McFlyLures

The Rio Bandito fly was originally created by Chris from Living Waters Fly Shop in Round Rock TX.  He designed it to fish for Rio Cichlids that are native to the waters around the hill country here.  It works well for not only Rio's, but sunfish, bass, and other fish as well.  If you want to check out his video on tying it, go to https://vimeo.com/436547115 to see it.  

This is a fairly easy fly to tie, once you learn the techniques.  And while some of the materials can be tough to find, like the opossum fur and the red anodized beads, there are a few places online to find those materials.  And one small swatch of fur can tie at least 15 of these, and leave you with enough dubbing to tie many other flies as well.   In fact, next week I have a video coming out on me tying a pattern with the extra dubbing I got from tying a few of this fly pattern.  

So if you cant find the red anodized beads, thats fine, just use any color you want.  Even Chris says the red beads aren't necessary, but he feels it gives a little hot spot that seems to get the fish to bite more.  But in my experience, they bite just fine with a Gold bead.  

This foam ant fly was requested from one of my customers to tie for him. He was fishing the San Juan River and wanted quite a few of them for the ant season. Size 16 in both brown and Black. So I started tying them up for him, and realized its a pretty simple pattern but looks like it will fish very well. So here I am making a video to show you all how to tie it. Im not sure this is the original way of tying these, but its how I figured out to tie them easily and uniformly.

https://youtu.be/uSPqTvGx6HI

14 hours ago, skeet3t said:

Long leader and long tippet. I do that on trout streams when the water is super clear.

Edit: My parents lived in SA for about a year. Loved it! Hated to move. Two things I liked were the Alamo (obviously) and the River Walk. Great restaurants there.

Yeah, well things have changed a lot for sure.  Its very busy, I never go out to eat really anymore (I have kids and eating out costs too much money for my budget).  So other than a few "ok" creeks and streams, there isn't much to do.  And it seems like the people have gotten worse.  Lots of very rude drivers, lots of wanna be gang bangers all around.  Stuff gets stolen all the time.  Its turned into a pretty dangerous place to live actually.  My wife grew up here, we lived here about 8-9 years ago for a while, then moved away.  Since that time, now that we are back to SA, its changed for sure.  Ok enough of my ranting.  

Yeah, I will try that next time,  I mean my leader was 7.5' and a tippet section of about 3 feet off the end.  But, I think mostly they were seeing me.  That might have been the biggest issue.  

On 11/15/2021 at 1:47 PM, skeet3t said:

Hmmm. Where in TX are you fishing?

 

San Antonio area.  All the places I fish are very clear water creeks.  I probably need to find a muddy lake so they don’t see me as easily.  Lol

15 hours ago, skeet3t said:

Need to clarify that the rod is a D wt., equal to a modern 7 wt. with 8 wt line from an old fly rod that got crushed somehow. Reel is an Okuma which has lots of backing JIC.

I tried the technique of watching for a "mudding" or feeding carp. Cruising carp are not feeding. Anyway, I cast in front and beyond the carp. Timed the slow retrieve to be within a foot of him to get his (or her) attention. I hold the rod at about 45 degrees and use the lift-and-strip method for hooking the fish.

Remember: Nothing is as big as a fish almost caught.

Yeah I do all that, they don’t bite here.  Lol.  

On 11/11/2021 at 7:18 PM, skeet3t said:

Adding: that is my grandson on the net. Got the carp up to the net, bolted into some weeds and got off. Grandson is getting into fly tying and tied some fantastic mop flies.

McFlyLures, that is a good video. I should have the materials for us to tie a few for spring. Thanks for sharing.

Oh man, sorry you lost the fish.  That’s awesome your grandson is getting into fly tying.  I always like to see the younger generations getting into this sport and the hobbie of fly tying.  Fishing kept me out of a lot of trouble in highschool.  It’s good for kids now a days to get off their video games and out in nature to fish.  Way to go grandpa, good on you teaching him.  
 

by the way this isn’t my pattern, but I’ve heard great things about it.  I’m actually heading out to fish some carp this morning (it’s 5:30am where I’m at now) and gonna give the fly a try.  First time I’ve fished with this exact pattern, and the exact fly I tied on camera is on my fly rod.  Haha!  I’ve got a few different colors of it tied up and we will see which works.   I tied this up for a customer who bought flies for me, he requested this pattern in the olive.  I thought it was pretty good so I tied some up for myself as well and for the camera.  Since I moved to Texas I’ve had trouble hooking carp, not sure why.  But hopefully this pattern works and I get a few.  I’m bringing an 8wt this time.  Haha!  

