 FLY
OF THE MONTH
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E-Z Sand Eel
By Barry Ord Clarke
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A deadly pattern for our newest game fish, sea Bass. I have observed sea bass feeding on sand eels in England . These bass were not huge but about 1 kilo, when they had located the shoals of sand eels they would smash into them and then thrash around, stunning or killing a few sand eels each time, they would then cruise around and pick up the victims. I have been told that the sea bass uses the two sharp pointed gill covers to kill the sand eels, these are more prominent on smaller fish than larger ones, you should be careful of these when handling sea bass, they can give you a nasty cut.
Sand eels shoal in very large numbers, but are seldom seen during the day in the shallows as they lie buried in the sand. They come out to feed during the night. But despite their nocturnal habits sand eel patterns can be fished around the clock the whole year.
This pattern is extremely easy to tie, and the materials used can be substituted for almost any other materials that are long enough, both natural and synthetic. You can also try other colour combinations, but keep in mind the general rule of the lightest colour on the stomach and the darkest colour on the back.
Tying
instructions: |
Step 1
Place your shrimp hook in the vice jaws.
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Step 2
Attach the tying thread and run this along the shrimp hook shaft until it is hanging level with the point of the hook. When using Dyneema tying thread you will have to make sure that you catch the end well when attaching it to the hook, otherwise it has a tendency to slip when pulled tight. |
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Step 3
Select a length of Nylon backing line 30lb, the length of this you can decide. I have used 8cm folded.
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Step 4
Tie this in on top of the hook shank, pointing backwards and make sure that you make the whippings close behind the eye and the full length of the hook as shown. Apply a little glue. |
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Step 5
Fold the backing over the hook shank so that it points forwards, and tie down again
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Step 6
Cut a length of mylar tubing and remove the inner core. |
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Step 7
Cut and tie in a small bunch of rabbit hair for the tail.
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Step 8
Keeping the tying thread at the tail of the hook thread the mylar tubing over the backing and the hook shank. |
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Step 9
Fray the end of the mylar and tie this in well at the base of the tail and whip finish.
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Step 10
Move your tying thread to the head of the eel and tie in the mylar just behind the loop eye and whip finish. |
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Step 11
The sand eel should now look like this.
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Step 12
You can now colour your sand eel body with permanent markers. |
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Step 13
Stick on two tape eyes on either side of the head.
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Step 14
Mix a little epoxy and apply to the head of the fly, as shown. Make sure that the epoxy penetrates the materials, so as to give a good solid head.
While the epoxy is still a little flexible, wet a finger well, (you must make sure that your finger is very wet, otherwise it will stick to the epoxy and destroy the fly) and stroke the epoxy backwards only. You have to work quickly to form the correct shape to the head. This may take a little practise but is not difficult.
The finished sand eel.
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