxy Surf Candies in the 1970s.) 

Dan Blanton has been a pioneer of fly design and technique for around 50 years. His contributions to big striped-bass flies are his Whistler series which incorporate ways to increase action, depth, and flash. In Dave Klausmeyer’s book, Striped Bass Flies, Dan stated, "The Whistler has become my signature fly. I developed it in 1964 when I was fishing around that power-plant area."

Author Kenneth E. Bay included Blanton’s White Whistler Red in his book, Saltwater Flies, in 1972. Blanton’s Whistler resembles the Loving Bass Fly but is instead tied on a short-shank hook with bead-chain eyes and lead wrap to improve the action and sink rate. Ken Bay wrote, it causes the fly to “dip and dive.” This helps prevents snags and helps make solid upper-jaw hookups. In 1971, Dan added flash to the standard Whistler that extended beyond the wing like a tail. He called this the Flashtail Whistler, or FT. When tied with lead dumb bells, he calls it a Flashtail Clouser, or FC. Later, Dan switched to a 60-degree jig-hook for both patterns to increase the action and make them ride hook-point-up.

1980-90s Big-Bass Flies

Groceries Fly 11-Inch
A striped bass fly on a white background.
The Groceries Fly. (John Field photo)

Brock Apfel, former director of the LL Bean Fly-Fishing School named this fly because of its illusion of a lot of food. I first saw this fly in my favorite striper book, L.L. Bean Fly Fishing for Striped Bass Handbook, by Brad Burns, 1998. This fly was tied by Brad himself. The Groceries Fly is based on a Deceiver with a higher profile using the hi-tie technique to imitate river herring and bunker. Another characteristic of this pattern is large stick-on eyes. The one shown has an added hank of Big-Fly Fiber to add length to the standard pattern.

Flatwing 7-Inch
A striped bass fly on a white background.
A Flatwing. (John Field photo)

Flatwing flies have a cult-like following. Kenney Abrams wrote two books on his philosophies and flies. A flatwing is a fly that has between one to eight rooster saddles hackles tied-in so they move side-to-side in the water. These saddles are tied flat, curved side down on a flue pillow you prepare, tied on top of the hook shank. This fly depends on this movement to appear wider than they are. Much about this pattern is illusion. Joe Cordeiro tied this 2/0 Ember.

Recommended


Bozo Bunker 10-Inch
A striped bass fly on a white background.
The Bozo Bunker. (John Field photo)

During the late 1980s-1990s comeback of the East Coast stripers, many tiers had an arms race to build big bunker flies. It evolved around the use of the new synthetic fibers commercially known as Bozo Hair and Ultra-Hair. Captain Jeff Northrup of Westport, Connecticut made a pattern called the Bozo Bunker, which as far as I know was the first made from the material clown wigs are made from. This one is an original by Jeff.

Sedotti’s Slammer 10.5-Inch
A striped bass fly on a white background.
A Sedotti Slammer. (John Field photo)

Mark Sedotti of Port Chester, New York created a series of flies he calls Slammers. Angelo Peluso’s put several in his 2006 book, Saltwater Flies of the Northeast. The one I used to tie to imitate adult bunker before I found lighter patterns, is Sedotti’s Bozo Slammer Bunker. The winging consists of four colors of Bozo Hair. I used to tie the Sedotti’s Feather Slammer, which is a fundamentally a big Deceiver, but the wide rooster saddles are no longer available. Mark tied the one shown. Mark often tied this with tandem hooks and a keel weight.

Mega-Mushy 11-Inch
A striped bass fly on a white background.
The Mega Mushy. (John Field photo)

Dave Skok is a fly designer and photographer from Massachusetts. He makes a long, coarse flash material called Mega Mushy available in some wild and useful colors. He has a series of flies called Mushy Flies, including the Mushmouth, Mushy Squid, and Mega Mushy. The author has tied the shown fly made of Super Hair and Slinky Fibre blended with Skok’s Mega Mushy flash. Like Dave’s original recipe it takes a secret sauce. To keep the long fibers from tangling, it has a spine of Super Hair stiffened with Softex clear-flexible coating. You must use it sparingly or the fly will be too stiff and heavy.

