This is a great pattern, but its heavy; takes a big rod to cast it. However, it is one of the best early spring bass flies for east texas waters.
I’ve made some personal changes to the fly; to make it a bit lighter, improve the hookset, and to make it a bit more attractive to the bass.
I use plastic eyes made from the plastic beads from women’s necklaces, the kind they hand out at mardi Gras. Also, I’m using a mustad 37141 kahl hook, which has a short shank, long hook bend for a better hook set. I am using 50# mono as a single weedguard. Rather than starting the spun velvet chenille at the front of the hook, I start it at the back creating less weight. I also tie in a short piece of red chenile for the butt of the fly, usually in red or orange, which I think is a fish attractant color in the spring. Finally, I use a permanent marker and put a green, blue, or black stripe down the top of the chenille, which better depicts a shad. Try the Shannon streamer. Instructions on how to tie it can be found on the fly fish ohio website.Rich McElligott invented this fly but Joe Cornwall of fly fish ohio made it famous.