On 11/11/2021 at 4:56 PM, skeet3t said:

Nice!!!! Definitely a carp catcher. Crawfish orange/brown would be good. Caught my first and only, so far, carp on one that was all white. Didn't fish much in my spot this past summer as it was too hot for me. A six pound carp on a 5 wt. is a challenge. Stand by.

 

Oh man how fun!  Yeah those carp are beasts!  I hooked into a 31” once on a 5wt and it took me around the whole lake, it was a 21 minute fight.  Lol!  

On 11/11/2021 at 3:49 PM, niveker said:

Nice video, as always.  I tie something similar, on a curved hook, works well for panfish, I have never tried to target carp.  They are indeed quick and simple.  

Yeah that looks like a good panfish fly for sure.  Get a beefier hook and it will work for carp I’m sure.  

1 minute ago, WWKimba said:

With the WW in my handle referring to warm water I will DEFINETLY need to try this pattern!  Nice vid!

Kim

Hey yeah man, let me know how it does for you.  I am looking for a good carp fly, as everything Ive tried out here in Texas hasn't seemed to work.  Someone asked me to tie this for them and I really liked it.  I plan on going out soon to fish this for carp to see if I can get some good bites.  Wish me luck!  LOL

I had a customer ask me to tie a few of these carp bugs for him. They are fairly easy to tie, and seem like they would be effective. I personally have not tried fishing one of these, but I will try using them on my next trip out for carp and other warm water species like sunfish and bass. I suspect it will work great for all of these fish species. It looks like its intended to mimic a dragonfly nymph, which is a very common food source for many species of freshwater fish. Like I said its fairly easy to tie, and you can fill a box in a couple hours with different colors and sizes of these flies. So give it a try!

9 hours ago, Chris_in_Louisiana said:

Very cool little shrimp!  I'll have to give it a try locally, but, as others have suggested, I think I'll also need to tie a few up as crayfish patterns for freshwater.  I think this pattern could be a great "micro-craw" for the local carp.

 

Chris

Thank you Chris, yeah for sure a small crayfish pattern no question.   Let me know how your crayfish version comes out.  

On 11/4/2021 at 2:14 PM, fshng2 said:

Another great fly, especially like how it sinks with head vertical. 
 Would work well for bass in crawdad colors.

Thank you, yes for sure crawdad version will be coming soon.  

On 11/4/2021 at 11:59 AM, WWKimba said:

I can see a couple pheasant feathers on each side for claws for a nice fresh water pattern!

Kim

Great idea.  

On 11/4/2021 at 9:46 AM, skeet3t said:

One of the bests tying videos I have seen. You take your time to show each step plus telling why it is done. Some will edit the goofs but including them shows two things: everyone makes  mistakes and how to recover from the goof. The pattern has lots of potential for various species. Tie in various sizes and colors to give a wide range of fishing opportunities.  My first thought was a smaller size for carp. Large trout and stream fishing for smallmouth bass would be in the list, too.

Thanks for sharing the video.👍

Thanks Skeet, yeah I see it doing well as a crayfish pattern for carp and smallmouth in rivers as well.   I plan on doing a few tweaks to make it more "crayfish" looking soon. 

After I found some flats on my last redfish trip, I decided to design a fly for that area. I wanted something light, and easy to cast. Something that wouldn't slap the water too hard and spook the redfish, and I wanted something that would fish hook point up so I didnt get snagged on the bottom. So I put together a couple versions of this fly and stuck it in my bag for my next trip. Then I went down to the gulf to fish redfish again, went back to the flats area, and wham! This fly worked! Redfish loved this little foam shrimp. It sits perfectly on the bottom with its feelers sticking up, and it sinks super slow, but still rides hook point up. Not to mention it also looks great as well!
 

Fly fishing in saltwater can be feast or famine. Its very difficult (at least for me) to consistently find fish. Seems like one day you can catch your fill of redfish, and the very next day cant catch anything other than a needlefish and a small rat red. I think though if we would have braved walking through the mosquitoes again, we would have caught the reds this day as well. But that was torture so we decided to explore. It was still fun, and great to try new spots.
 

I was able to make another trip down to Corpus to fish for some redfish and finally hooked into a few.  This trip I was able to land 4 redfish and hooked 5. This really was the best trip ive ever had catching redfish in the gulf since Ive started my channel.  This was site fishing for tailing reds in ankle deep water.  And best of all, the new fly I created just for them worked great!   It really was amazing to see my own fly creation working so well.  