Noyes’ Mushy Eel 9.75-Inch
A striped bass fly on a white background.
Noye's Mushy Eel. (John Field photo)

Fly anglers often wish they had a fly that could imitate a live eel. I guess that was the goal for Captain Sandy Noyes of Norwich, Connecticut. Almost every time Captain Steve Bellefleur and I were on in his Seacraft on our way somewhere, we would see him alone or with his wife Gail drifting his black eel fly in front of the Stonington, Connecticut breakwall and occasionally catching and releasing a 20-pound-plus bass. After 20 years, I asked him if I could borrow one for my book. It’s made from wig hair, Mega Mushy flash, and Super Hair for support. An article on this fly was in Saltwater Sportsman Magazine in January 2006.

Pollack Fly 7.5-Inch
A striped bass fly on a white background.
The Pollack Fly. (John Field photo)

Jim Bernstein, owner of Eldredge Bros. Fly Shop in Cape Neddick, Maine loves this fly which he designed. The pollack fish (or pollock) is a local food of big stripers that spends its youth in the rocky intertidal zone. This fly is a Deceiver variation with brown saddle hackle, with white bucktail, topped with peacock herl. The key visual features of this fly are its brown color and black lateral line matching the real thing. Jim ties a natural brown emu feather, which has a black quill, on each side of his fly.

Evolution of Materials

Natural materials have varied in supply due to laws, avian disease, and genetic modification. You can’t find wide rooster saddle hackle anymore for Deceivers, and Flatwing saddles are also hard to find. This as most of you know is because growers have focused on breeding narrow, long hackles for dry, Spey and predator flies. 

Since the surge in popularity in muskie fly tying, there is a new group of people collecting and dying bucktail in longer lengths and custom colors. Since 4 to 5 inches has been the standard commercial length for bucktail and saltwater bucktail flies average 5 to 6 inches, it’s good that some dealers will stock 6- to more than 7-inch long bucktails for sale. You will pay more however because of the scarcity. 

Some international tiers have recently praised the properties of Nyat, the hair of a type of domesticated goat I believe, as a polar bear substitute. One thing I didn’t see coming was tiers combining synthetic wing fibers with natural ones to hybridize textures and colors. Some tiers blend them and others just layer them separately.

A foot-long ruler next to a bucktail hide for fly-tying.
Since 4 to 5 inches has been the standard commercial length for bucktail and saltwater bucktail flies average 5 to 6 inches, it’s good that some dealers will stock 6- to more than 7-inch long bucktails for sale. (John Field photo)

Most material companies have been offering UV colors in natural and synthetic materials. I have not tried any and don’t know of any empirical testing of the effectiveness of this addition.

A few years ago, Kevlar thread was the best for spinning deer hair on a hook. Today, a variety of gel-spun threads are available for deer hair and other materials that need extra-strength and bite protection. Now we even have more than two colors! 

One of the biggest trends in winging material has been the addition of brushes to saltwater tying. Brushes can be used to sculpt flies on hooks or tubes and with or without shank extensions and articulation. Hareline made Blane Chocklett’s original chenille brushes but for the bigger flies, Just Add H2O’s brushes have more options. They offer 11 different brushes that span the biggest range of sizes up to 5 inches in width. EP Flies, owned and operated by Enrico Puglisi, developed and manufactures 20 different brush models. The biggest is the EP Predator Brush measuring 10 inches long x 1.75 inches wide.

A pile of fly-tying materials for striped bass flies on a black background.
Just Add H2O’s brushes have more options. They offer 11 different brushes that span the biggest range of sizes up to 5 inches in width. (John Field photo)

Another new synthetic hair product for streamers and brushes is sold by Squimpish Flies. Its streamer material comes bundled with almost straight, non-tapered fibers that measure from 3 to 12 inches in length. They also sell brushes made of the same fibers. The color range at any one time is large and changes periodically.

Brushes can be made in solid or blended colors. You can make bands of colors by wrapping different colored brushes, but if you want to have a top and bottom contrast, you’ll have to use markers or an air brush. This is the typical way to color Game Changers, which I’ll discuss further on.

The selection of sheet, cylindrical and molded foam has expanded in recent years. Updated furry foam and self-adhesive foams have given options for tiers experimenting with all kinds of flies that imitate crustaceans. 

