Your favorite snook fly

BooBoo

What is your favorite snook fly to throw while walking the beach?  

sunflower

Some sort of Schminnow.
These aren't mine, they are off the internet.

limitless

The 2 above are great.  The top one looks like a "Lightbulb"  it can be tied with light gathering materials that make it actually glow, so at night around the docks it's hard to beat.  Check it out on Youtube.

troutbom

Pearl grey/white clouser,small white dumb bell eyes #4 got these

BooBoo

Really great pics and feedback. Thanks guys.  I just tied up my first fly!  I think I will enjoy tying and my wife has been telling me I need an indoor hobby. I think some schminnows will be up next.... once I have a good handle on the pinfish. The few snook I’ve caught with a flyrod were on white Clousers. I’ve decided to up my Flyfishing game. Got a new stick, reel and all and I can’t wait to feel a tug on it. Will be going for some big Colorado carp to hold me over until I get back to Vero this fall. BTW...Tying advice quite welcome....I did clean up the nose of this one a little  

lemaymiami

Here’s a tip for that style of Puglisi minnow... Very carefully thin them until you can see through it to your hand.   Most will have a bit more materials on that style of fly than needed.. 

BooBoo

lemaymiami said:

Here’s a tip for that style of Puglisi minnow... Very carefully thin them until you can see through it to your hand.   Most will have a bit more materials on that style of fly than needed.. 

So Lemaymiami, that one looks to shaggy? Good to know before I made a bunch. I’ll put another one together with it being a bit less “fluffy”... ha! I’ll post a pic for critique. I really appreciate your feedback. 

sunflower

As Captain LeMay suggested, most flies made with artificial materials are tied with too much.
If you look at them in the water, the fibers tend to spread out and give a greatly expanded silhouette.
They also sink more poorly due to the bulk, though they might "push" more water.
Enrico Pulisi used to have a video posted tying his Peanut Butter fly. (basically, yours)
He would say "Take about half as much material as you think you need ... then take about half that."

BooBoo

Great info!  This is exactly the type of feedback I was looking for. I’ll tie one up today in the “less Is more” style and post. Thanks guys!

BooBoo

Ok... here is one using far less materials. I can easily see through it if I hold it up to the window. I put a little flash in it also. Am I getting closer?

CWFlies

These are my two go to flies on the beach. If just fishing snook the surf candy is hard to beat and matches the hatch of the anchovy run perfectly. If tarpon are around with the snook or the snook are feeding on pilchards or some type of bigger bait i go with the yak minnow. Both worked very well last summer and hoping to start getting some time on the beach starting in June.

troutbom

When they're blowing up on bay anchovies  CW's glass minnow is just right. I throw a similar surf candy at those times.Match size to bait. When no visible bait schools, the pearl grey/ white clouser does a good job of imitating juvenile whiting that are always present on west coast beaches because both the whiting and the clouser hug the bottom. Long casts parallel  to the beach and stand back from the water unless you can see fish further out. When they are on pilchards CW's baitfish pattern in lower pix is the one to throw. BTW, the one you tied looks good and will absolutely work

BooBoo

I’m learning a bunch guys. Thanks. 

lemaymiami

Really like that second fly BooBoo...
I was a commercial tyer working for shops, guides, and folks who knew what they wanted for almost 30 years.  I had to quit it a few years back - but I’m still guiding full time at age 72...
I’m out of state right now so I can’t access my desktop with all my photos.  I do have a place on Instagram though... If you go there, look up lemaymiami and and the first photo you see (in five colors) is one of my patterns that’s taken many, many snook over the years.  I first came up with it 40 years ago... it’s called the Silhouette...

BooBoo

Why thank you sir!  I’ll look up the pics. Trust when I say, I appreciate you and the other folks here sharing your knowledge with me. 

Ol'DirtyCaster

  Booboo, the synthetic profile is probably the easiest fly to tie, but one of the more challenging to tie correctly. It has to track straight. Honestly, for profiles bigger than 2", or any broad body profile, EP just isn't the best choice. Farrar blend, or slinky fiber are more durable, less likely to foul, and hold their shape better. I do use EP for mullet style profiles, but usually just the head. I generally use hackle or craft fur for the tails, and use heavier hooks to compensate for the denser material. For versatility, durability, and "castability" (I know, not a real word, but it should be), the synthetic baitfish gets my vote. And for the record, people were tying synthetic baitfish from brushed out macrame cord years before Enrico began his little venture. I refuse to call them EP minnows.

sunflower

in case anyone cares, that "rasmante" is a 'bot.
It clips parts of posts and things and then reposts them.

Clamfoot

"people were tying synthetic baitfish from brushed out macrame cord years before Enrico began his little venture."

Some of us still are brushing out macrame. For 6 bucks and some dog grooming brushes you can have a lifetime worth of fibers. I love the fly shops but.......

For baitfish flies like this I've also used hair extensions hair with pretty good results. I have friends in the beauty industry. 

You can buy it in most any color today dirt cheap (thanks ladies). It's durable as all heck, hard on scissors and thread but much stiffer than EP. It never fouls

This little guy has taken a fair beating. Its tied far to dense but still casted great. I tie them much more sparse now

BooBoo

Good info Clamfoot! Thanks!