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Current Tags for This Pattern
/ angel hair / Chartreuse / Flash / Red / white /

Polar Express

 
tied by luvinbluegills
Fly Type: Streamers,
Imitation: Anchovies, Bunker, Butterfish, General Baitfish, Herring, Mackerel, Mullet, Sand Eels,
Material List:
Hook: size 2 Mustad streamer
Thread: any heavy white thread
Back and Throat: Chartreuse and Red Polafibre Super Length
Body and Tail: White Polar Aire
Lateral line flash: Rainbow Angel Hair
Eyes: Jungle Cock or Dome Eyes

Tying Instructions: Tie a small portion of your White Polar Aire atop the rear of the hook. It doesn’t take much so begin sparsely. Tie it in the middle of the piece giving you a rear portion slightly longer than the forward portion. Fold it back over itself and with a few wraps, tie tightly in place. Repeat this on the bottom, beneath but slightly forward the piece you put on top. IMPORTANT: To give yourself a symmetrical fly, make sure that each stack added ends a little shorter than the one before it once you’ve tied it back. You can always trim it to shape, but this will make that easier and after you get comfortable with this style, eliminate trimming altogether.
After repeating these steps about three times with each successive step tied in just barely overlapping the previous wrap, do it once on each side of the fly. Repeat this pattern (3 on top, 3 on bottom, 1 on each side) all the way to about 4 stacks shy of the hook eye.
Here you’ll do the same thing with your Rainbow Angel Hair to form a lateral line and give the streamer some flash. Do it the same way as the other stacks, but with the tips long enough to reach the end of the fly.
In front of the Rainbow, tie in your back which in this case is Chartreuse Polafibre. Make this reach all the way to the end of the fly.
Snip a small piece of Red PFibre (or substitute) for the throat and tie it in. Add your eyes of either Jungle Cock or stick on dome eyes, finish and cement the head.


Presentation Tips: There is a lot of air in this streamer, so before you begin fishing it, hold it underwater and squeeze the air out of it. Once it holds water, it will sink readily. Also, squeeze the water out when you're done with it, 'cause there will be a lot in it!

Fish this streamer first with a dead drift. This buys a surprising amount of strikes. If this doesn’t pay off, then start giving it short strips with long pauses in between. If this fails, use longer strips with shorter pauses. If that fails, use something else or fish elsewhere!

edit: also don't be afraid to experiment with different materials and whatever colors you want. This is something that someone told me about a long time ago on a saltwater fly site (yes, it's a big ol' salt fly so go big or go home!) and it's more a style than a pattern, although this chart/white is very effective. You can imitate almost any fish that grows to sufficient size, and who knows what great pattern you may come up with? 8-)