Tarpon time... 22 September

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

Just posted a new fishing report and as usual most of it isn't about fly fishing... Here's the small portion that was...

 

Yesterday I had visiting angler Andy Neary and his buddy Mike aboard for a tarpon fishing day. Andy scored first with a very nice 80lb fish on a 10wt rod... Here's a pic or two...

 

The fly that day was a small Silhouette in size 2/0 instead of our usual "big black fly" since there were great quantities of small bait showing and the tarpon were ranging in size from 20lbs on up.... Here's a pic of that pattern (on an Owner Aki hook).

 

Given the smaller fly I went with a lighter than usual bite tippet from 80lb down to 60lb fluoro....

 

Here's the full report for anyone interested.... http://www.microskiff.com/threads/flamingo-report-tarpon-time-22-september.35021/

[FlaFly 0]

Those are beautiful flies Bob. I'd think a tarpon would tear them up though.

[utyer 0]

I have been tying a similar pattern for Red fish. I leave off the heavy lead eyes, and wind the buts of the feathers used for the tails for the body. Sort of a fluffy Seaducer. Now I know what is should be called.

[Bugsy 0]

You gotta love it when a small fly is a #2/0

 

That's a handsome fish posing with a pleased angler. Looks every bit of 80# to me. But I've never caught anything remotely close to that.

 

That silhouette pattern is a good looking fly, Capt Bob. What hackle did you choose to tail and palmer it? And are you using lead dumbbell eyes or something a bit lighter?

 

Going back two or three decades, I found the idea of casting to tarpon, even smaller guys in canals, fascinating. Just looked like such a worthy quarry. Somewhere along the way, snook looked equally interesting. Have no idea how they compare, as I've never made it.

 

Turns out a relative has his retirement home in a community in Naples. He hasn't retired yet, so he's not even in FL but for occasional visits. He said I'm welcome to come and use the place, just say the word. While it did spark that fire momentarily, I'm on the west coast with no such trip in a fathomable timeframe. Who knows? Maybe one day.

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

Cool.... I've been tying the Silhouette since the early eighties - and it's a premier baitfish pattern (particularly when there's lots of pilchards, small threadfin herring, or menhaden around (which is the situation here for the next two to three months). Many call it a weighted Seaducer but it's not tied with a splayed tail at all -instead the tail is tied Deceiver style... I always do it with lead eyes and a wire weedguard (weedguards are a pretty good idea when you're fishing in a mangrove jungle...).

 

Here's the recipe:

All of the feathers for the tail and body are strung saddle hackles listed as four to six inches long - and in this case bleached white.

Hook: Owner Aki (or the Tiemco 600sp) in 2/0 - occasionally I'll do them in 1/0 for a smaller bug...

Tail: six saddle hackles tied in as a unit, three on a side with the curve facing inward

Flash: Flashabou accent (the Fat Pack) in pearl - on occasion I'll substitute Crystal Flash or just Flashabou still in pearl...

Eyes: Wapsi presentation eyes in ex. small (for larger versions increase the size of the eyes as well as the hook size

Weedguard: #5 trolling wire in coffee color (see pic)

Thread: Danville's Flat Waxed nylon in color of choice (mostly either fl. red or fl. green

 

Chuck up the hook then tie in eyes (note eyes are painted and baked before being used -production style) one eye width to the rear of the hook eye, then locked into place with four or five turns of thread under the eyes the way tailors do with buttons.

 

Move the thread to the rear of the shank and tie in tail as a unit on top of the hook with the feathers carefully mated in uniform size and length then tie in flash on each side of the tail. At this point wind the thread back to the eyes and tie in weedguard in front of the eyes under the hook shank (note the photo, the doubled end of the wire is what you're tying in place), leaving the end of the wire sticking straight out like an extension of the hook. Return the thread to the tail to prepare for the body... Next take three wide, webby saddles as a unit (all with curve facing the same way) and leaving as much "fluff" on the ends as possible tie in by the butts (you'll note that the shafts of the feathers only flex at a certain point which limits how much of the fluff you can employ...). Carefully palmer forward using a dubbing needle to occasionally free any trapped fibers all the way over the lead eyes to the hook eye then tie off and whip finish. At this point the tying is complete - slightly bend the wire away from the hook eye and lightly touch the whipped head with super glue (I prefer Krazy Glue - see pic). Once the glue dries (just minutes), bend down the wire into position and trim it with a pair of nippers right where the barb is - then a final bend at end of the wire completes the weedguard... Using this style of weedguard takes some practice (and you'll need the occasional band-aid until you get the hang of it).

 

Now for a pic or two...

[Mudskimmer 0]

Capt, so are the only differences between the silhouette and the tarpon snake the eyes (bead chain) and the orientation of the tail (splayed)? Thanks.

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

Howdy Mud...

Actually the Silhouette came about six or seven years before the Tarpon Snake - and each is tied identically with the tail Deceiver style (not splayed the way a Seaducer is....). The original idea was to mimic as closely as possible the actual silhouette of a particular baitfish - when seen from the side (that's why the actual saddles used need to be wide and webby (high end hackles need not apply...). When Randy Towe (one of the few tournament winning tarpon fly guides in the mid-eighties down in Islamorada back then... he had the old World Class Outfitters shop at the time) asked me to come up with a "big, black fly" that would push a lot of water and be a go to fly when tarpon turned up their noses at everything else - the Silhouette was the first thing I thought of. Instead of lead eyes we went with the largest beadchain eyes ( ask for 'plumber's chain' at an old time hardware store or just use the size chain common on vertical blinds) and made the tail much more noticeable by going to eight saddles (four on a side) instead of the usual six saddles... He specifically asked that I not tie the Snake for any other shops or any guide and I respected his wishes.. That pattern was a real secret weapon long before I ever came back to guiding in 1996. I actually had to learn how to use it on my own.... (those Keys guides aren't exactly talkative about things that really work....).

 

Back to the Silhouette - I just tie it to 'match the hatch' as far as the size bait the fish are working. It can be as small as a #2, barely 2" long or on a 4/0 or 5/0 hook in the 6 to 8" range when needed. As the size goes up or down so does the size of the eyes being used... It's pretty much a universal pattern and has caught fish inshore, offshore, provided their looking for small baitfish... The pattern is well known enough that I used to get orders for 100 at a time from a few different folks down here in paradise....

[Bugsy 0]

Capt Bob, thanks for taking the time to explain tying the Silhouette.

[Mudskimmer 0]

I'll second the last post. I've learned a lot from your tips and really enjoy your reports Capt. I am still working on schemes to get me down that way sooner rather than later.