Big Eye Spoon Fly
By Jason Akl

  Fly fishing for Redfish in recent years has exploded in popularity becoming one of the most popular game fish from Texas to the Gulf of Mexico, the Florida Everglades and along the eastern coast of the United States. Redfish as a group, inhabit many different aquatic environments in the inshore and offshore waters along the coasts of the U.S. Redfish are voracious predators that will eat just about anything that is able to fit between their powerful jaws.

  The most productive time for anglers to target these game-fish is when they come into the shallows in search of small crustaceans. Daily the Reds can be seen searching the shallow grass flats on the incoming tide, and up along the mangroves and oyster beds on the higher part of the tide. As the tide retreats the Reds will move back into the deeper holes and channels. The versatility of Redfish is almost unmatched as they can also be found making their way up inside marshes and creeks even into fresh water.

  To target these finicky Reds, fly anglers need to understand their distinct feeding behavior. Above all else Redfish love crabs, shrimp and baitfish usually in this order. Serving them up a tasty crab imitation will definitely improve your odds of hooking up with quality fish. The big eye spoon fly is a fairly good imitation of a crab pattern but the wobble retrieve with this fly gets the Reds going wild.

  Cast this fly to tailing Reds, slowly strip and pause the retrieve allowing the fly to fall to the bottom imitation a fleeing crab or injured baitfish. To get the most out of your fly be sure to tie it on with a loop knot. Feel free to try this fly on other salt-water species like Sea-trout, Snook, Striped Bass, Bluefish, and Mackerel who have all shown a weakness for its intriguing wobble and bright finish.

  Materials Used in the Big Eye Spoon Fly

Hook: TMC 811 Size 4.
Thread: Yellow Uni-Thread Size 8/0.
Body: Prismatic Tape/ Stick-On Prismatic Eye.
Tail: Yellow Hackle Fibers/ White Marabou.
Other: 5 Minute Epoxy.

1. Start this fly by placing your hook into the vice securely and attaching the thread behind the hook eye. Select a small bunch of marabou fibers and attach them to the top of the hook shank with the thread. Wrap the marabou down to the shank with thread until you reach the beginning of the bend in the hook shank. Advance the thread to the back of the hook eye and repeat this process with the yellow hackle fibers (stack the hackle fibers before tying them onto the hook shank).

2. Take the prismatic tape and peel off the backing, exposing the glue and fold the tape over itself so that both sides are reflective. Cut out a tear-drop shape from the prismatic tape with your scissors making sure that it is approximately the same size as the hook shank. On the topside of the tear-drop shape you just cut out, stick on one yellow prismatic eye in the bottom portion of the tear-drop. Advance the thread to the back of the hook eye and tie in the teardrop to the top of the hook shank by its tip.

Text & photo: Jason Akl © 2005