Yeah… not professionally done, but, ya know… here’s a go.
I love this fly. I end up tying it when I don’t know what else to tie. I have this fly in many, many sizes and variations. I usually start with this fly in some form and I’ll fish it all day if it is working at all.
Seems like, maybe, I should have turned the phone over on its side?
Enjoy?
When I fished with Tom Albury in Abaco a couple weeks back I started off with a fly that looked super sweet (and I was kind of proud of) and the fish absolutely hated it. I tend to be a Presentation > Fly Selection kind of guy, but there was clearly something about the fly they stabby, stabby hated.
I opened up my three fly boxes for Tom to select from the hundreds of flies I had brought along. He picked out a fly I tied on a whim and had never fished. It was a gotcha, but it had no craft fur or bunny wing. Instead, it was a wing of just more UV crystal flash. When that fly entered the water it looked like a little firework suspended in time at the moment of explosion. It lit up brilliantly, all sparkles and glitter.
The first cast with that fly and the fish charged it down, eager and determined to get it in its belly.
Kept that fly on the rest of the day and every fish that saw it ate it.
Here’s a version of that fly. Pretty simple. I put a strip of black crystal flash down the back (to mimic the vein on a shirmp) and put some UV cure goo on the back, giving it a keel and a “glass back.”
The UV Ghost Reverse Glassback Gotcha. Say that 3 times fast.
Someone asked for some more views of that Glassback Reverse Gotcha, so I tied one and put some pics together. Here they are (click on this link to the images).
In the vice, not yet finished.
My flies… lining up for battle.
These are my glass back reverse bunny gotchas. I love them so.
I think they are sexy.
I seem to tie this pattern more often than I tie anything else. I just kind of love how they look. Can’t help it.
I’ve been playing around at the vice a bit and maybe there is already a name for this style of fly but since I don’t know it, I’ll just call it a Reversed Gotcha. Basically, this means putting the eyes toward the back of the fly. In truth, I have a hard time staying that focused at the vice. I find myself tying one this way, one that, one a third way. If I sit down to tie a half dozen flies, I end up with six flies that are all unique. Tying is fun though, so I won’t beat myself up for that.
I’ve also been putting a strip of Clear Cure Goo or Rio Knot Sense on the top and bottom of the fly and I really like the way it looks.
Here are some of the recent ties.
Clear Cure Goo under the UV lamp.
The reverse with a little hot bunny tail.
Bigger fly, a #1, I think, with Fox as the wing.
Throw in some rubber legs.
Heavier eyes, in case I get over to the West Side.
A #6 with just the flash for a wing.
I’ll bet these will catch fish, but I understand a great number of flies will catch fish out there. I look forward to throwing some of these flies at those Androsian fish. Catching a fish on a fly you’ve tied is a great feeling… one I hope to experience over and over and over again.
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