So redfish pull very hard.  In fact one almost ripped the rod out of my hand when I set the hook.  Another ran fast towards me and I tripped trying to run backwards to keep tension on the line.  But even with my blunders, I was still able to bring 3 reds in, and one was over 20" which was legal to keep.  Now, I don't always keep fish, but I do occasionally keep fish from the saltwater.   Especially redfish and speckled trout.  They taste great and I know the fish weren't farmed.  We only kept one fish, and max would have kept 2, one for my buddy and one for me.  My family ate that fish the night I got back home, and therefor nothing went to waste.  I am not about filling a freezer, thats what the grocery store is for, but there is something about catching and eating fish that somehow makes it taste even better!   Its fresh, and I can filet it to where there is no meat left.  Therefor less waste than store bought.  

The mosquitoes were terrible though this trip, and even with all the bug repellent sprayed on us, we got swarmed.  I had over 50 bites on my body after the first days fishing.  The other thing to worry about down here, especially wade fishing is stingray.  And sharks as well.  Bull sharks are notorious for attacking humans, and stingrays will get you with their barb if you step on them.  So you have to do what is called the stingray shuffle, and also have to keep looking out for sharks, even in shallow water.  Big bull sharks have been known to come through the canals and even flats sometimes.  There are also alligators that make their way down here from the rivers that dump into the ocean.  So if you ever make it down to the gulf to fish for redfish like me and Johnny, then make sure you stay safe and be careful.  Last thing you want is for a trip to be ruined by a stingray barb or getting West Nile virus from too many mosquito bites.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90qKr46GjEE

21 hours ago, flytire said:

clouser with legs circa 2004

Clouser Minnow | Outside Bozeman

Great thank you!  Hadn’t seen it before.  I figured someone had done it though.  It’s not like it’s a complicated idea.  Lol!  

On 10/7/2021 at 11:38 AM, chugbug27 said:

I was talking next in your business more generally... Making your own name brand fly rods? 

Oh no they aren’t my fly rods.  I advertise for a company that I have confidence in their products.  I don’t make any money if someone buys the rods or not.  

53 minutes ago, chugbug27 said:

Don't know my a## from a shrimp pattern, but I'm always happy to see that you've turned this into a working business. Sticktoitive. What's next on your horizon?

Thanks.   So technically it can be a shrimp pattern in a way, but also can work as a regular clouser.  As for next, Im not sure what the next fly will be.  I have a trip down to the Gulf this weekend so hopefully I hook into a redfish this time.  As for future patterns, much has to do with what is ordered from me or what I am tying for myself.  I don't have a list or anything of flies I plan on tying.  Do you have any suggestions?  

Clouser Minnows are some of the most well known and fished streamers ever produced.  Originally created by Bob Clouser, it has become a great streamer that works for just about any fish species that chases baitfish.  Now I don't know 100% if flies like the crazy Charlie, or Gatcha have been tied based off the clouser platform, but their similarity is striking.  Many bonefish flies use this same concept, and so I guess in my head I think they must have been designed off of the clouser idea.  Many of those flies are tied to mimic more of a shrimp profile and use things like silicone or rubber legs to act like shrimp legs or feelers.  So I naturally decided to add some rubber legs onto a craft fur version of a clouser to mimic shrimp.  Now I am sure I am not the first person to do this, however I have yet to see a simple clouser with legs.  But I am not claiming to be the originator of this particular variation of the clouser.  If any of you know who originally tied a clouser with legs like this, please let me know.  

Like the original clouser, these are fairly easy and quick to tie.  You are only adding one step and thats to add the legs.  However I think it does add a noticeable improvement especially when trying to mimic shrimp while fishing for species like redfish and bonefish.   I did have decent luck on this pattern in some varied colors last time I went down to the Gulf to fish for redfish.  Unfortunately I did not hook a red on this pattern, but did catch quite a few other species with it.   

Materials
______________
Hook:  Gamakatsu SL11-3H (size 6)
Thread:  Veevus 6/0 (white)
Weight:  Beadchain Eyes (black, small)
Body: Extra Select Craft Fur (white/shrimp pink)
Flash:  Midge Krystal Flash (pearl)
Legs:  Micro Sili Legs (clear tipped hot orange)
Glue:  Loctite Brush On
Head Cement:  Solarez Ultra Thin UV Resin

Tools
________
Vise: Renzetti Traveler
Bobbin: Stonfo Bobtec
Trimming Scissors: Risen 4" Razor Scissors
Fine Tip Scissors: Risen Spring Assist Scissors
Whip finisher: Dr. Slick brass
Fly Tying Bench: Oasis Walnut Compact Bench
UV Light:  Ultrafire UV Super Power

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbXUH9nSxTQ

1 hour ago, niveker said:

Nice looking flies, as always.  Wish I had the patience to tie them.  

Thank you.  Yeah they take a while.  I’ve now tied well over 100 of them.  It gets easier as you keep doing them.  Kinda have a system now.  Haha!  But no doubt they are long to tie.