Yak Minnow

CWFlies

Really happy i found out about yak hair. These yak minnows have been killing on the beach for both snook and tarpon and even managed a redfish on them. Its a stiff hair which helps keep the fly from fouling but once we it becomes softer and has great movement to it in the water. Sheds water so it stays light and easy to cast. Definitely going to be incorporating it into more patterns. Only thing you need to look out for is getting natural yak hair vs synthetic yak. The synthetic yak doesn't get soft like the natural so it has less movement. https://youtu.be/97dOrfGuWFw 

lemaymiami

Good lucking bug... I guess I'm an old timer since I'm still working with mostly natural materials.

CWFlies

lemaymiami said:

Good lucking bug... I guess I'm an old timer since I'm still working with mostly natural materials.

Lemaymiami this fly is almost 100% natural materials. Yak hair comes in two forms natural and synthetic. Don't buy the synthetic its not as soft and doesn't move near as good as the natural. I pretty much started tying this because clients complained about being offered EP peanut butters when asked what to throw for tarpon. Only synthetics on this fly is the wing n flash I will blend into the yak and the eyes.

tarponhunter

Do you throw that color combo in the day off the beach or just at night/lowlight?

CWFlies

I'll throw the black/purple all times of the day at tarpon but it seems to only work on the snook while dark or lowlight. Not sure they care about color through cuz i did throw a white/aqua one morning and got bite just fine on it too in the dark and once the sun got up. 

Usually the tarpon move off the beach once the sun comes up so i normally switch over to a lighter color then and target more snook at that point unless the tarpon have some bait balled up to keep them close. The worst mornings are when the are going nuts 100yrds off the beach and i'm stuck on the sand wishing i could throw that far.