TexasKayakFisherman.com

Since I started tying flies, the bendback hook idea has intrigued me, but up to now I had to buy long shank hooks and bend them myself. If my bend was too aggressive it meant losing most of the fish because it doesn't grab the fish well. Too little bend meant catching weeds. Then I discovered Umpqua's bendback hooks. The geometry is perfect, and it allows for weedless flies that have great hooking ability. I started by tying some brighter colored minnows, but when the water cleared up a little the fish would short-strike and not even get the hook ...so I went back and tied some more natural colored versions that look more like a mullet or shrimp in the water. I asked the guys at Roy's fly shop how to get the fly noticed without bright colors, and Matt showed me some stuff called Ice Dub Shimmer Fringe. It is very fine strands of reflective material that moves in the water just like the EP fibers, so it blends in and provides a more natural "pop" to help the fly remain visible to the fish. Yesterday I used one little bendback minnow in shrimp color to catch eleven reds (plus a couple that pulled the hook near the net) and a nice trout. The shorter hair length helped it survive all the fish and after cleaning and brushing at home, it's ready to go again!

The hooks:


Shimmer Fringe:


Out of the package:


And my fly after all those fish:

Those are both fairly new products. Been wondering about the Umpqua hooks and it looks like I will have to give them a go in the near future. I've used lots of Ice Dub in the past on flies but have usually gone with Lazer Dub since it has the same reflective qualities and "bling".
The shimmer fringe looks like the way to go though as it seems to be on a "card" and could easily be trimmed off of the packaging to avoid a bunch of waste.

Great looking fly by the way.

It was a lot more presentable before all the fish banged it up, but thanks.

Nice tie Glenn. The hook looks a bit on the heavier side so it can sink lower for the bottom feeders. Simple fly to tie and you gave us detail on the flash/material.
I like it as it is basic and can catch fish! Well done sir!

Nice!

Prof salt, is there any lead wrap on that hook? And is that synthetic fiber hair or deer tail?


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Deep South, it's just a hook, thread and EP fiber. It lands really softly and sinks at a nice rate to stay in the strike zone. No lead wire needed with this kind of material. Deer hair needs some weight to get it to sink, but this stuff just kind of soaks up water and down it goes.