New metallic heads, eyes, and other life-like components proliferated in the 2000s. We saw new metal skulls, helmets, tungsten coneheads and dumbbells in various sizes and colors. Jiggy heads went back into production and are now available made of tungsten. The originals ones, no longer available, were plated brass. Manufacturers have increased selections and features of molded eyes with a variety of pupil shapes and colors as well as foam carapaces, large ultra-chenille for legs. Premade crab and shrimp carapaces, legs, eyes on stalks and other body parts are being offered.

Light-cured resins have almost replaced two-part epoxies after the 2016 release of Popovic’s second book, Fleye Design. There, Bob describes the properties and use of Tuffleye light-cured acrylic, which uses a blue light for curing. This product is available in three formulations, Core (thick) Finish (thin), and Flex (thick but remains flexible). There have been competing products that require UV light curing, which is more dangerous to our eyes and skin, instead of blue light, which is supposedly less dangerous. These newer products have added colors, protection from yellowing and a tack-free finish. Right now, I’d recommend, Solarez and Gulff brands.

Hooks

A selection of different hooks for striped-bass flies, with titles.
Both the old and the new brands have widened their models to fill new demand for special hooks like those used for tube flies and muskie flies. (John Field photo)

In recent years, new hook manufacturers like Ahrex have emerged in the U.S. market competing with the established brands like Tiemco, Owner, and Gamakatsu. Both the old and the new brands have widened their models to fill new demand for special hooks like those used for tube flies and muskie flies. 

Tube flies really took-off for steelhead flies and reminded us of some advantages—in fact, I make my big Offshore Bangers with them. I put a thin coffee stir-straw fully through the center hole of the popper head and extending rearward an inch more. Then I put a 1-inch piece of flexible tubing over the straw up against the rear of the head and pull the tippet or bite guard through the head and stick the knot and hook eye into the tubing. This keeps the hook straight back and further back for better hookups. They’re so durable, I can use solid-stainless wire through them when blues are lurking, as blues do. A tube fly lets you use the shortest shank octopus hooks and gives the ability to change them. 

Some tiers have used tandem hooks in their striped-bass flies for decades. I spoke with Dr. Andy Danylchuk, Professor of Fish Conservation at the University of Massachusetts about tandem hooks. He said, “I don’t recommend tandem hooks, which are unnecessary and potentially damaging to eyes, veins or organs.” I don’t see the need because of the powerful way bass suck in flies or forage. Small fish tail bite, so you might catch more of them, but I wouldn’t want to risk deep hooking a big female bass to prevent one in a hundred big ones from dropping a bunker fly because of a lack of hooks. It takes longer to unhook a fish with multiple hooks too, so fish are out of the water longer. 

European pike anglers successfully added action and size to their flies by adding plastic tails. This cross-pollenated with the U.S. musky fishermen and has been popular. I expect to see this added to striper flies, but I don’t like the added weight or the idea or merging conventional lures and flies.

Weighting Flies

Tiers add weight to increase the depth of their flies, to make a jigging or gliding action, or add ballast or a heavier hook to keep flies upright. You can use commercial heads, cones, or dumb-bell eyes, or wrap wire on different parts of the hook shank to add weight. Wrapping lead soldier on the underside of the hook shank acts like a keel weight. Using it as a verb, some “keel” their flies to help them cast in wind. Popovics told me, “It’s best to use hook selection to increase sink rate or as a keel and use adequate fly-line head weight to cast large or wind-resistant flies. Only weight flies to make flies sink faster.”

One example of the best use for weight in flies is crabs. To have a selection that serves you in varying depths and current speeds, carry flies that range from floating to slow sinking to fast sinking. When you tie your own flies, you should take the inherent sink rate of the fly you’re weighting into consideration. When a recipe calls for a medium tungsten dumbbell on a 1-1/0 hook, it gives a wide range for crab size in proportion to the hook. A smaller fly will sink faster than a larger one made of the same materials.

