# Sometimes, It Does Matter What Fly Is Used



## karstopo (Jun 29, 2009)

Tried Redfish Crack, 3 different colors, and a borski slider. Fish were visible or mud boils, but those patterns got zero eats. Put on the Gartside Soft Hackle Streamer and it was on. Eight fish to 26â€ came to hand, others didnâ€™t, all in about 15â€ of greenish water over mud and shell.


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## Ready.Fire.Aim (Sep 22, 2009)

Nice photos, thanks for sharing. Do you tie your own streamers ?


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## karstopo (Jun 29, 2009)

My daughter brought me some gadwall flank feathers from a duck hunt this fall. I asked around on a fly fishing forum for what I could do with these feathers and someone suggested the Gartside Soft Hackle Streamer. Since tying up the ones in the photos, I had only used them one time before out in the saltwater and that day both redfish crack and the streamer worked.

The really look good in the water. They look like fluff balls before they get wet for the first time. Slow sinkers, which was good today as I was fishing over some shallow shell. I still got hung up once or twice.

Jack Gartside was very well known for his fly patterns.


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## karstopo (Jun 29, 2009)

Hereâ€™s the gadwall flank my daughter supplied.
















The streamer is good in freshwater, too.


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## Bird (May 10, 2005)

That is very cool karstopo. Nice looking flies too.


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## Popperdave (Jul 9, 2016)

Great looking flies.
I tied up one on a B10 stinger #2, I used a total of three Marabou quilles to fill the hook. When I took it over to the lake to try, I had a hard time getting it to sink at all. Even after I got it really wet it would only sink very very slowly and when I strip it in, it would ride back up to the surface. Is this this normal?


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## karstopo (Jun 29, 2009)

Popperdave said:


> Great looking flies.
> I tied up one on a B10 stinger #2, I used a total of three Marabou quilles to fill the hook. When I took it over to the lake to try, I had a hard time getting it to sink at all. Even after I got it really wet it would only sink very very slowly and when I strip it in, it would ride back up to the surface. Is this this normal?


I usually use two good sized marabou quills on a size one Mustad stinger (basically the same wire as the gamakatsu) plus the gadwall flank feather. Some get three quills, but it might be a shorter one in between a couple of better quills.

First couple of casts, they donâ€™t want to sink. After that getting good and soaked, they start to sink. I do use all fluorocarbon leaders/tippets so those do sink faster than nylon.

I guess a little heavy wire could be wrapped around the hook shank. I like that they arenâ€™t fast sinkers, Iâ€™ve got enough of those patterns.


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## caddis (Jan 22, 2012)

Nice looking flies. Similar to many of the newer steelhead flies.


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## karstopo (Jun 29, 2009)

I did a few more using the size one Mustad Stingers. Not done any in pink until these.

I havenâ€™t fished for steelhead, but have this idea those are a challenge to get to eat any pattern. Redfish can get lockjaw or be particular, but Iâ€™m under the impression they are far easier day in and day out to fool than a steelhead.


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## caddis (Jan 22, 2012)

Correct, a good day steelheading is usually 1-2 fish. Lots of days no fish and amazing days very infrequent of say 4-6 fish range (like once a year or less). At least for the northwest. I guess Great Lakes streams have higher catch rates.


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## karstopo (Jun 29, 2009)

Went back out Friday afternoon to the same spot I went back on the fourth. Tried 3 different Gartside streamers and got 3 little 16â€ reds on the pink one, but the incoming tide pushing current along with the little wind made the unweighted streamers difficult to make a quality presentation. Water was more murky this time around, too.










Flies I used next to a saltwater assassin, just to show scale, I didnâ€™t bring along the baitcasting gear.

Went back to the tried and true olive redfish crack above and that got a couple of slot redfish to hand. The crack really doesnâ€™t sink very fast tied with the mini lead dumbbell, but had enough negative buoyancy to conquer the strong current and light wind, but not so much to hang up in the shell. I donâ€™t think the flashy eyelash yarn hurt either. Sometimes, I tie in less eyelash yarn and make the EP collar a little longer for a more subdued look. Flash is interesting as it can be a real positive or a real negative on getting the eat, at least in my experience. Iâ€™m always tinkering with where and how much flash I put into or leave in any one tie and I might cut or pull some or most out while out fishing the tie if I think itâ€™s a negative. Once in a while, anything with flash will get snubbed, but the same exact fly with most or all the flash pulled out or removed will work great.










The big redfish went a little over 26â€ and 7.5# plus on the boga. What a fighter that fish was! It took out all the fly line and 30 yards of backing. The other redfish at 23â€ didnâ€™t even get put on the reel and never ran at all. These fish are funny sometimes.


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## Popperdave (Jul 9, 2016)

Nice fish. That olive and black crack fly is my go to Redfish fly. I ussually tie it with xsmall or small lead eyes to get down to the bottom faster. That one of your looks well used.
Good fishing and keep the pictures coming. We need something to look at when we can't get out.


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## bones72 (Oct 29, 2019)

That's good stuff right there.


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## Bruce J (Jun 27, 2004)

I think itâ€™s always interesting to try to figure out what difference a fly or lure makes. Did they really like a particular fly better, or did the magic feeding hour start just when I switched flies? Or was it because I just changed locations bit and then changed flies. Once catching a fish on a new fly, I then never switch back to the previous one to see if maybe now theyâ€™ll eat that one too. 

So I rarely know for sure, but have definitely seen a few times where it clearly makes a big difference. Mostly thatâ€™s been when bonefishing and we had lots of shots in really clear water. In the ultra clear water, I could easily see a dramatic difference in how the fish reacted to different flies. 

One final fly selection story came from a salmon fishing trip to Scotland. We were not catching any fish at all, so during breaks we read in the lodgeâ€™s journal about what flies had caught fish. They had all sorts of stats for education or amusement. The Collie Dog caught 12% of the fish that year and Allieâ€™s Shrimp caught 18%. Ah, so Allieâ€™s Shrimp must be 50% more effective at catching salmon - clearly the better fly. But, I said, what if the Allieâ€™s Shrimp was fished twice as long as the Collie Dog, but only caught 50% more fish. Clearly the Collie Dog is the better fly. And it would go on and on....sort of like this reply!


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## karstopo (Jun 29, 2009)

Even the exact same type of fly or lure can produce different results. Iâ€™ve been known to switch out one freshly tied olive redfish crack for another simply because simply because something was a little off about the first one. Itâ€™s hard to get hand tied flies to be exactly the same and Iâ€™ve come to embrace their differences. Some might be a little more sleek and sink faster than others. Borski sliders really change on buoyancy with minuscule differences in the deer hair and how it was put on and trimmed. 

One statement I hear used way too much is â€œitâ€™s the Indian and not the arrowâ€. Firstly, the arrow could be so bad that the very best archer couldnâ€™t hit anything with it. Some lures and flies go down that not so good road quite a ways. Yes, they can catch a fish if everything lines up just right, but mostly they are pretty bad at getting fish. An perfect arrow matched to the right bow in the hands of a skilled archer would have the best potential for success. Most of the arrows, lures or flies are a little off in some ways on most days, but good enough in skilled hands to make numerous kills. 

If you throw out a bowling ball with a hook on it how many fish do you think youâ€™ll catch? If you tie on a size 22 zebra midge, whatâ€™s the success ratio you think you will get with slot redfish? Obviously, the arrow matters. People arenâ€™t using target arrows and taking down Elk with those. Whatever you toss at the matters and some days it matters more. Presentation is a big piece of the puzzle, but not the only piece.


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