P T Eel
Hook: Mustad 34007 size 2/0.
Thread: Black.
Eyes: Barbell eyes.
Belly: White bucktail over two thin white saddle hackles over two thin
brown saddle hackles, approximately 3-4 times the hook shank.
Wing: 3-4 black saddle hackles over 4-6 strands of krystal flash over 3-4
more black saddle hackles over black/brown bucktail, length
approximately 6-7 times the length of the hook shank .
Head/nose: Black thread.
This fly was designed by fellow HFFA fly fisherman Jeff Purcell. If it were a movie it would be called “Clouser meets Razzle Dazzle”. Jeff’s only been
fishing the salt for about 1 year now. His success with this pattern reminded me again that too many times we “get stuck in a rut”, fail to experiment in our
fishing and tying, and/or fail to understand the fishing conditions we are fishing in. In late winter I was fishing with Jeff and a few other friends on the lower Hous. The water and climate was very very cold. Flies had to be fished deep and very slowly, even dead drifted to catch fish. This fly clearly out produced the clousers and other flies we were using. It also resulted in Jeff’s first “Keeper” fish. I believe the reason this fly was so much more effective than the others was the movement that the long thin saddle hackles produced in the current. The colors were more also more visible to the fish in the river’s discolored winter runoff. The next few times I fished the river in similar conditions, it was this pattern and other long profile flies that produced the best.
I’ve been doing the “Fly of the Month” for many many years now. I love the tying with others, and learning (and re-learning) different tying techniques and patterns. I’ve learned so much from virtually everyone I’ve tied with. Jeff took the salt water tying class I teach for the HFFA. In this case the student taught the teacher.