# PB fly rod speckled trout



## karstopo (Jun 29, 2009)

Not a monster, but a solid fish at a hair over 25" and 6# on boga. Came on a Chartreuse over White baitfish drifting in 2-3 ft of water.


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## BrandonFox (Jan 8, 2013)

Nice trout!!


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## kodman1 (Sep 16, 2005)

Great job! Nice trout for sure.


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## Meadowlark (Jul 19, 2008)

Nice Spec. Great job on the fly.


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## Outearly (Nov 17, 2009)

Nice fish!

Pure blind casting, or were there hints/bait/swirls to cast to?


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## karstopo (Jun 29, 2009)

Outearly said:


> Nice fish!
> 
> Pure blind casting, or were there hints/bait/swirls to cast to?


 Good question, I normally fish at hints, swirls ,bait just what you have mentioned. This spot was a little different. One, it has a historic record of producing big trout at this time of year at mid water levels. There is a shallow bar, about a foot in mid water level, that drops to a shelf of 18" to 2.5" feet marked with sand, submerged grass and a little shell. That shelf eventually drops to 3+ feet. Mullet were evident on the bar and on the shelf close to the bar, but bait noise dropped off as I moved into the deeper shelf. I kind of assumed that the mullet were being "herded" up into the shallower stuff.

I don't think this spot has a lot of predators. It isn't a big structure. The structure changes as you go along. The fish from yesterday came within 50-75 yards of a 28.5" trout caught by a friend from a previous early spring trip with similar water temps, tide, and water level.

I had 3 eats in the 3 or so hours out. First one was the fish pictured. Second one was what was a good fish that hit the fly as it landed and I had a little line tangle then realized a fish had the streamer. I never got a good hook set. Both those fish were in same zone. Third fish was small, 15" or so, and was away from the structure by 200 yards or more and I had in that case seen some sort of small bait getting harassed. The little trout swallowed my fly to the gills and I had a tough time removing the fly even with pliers. I called it quits then as I hadn't planned on a late into the sunset trip.

Except for a couple of probes up shallow, I spent the afternoon doing 150-250 yard drifts through the area. I thought of moving on, but some days I like to really cover an area. Wading might have been better, but I didn't bring my good wading boots and I'm pretty comfortable standing in my Commander and casting. It is quiet drifting and no other boats came along to disturb the spot.


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## Outearly (Nov 17, 2009)

Great reply, many thanks


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Meadowlark (Jul 19, 2008)

I really like that second picture...and assume you took it alone? Really great shot!


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## karstopo (Jun 29, 2009)

Meadowlark said:


> I really like that second picture...and assume you took it alone? Really great shot!


All by myself. I didn't want it to spend too much time out of the water since I was releasing it so i didn't spend a lot of time composing a photo. Photo cropped from my cell phone.


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## ATX 4x4 (Jun 25, 2011)

2cool! Bet that was a fun ride. Thanks for sharing.


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## karstopo (Jun 29, 2009)

ATX 4x4 said:


> 2cool! Bet that was a fun ride. Thanks for sharing.


Speckled trout, in my experience, pound for pound aren't as powerful as redfish. But they aren't complete wimps, they can pull drag and they have more tricks in their repertoire than redfish. I've never had a redfish,on any tackle, tail walk with gills flaring and head shaking. Redfish don't go airborne except when they initially attack a Topwater. Trout have delicate mouths, aka, papermouth, and that leads to way more drama getting a trout to hand than a red of the same size. Bigger trout are rarer creatures than reds of the same size. I love both fish. Any day I catch a quality trout is one I remember.


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## groundswatter (Jun 9, 2015)

was the fly hand tied? that would be a cherry on top!


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## listos? (Aug 22, 2006)

Nice work


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## karstopo (Jun 29, 2009)

groundswatter said:


> was the fly hand tied? that would be a cherry on top!


Yes, Steve Farrar blend in UV white dubbed on for body, back of Farrar blend in chartreuse. Size 1 gamakatsu stinger hook. A little UV glue around eyes and nose. I like the streamer because it keeps its shape pretty well when wet. Casts pretty well as it isn't real bulky, slow sink with the no added weight. Farrar blend is tough being synthetic.

I have some yak hair and have thought about doing same fly in that. Maybe a little peacock herl for the back. I've done it in craft fur and that came out alright.


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## salty_waders (Feb 13, 2006)

Well done!


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## caddis (Jan 22, 2012)

Nice, I like that fly!


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## southpaw (Feb 25, 2009)

Congrats on that beauty Karstopo!



karstopo said:


> Yes, Steve Farrar blend in UV white dubbed on for body, back of Farrar blend in chartreuse. Size 1 gamakatsu stinger hook. A little UV glue around eyes and nose. I like the streamer because it keeps its shape pretty well when wet. Casts pretty well as it isn't real bulky, slow sink with the no added weight. Farrar blend is tough being synthetic.
> 
> I have some yak hair and have thought about doing same fly in that. Maybe a little peacock herl for the back. I've done it in craft fur and that came out alright.


Yak hair is some good stuff for building heads, but idk if I'd go for a full body of it as I don't think it'd keep the same profile. It does look really good in the water though. It wiggles and kind of "breaths".

I've used yak fur for the head of this baitfish pattern before (what's shown here is a boutonniere I tied for a buddy's wedding. The head here is actually ice dubbing but you get the gist)










I think yak hair will be easier to work with for your pattern than craft fur though. Do you tie often with peacock hearl? Maybe I'm tying it wrong but I have a lot of durability issues with that stuff.


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## karstopo (Jun 29, 2009)

No to the peacock herl. I think I got it way back when I wanted to do a deceiver pattern. I really use mainly synthetic materials for most my stuff as it is so much more durable. I was thinking of making a brush out of the Yak hair, like an EP brush and dubbing it forward. May not work well for this, but I won't know until I try.


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## southpaw (Feb 25, 2009)

I bet a yak hair dubbing brush would be pretty cool. I'd be interested in how it'd look in the water. Might have to spin a brush myself and try it out.


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## karstopo (Jun 29, 2009)

caddis said:


> Nice, I like that fly!


I wish I could capture the how the Steve Farrar blend looks in the water. It just has a nice amount of life-like flash. I wish it was an easier pattern to make. Steve Farrar blend does not make a good brush like EP fiber. It's very hard for me to get consistent results. The off-white, orange, and some other colors seem to be made of slightly different fibers and are useless for making the body of this fly. I have a little stockpile of these flies and repair them when the eyes eventually get torn off. Lately, I've been tying a couple patterns using the EP fiber because it is so much easier to be consistent. I don't feel like the EP has the same great look in the water. I've had some really good success on a weighted baitfish using EP, but I add some polarflash and make the back from the Steve Farrar to give it a little more pop.


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## skeeter77346 (Jan 13, 2006)

Great trout - on any lure, any day. Congrats.


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