Fly Samurai

I don't fish Destin but am from Pensacola, just a bit down the beach. This area is quite different from the rest of Florida, The water is usually quite clear, the sand is sugar white with minimal oyster/vegetation and we usually only get one high and one low tide per day. Also in this area the tides are quite sporadic in that a high tide today may be high two to three hours different than the next day or it may only vary by minutes. We fish the tides but since there is only one high and one low, we fish way beyond just a few minutes on either side of a tide change. Up here, while not my favorite, the fly of choice are closures in chartreuse/white, pink/white, tan/white and snd flea patterns. Also classic deceivers work well as do gurgles on top. When fishing the surf I suggest an intermediate sink and I always use a stripping basket.Walk the beach looking for cruising fish keeping the sun overhead or at your back if possible. Look for diving birds and feeding fish,often signs of mackerel or ladyfish. Study the water and fish the "cuts" or washouts by blind casting. Also contact the fly fishing club in Fort Walton Beach, great group of guys. And should the winds be out of the south, consider fishing the sound side fishing in either Destin or nearby Navarre. Navarre beach is beautiful and is bound to the west by a long stretch of national seashore that affords great accessibility to both the surf and the sound. This beach runs all the way to Pensacola where after passing through Pensacola Beach the national seashore continues for approximately 18 miles to Perdido and on to Gulf Shores Alabama.The sound offers some good spelled trout and redfish opportunities, as well as many other species. Hope this helps and good luck and enjoy your stay

Although a larger version, same concept. Can be seen in action at this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbZZzR2v7rA

Kirk as always you are quite the generous one. Not only are you a skilled and creative tier, but a true advocate for the sport of fly fishing. You are a living "lagniappe"! Thanks I will be emailing

Hey Kirk, very nice fish indeed. I am an artist who lives in Pensacola, Fl. and have to visit my gallery in New Orleans often. If you don't mind me asking, whereabouts within the city do you find such large numbers of carp? Not asking for secrete spots just curious in general. Thanks

riffleriver... You make me laugh, very funny. Yes the tail in my original version is dyed chamois, but Rainy Flies makes it commercially with "ultra-suede", and to be honest there is not a lot of difference between the two as far as action goes. I like chamois best but that is just me, something about the natural quality. Seriously without bias, the ones produced commercially are really pretty cool. If you have questions, I will be glad to answer, well if I can.

Pheabus, my name is Greg Saunders and I am the "inventor" of FlyLipps. I wish to thank you for posting the photos of what may be the original commercial design for a lip to be attached to a fly. What a great piece of history you have there.It is interesting to see just how long tiers have been trying to duplicate the swimming action of many hard bodied casting baits. It is also interesting for me to see that this original post was from 2005. I came out with FlyLipps in 2004 so this is a pretty early post in relation to the date that FlyLipps went on the market. Again thanks for sharing. Greg Saunders

And it looks like it might make a great "goose fly" as well! I have had loons and gulls pick up a baitfish fly down here in Florida, but never caught a goose before!

I know everyone has their own personal favorites and rigging to match, the Freedom Hawk is mine. I really like the added visual advantage from a standing position when sight fishing reds. And while some might see my elaborate anchoring systems as over-kill, it is designed for my specific local fishing conditions. I have used this system with good success on several rivers in lower Alabama, as well. Also being of such a large size, I do not have a lot of options when it comes to selecting a kayak, but I am quite pleased with the Freedom Hawk

Wife thinking of buying a business property on the bay. I am against the idea but the place does have a dock on the bay. She asked if I would post on here and check out the fishing. I live in Pensacola, fL. but if your wife will have me, I am willing to relocate to a place on the bay!!! The fishing in the Panhandle can be awesome and Destin is well known for it's offshore fishing. They also have a great fly fishing club there, I have done many fly demos for them and they are a great group of guys. I would second the idea of getting in touch with Dave, Panama Red, he is an exceptional person and quite knowledgable as well. Inshore, in addition to the above, you can also expect some shots at quite large jack crevalle and bonito as school of them hunt the coast from late spring through the fall/winter. Unfortunately we do not have snook or bonefish, but we do get some big tarpon through in the summer. Last year there were more big schools of tarpon than I have ever seen before. Eight weight thru ten weights are predominant rods of choice, with some preferring lighter for fishing docks and heavier for tarpon. Hope this helps.

I tie this Lipped pattern as more of a combination Clouser, Half and Half, and Seaducer, I call it the Holy Trinity. It swims up off the bottom in a most enticing way.