Increasing Size and Bulk

The most important addition to large-fly design in my opinion was the hollow tying technique first exhibited in Popovic’s Hollow Deceiver, Hollow Fly and Beast Fleye. It adds volume and decreases the need for materials that add weight. The hollow technique can be used in a variety of applications. The use of mono extensions used in conjunction with hollow tying opens endless possibilities in big flies. It’s a way to increase length and the flexibility of a mono extension and adds more action to a fly.

A large olive and cream striped bass flies.
The use of mono extensions used in conjunction with hollow tying opens endless possibilities in big flies. It’s a way to increase length and the flexibility of a mono extension and adds more action to a fly. (John Field photo)

Bob also changes bulk selectively, as in his BulkHEAD by layering over untrimmed bucktail butts folded back. This increases volume in the gills and head region of a fly to resemble a bunker (they have a big head full of a plankton-straining mechanism). This bulk also increases the subsequent action of the fly due to the turbulence it makes. 

Action and Sound

Fly tiers have tried to put the swimming action of successful hard and soft baits into fly designs. Some added semi-rigid lips to make them swim side-to-side and others enhance action with a flexible monofilament or jointed steel spine. Tiers also learned about the attraction of rattles from bass lures.

Popovics successfully made a silicone coated sheep-fleece head with an integrated lip like a crankbait. He called it the Siliclone Pop lip. This fly rides on or near the surface on a floating line and swims side-to-side when pulled with a steady strip. Bob’s Pop lip combines wool with silicone to achieve a swimming action while Charles Bisharat from the West Coast uses synthetic materials for the heads of his swimming flies.

A long black striped bass fly with a lip.
An example of Popovics' Siliclone Pop Lips on a fly. (John Field photo)

He has a new popper in stores called Bisharat’s Strip Tease and a redesigned, previously marketed topwater, the Pole Dancer. The first has a lip molded into it like a crankbait, so the popper moves side-to-side, and the latter uses an angled cupped face to make it do its side-to-side dance. Bisharat told me he expects Rainy’s Flies will make these heads available separately for tiers. He has many other designs in development.

Chocklett has revolutionized ways of thinking about fly design and fly fishing. He is a mentee of Larry Dahlberg and Popovics and has guided for over 25 years. Blane’s contribution to striper and muskie flies is his Magnum and Hybrid Game Changer. The construction has a main hook connected to looped stainless-steel shanks. He says their action mimics a plastic fluke. This skeletal structure is built by wrapping dubbing brushes on the hook and shanks, then trimming to shape afterward. The main intent is to improve the action of a fly, but it is also a way of extending length This design is usually tied with a feather tail, and wiggles to impart lifelike movement and vibration.

A Game Changer fly laying next to a series of shanks that are required to tie it.
The construction of Blane Chocklett's Game Changers has a main hook connected to looped stainless-steel shanks. (John Field photo)

An increasing number of tiers are experimenting with rattles to imitate the crab, crayfish, and lobster that live on bottom and are known to communicate with sound. Others also put them in poppers, jig flies, and in any fly they can stuff them in (I’ve been using them in my jig flies). Most tiers use rattles made for soft bass baits, though some tiers are making their own rattles to increase the volume. I guess they think, if a lot is good, more is better.

IGFA All-tackle striped bass record holder Greg Myerson told me about his home study of lobster sound. He used a 200-gallon aquarium and a hydrophone to listen to and analyze the sounds of his pet lobsters. He said they produced a 10dB buzz warning with attenuation. Lobsters are demonstratively territorial. He makes a fly to mimic this sound he calls the Super Sonic Fly.

A large striped bass fly sitting on a plastic box full or rattles.
An increasing number of tiers are experimenting with rattles to imitate the crab, crayfish, and lobster that live on bottom and are known to communicate with sound. (John Field photo)

There is a gallery with recipes of 50 of my picks for the best new flies and classics that don’t need improvement, in my book, Fly Fishing for Trophy Striped Bass, available now.


John L. Field (fieldflyfishing.com) is a writer, photographer, and Fly Fishers International (FFI) Master Casting Instructor. FFI awarded him the Jay Gammel Award for Fly Casting Instruction in 2019. John has served as president of the American Casting Association (ACA) and president of the New York Chapter of Trout Unlimited, and is the author of Fly-Casting Finesse and ACA’s Beginner’s Guide to Fly Casting. 




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