Whilst the fly can be tied using materials such as polar fiber or craft fur or un-crinkled nylon materials such as ‘Fishhair’ I think that candies work better when tied with crinkly nylon fiber material such as ‘Superhair’ or ‘Supreme hair’. Also, both these materials take on a translucency when wet and I think this is one of the triggers to the fly’s success.
This is a great fly to rip through the water in front of Tailor, Australian Salmon, Tarpon and any other fish that is a predator of small fish.
The combination of the resin head and the body materials create a fly that is translucent and a very effective imitation of many small thin fish that that are targeted by bigger fish. This fly is much easier to tie than a candy and in my view a better fly overall.
There have been many variations and adaptations. My version is based on the original tailed version and works well in estuaries on bream, whiting and flathead etc. I tie all my crazy Charlie flies much fuller with translucent materials rather than sparse with solid materials. I also tie my crazy Charlie flies longer than the hook shank and trim them down on the water if a shorter fly is needed.