Sharpies and other permanent markers are good for coloring small areas but if you are dying larger pieces I would recommend a liquid dye. Ritz liquid dyes are OK, but for a more permanent dye I use Fiebing Rough Out and Suede dye. Many leather dyes make the material stiff, even sharpies stiffen it a tiny bit, but the suede dyes do not. They are anilin dyes and should be thinned with denatured alcohol if that is necessary for your application.

Not sure exactly what effect you are looking for but I have found this solution to a similar problem. I use Sharpies quite a bit on plastic, in particular a shrimp pattern where I want just a hint of color along with a few dots. To achieve this effect I make small random dots and dashes of color and then "thin" them out with a swipe of a Q-tip dipped in lacquer thinner. LESS is MORE in this case. Lacquer thinner dissolves the marker and then evaporates quite quickly, leaving a very thin swipe of color. You can alter colors by applying different dots and dashes of various colors, Most sharpie colors will come off if rubbed harshly, therefore when I tie the plastic in I place the marked side toward the material onto which I am placing it, with the clear, unmarked side out or up as it were. Then when the fly is complete the areas marked are not exposed to things that can rub them off. I have also found that I like clear vinyl best for marking. First off it is crystal clear and secondly it is tough. The best place to find clear vinyl is an old clear shower curtain, or a new cheap one. You can find what they sometimes call crystal clear vinyl curtains pretty cheap and one curtain is a lifetime supply and then some. As for durability the flies that I have done this way do not lose their color over time. Another interesting thing about Sharpies is that some colors, chartreuse for instance, will have a chemical reaction to Super Glue that causes the Sharpie to turn red. Very strange because not all colors do this. I have sometimes used this to my advantage when applying eyes to a chartreuse Sharpie colored fly, I will intentionally add just a bit more glue to rim the eye in red. This shrimp's shellback is made of vinyl marked with red and brown Sharpie as described above. Hope this is of some use.

I am with ski doosh, FlyLipps

Ryan, i sent you an email but in case you did not receive it this is my topwater fly of choice for spooky reds. It is my Topwater Seaducer. It lands super soft and then sinks slowly, but upon the retrieve it will swim back to the surface. Once on top you can give it a short sharp strip in combination with a snap of the rod tip to create a good sharp "pop" or a more subtle strip resulting in a sputter and push. Personally I prefer the sputter/push in shallow water if reds are not feeding on the bottom and the louder pop if they are. Because of it's suspending nature and subtle swimming action this fly can be worked very slow or to call up fish keep it on top with a quicker retrieve rate similar to that of a Zara Spook.

I once caught a redfish with only one eye. But the interesting thing was that the eye that was missing wasn't poked out, it was completely "skinned" over. By this I mean it was as though it never had an eye, EVER! the one side was normal and the other just skin and scales. This wasn't a small red either, this was a slot red, aprox. 22", meaning it had probably lived a year or two with only the one eye. Very courageous fighter, hope he still lives today.

Well, I only have the beautiful ones you sent me here in Pensacola, and while I haven't pit them into "full attack" mode, I intend to as soon as the water warms in our lakes. Down here we are looking at a couple of weeks or so. BUT i don't have to catch fish to know a fly "will" catch fish. Your creations have an action that has to be irresistible to fish. I am really curious how the upward turned lipp produces in terms of both action and strike. Do you know at what rate the fly falls after it's ascent? How heavily weighted is it? I would suspect that from the look of your fly it would perform much as a suspended pattern with a slow fall and an even swim. No matter, it is a beautiful design! Greg

i have to say, speaking from first hand knowledge, your flies are definitely not too pretty to fish! Because as beautiful as they are to look at they are twice as nice in action. Hope to see the upward swimming patterns in action too. Excellent job, sir, excellent job.

Dave all I got to say bout that top one is do that black back in olive and throw it on March 8th!! even the fish can't resist a little Fat Tuesday celebratin' have a happy Mardi Gras!!! Laissez les bon temp rouler!!

This one floats but has great action once you pull it underwater. I fish it on an intermediate sink line, good to about 5-6 feet. Never fished it on a true sinking line.The FlyLipp makes it dive and gives it great action, especially in short sharp strips. This type of retrieve causes the legs to crash into the body, giving it a kicking swim.

sniksoh, They are the actual FlyLipps, carving or making them on a fly-to-fly basis is very difficult. And it is also difficult to control the consistency of of both quality and angle. tidewaterfly, Many dyes will stiffen suedes and chamois. But I have found that anilin dyes do not. The chamois remains supple with the anilins. I use a brand called Fiebing, they make a whole series of dyes called suede and rough out dyes, about $7.00 for a 4oz bottle. This amount of dye will color several dozens of tails. I bought a bottle of red, yellow, blue, black, and green. I am a visual artist by trade so I am very comfortable mixing colors. I bought the green rather than mixing yellow and blue, as it is easier to get chartreuse by mix large amounts of yellow with small amounts of green. The only problem is getting a white. The company generously sent me a small sample of white acrylic dye, but is actually little more than thin acrylic paint and results in a stiffening of the chamois. I also have used the Rit fabric dyes in liquid form, straight from the bottle. This works ok, but not as rich nor as permanent as the Fiebing anilin dyes. I have gotten into creating some beautiful mottled tails using wet into wet dying techniques. I will post a photo with one of these tails when I get the chance to take one.

