When this fly was fist developed in the mid 90’s it was intended as an estuary fly for bream and flathead on the South Coast of NSW.

With outstanding results in that estuary role it’s use has extended to temperate and tropical fresh and salt water applications where it has taken flathead, bream, whiting, trevally, mullet, tailor, flounder, coral trout, mangrove jack, grunter, saratoga and bass etc.

Native fresh water Bass are a favourite of mine and if I could only carry one type of sinking fly to target then with the Black Estuary/Bass fly would be it.

This fly fishes well on an floating line in water up to 1 meter deep and in deeper water on an intermediate line through to full sinking lines with the choice of line depending on the depth and run of the water.

For most species the best strategy is to cast into structure or over drop offs and then count the fly down to the desired depth and then retrieving the fly with repeated short strips followed by short stops. This process can be applied throughout the water column or along the bottom in much the same way giving the sort of retrieve you may use if you were fishing a soft plastic. A good alternative retrieve is a steady roll so that the rubber tail is active throughout the retrieve.

Whether fishing this fly on a floating line or sinking line keep in contact with the fly as takes can be at any time from when the fly is settling through the water column right through to the lift and they can range from subtle inquiries to dramatic whacks.
 

Unfortunately, in the process of Tiewell being sold and reinvented the larger rubber tails for size #2/0 estuary fly never came back on the market. I have searched for and tried alternatives with the same or similar properties and unfortunately there are limited options. What I have come up with is using the rear end of the 2.5″ Z Man Grub Z which if gut down is a fantastic alternative. I have stuck with all the other materials from my #2/0 and I am pretty pleased with what I have come up with.

 

Some proven colour examples are:

Fishing drop off’s – chartreuse to gold bodies with complementary beard and a pumpkin coloured tail.
As an all rounder in clearer water – tie it with cherry crystal chenille, pumpkin tail and black beard.

For Bass – dress it in black crystal chenille, pumpkin tail and with a purple and black beard.

The hook type and size and the dumbbell eyes/weight are important because I have found that thicker hooks such as the 34007 Mustard are too thick and heavy and wont turn over unless you use a much heavier eyes and then the fly is hard to cast and the action of the tail may be impaired.

Materials trout version of estuary fly

 

Hook	Thread	Eyes	Tail	Body	Beard / legs
Size 2 Gamakatsu SS15/T.	Olive	5/32” or 3/16″ real or dumbbell eyes	Pumpkin / black flake coloured small size rubber fly tails.	Chartreuse crystal chenille.	Sparkle flash – light olive pearl and or chartreuse

Process

 

	Starting at the 95% position wind the thread in touching turns to the bend of the hook and back 2/3 of the way toward the eye of the hook. [member Link=”p=10018″ Title=”Understanding hooks”] Tie in a set of eyes on top of the hook shank at the 2/3 position using figure 8 wraps. I think “Real Eyes” are better than Dumb Bell eyes because the sockets are convex and easy to paint. [member Link=”p=573″ Title=”Tying in dumbbell eyes”] Positioning of the eyes at the 2/3 position described above is important because you need to leave enough room in front of the eyes to tie in the bib dressings and to form a nice shaped head. Position the tail along the side of the fly and tie it in tightly just behind the eye of the hook.

 

B	Tie the tail in all the way to the bend of the hook shank and then back to just behind the eye of the hook. The curve of the tail should fall below the hook and the wraps of thread down at the bend of the hook should be softer toward the tail than they are close to the eyes. This helps eliminate break off of the tail. Strip the fibres off a length of crystal chenille and tie it in by its chord just behind the eye of the hook. Tie the crystal chenille all the way to the bend of the hook. The wraps of thread down at the bend of the hook should be softer toward the tail than they are close to the eyes. This helps eliminate break off of the tail.

 

C	Wind the crystal chenille forward using tight touching turns of the chenille all the way to the eye of the hook. Take the Crystal Chenille over the top of the eyes and tie off on top of the hook shank in front of the eyes.

 

D	Trim the excess crystal chenille off in front of the eyes. Turn the hook over in the vice. Take around 8 or 10 strands of sparkle flash that are around twice as long as you want the beard/legs to be and tie them in directly in front of the eyes. [member Link=”p=3895″ Title=”Managing synthetic fibres”]

 

E	Double the sparkle flash over on itself at the tie in position and take a couple of folds of thread over the tie in position to secure them in place. The beard/legs should extend beyond the bend of the hook anything from just a little to around the length of the hook shank. In any case the beard/legs should partially obscure the bend of the hook. Build up a nice head with thread whip finish and varnish the head.