Kirk, I have fished Delacroix on occasion, and over here we have a saying, "In Louisiana it ain't fishin', its CATCHIN'!" Our reds are that same dark copper/gold color back in the bayous and on the grass flats but if they are out in the gulf for a while, they lighten up to a pinkish/white. This probably serves as a better camouflage against the white sands. However, I guess soon if they are to remain camouflaged, they are going to have to develop more and bigger spots to blend in with the tar balls that are expected to show up.

thanks for all of the kind comments. Yes the tail is made of chamois. I dye the chamois and then cut it to shape. I like natural chamois better than ultra-sued as it has more of a "breathable action", for lack of a better term. Kirk, I agree, lipped flies are not for all situations, and as with all fly choices, it is a trade-off. Flies with the lip facing down are definitely not meant to be picked up at great distances, not only is it difficult, it's hard on the lip. However when I'm sight casting to redfish, I don't throw a fly of this size and weight to begin with, as I am sure you are aware, shallow reds are mighty spooky. I do throw a lipped fly for them however, actually several, but the lip is tied in an "up" facing direction. This causes the fly to swim up, actually quite quickly , and then it can easily be picked from the surface. If the water is clear and the reds are searching the bottom I throw my 'Scapin' Shrimp, a realistic pattern that sinks slowly and then swims up off the bottom. If they are super shallow and extremely spooky, I throw my Topwater Seaducer. This fly lands like a whisper and then sinks very slowly and actually suspends. When retrieved it will swim to the surface where I allow it to "sea"-ductively swim along, creating a subtle but distinctive push. I also have the option of popping it on top, causing it to spit along with the pop sound. The first photo is my 'Scapin' Shrimp, then a "Topwater Seaducer", and finally a photo of a client with a golden dorado taken in Bolivia on a Femme Fatale Flyfishinjam, actually that video is me, I just had no idea it was being shown on TV. A videographer here in Pensacola made that along with a short clip about how to tie the Femme Fatale. He said they have not posted the "how to" part yet. Dang, between my "international" TV exposure and the Brad Pitt confusion, it's going to be tough for me to walk the streets and still avoid the paparazzi!! The closest I can get at present to a "how-to", is a recipe posted on a fly tying contest site. If you want to see if that helps here is a link http://flytyingcontest.com/2010/10/07/rlp-a-femme-fatale/ Sorry to go on, but hope this answers most of your questions. Be glad to help more if I can Greg Saunders The Fly Samurai

I designed the Femme Fatale for golden dorado in Bolivia but with use in saltwater in mind. It is a topwater/sub-surface pattern that creates quite a large pop on top but can also deliver some wicked sub-surface action as well. This is a large fly at six inches but not all that difficult to cast. Most tyers think lipped flies spin and are extremely hard to cast. I am obviously not a good caster and still manage to throw this pattern 75-90 feet depending on winds, and as you can see in the video it does not spin. As I said I am not a good caster, but I did throw the fly into the weeds on purpose to show its snag resistant quality. Or you might want to watch the video if for no other reason than to hear my nephew play the guitar piece he composed for me to use here. Please forgive the poor "videographic" work, my apprentice/wife is still honing her camera skills. And for those of you wondering how I got Brad Pitt to do the casting, that is not him, it's me. Don't worry it's a common mistake, happens all the time, I'm used to it by now. Thanks for checking it out. The Fly Samurai

I use one of those cheap balance scales, bought mine at Harbor Freight for something like $8.00. They are surprisingly accurate for weight comparisons. Wouldn't want to trust my life on one but we're not doing rocket science here. I made a quick comparison and it seems like a piece of .035 of about three inches, or 72 mm, will be close.

It is said that the katana, the long sword used by samurai warriors, was the soul of the samurai. Always seemed like the ritual and love fly fishermen have for their fly rods was much the same. Then there is the Zen-like quality of casting, repeated practice resulting in an economy of motion and a certain fluid grace. But mostly it just sounds cool to say.