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Designed for Spooky Grunters in shallow water over bare sand…..
…… but you can try it as a searching pattern anywhere for any fish.
Introduction:
While I have been fishing since pre-school (often with some cotton thread and a bent pin), I started flyfishing some 25 years ago. Originally trout and other fresh water species were my target, but I soon migrated to focusing on South African saltwater species. That said, I go nowhere without my fly rod and wherever I can find a puddle of water I will cast a fly into it, just in case. In the process I have logged >100 species on fly, from small little red-fin minnows to larger sharks. I have now landed >150 Spotted Grunter on fly, many of those on Die Spookvlieg.
In the early days I targeted Garrick/”leervis”, Lichia amia, as they were great sports and eagerly took the fly. This all changed one sunny day while I was at the Breede River taking a short-cut over the large sand banks to get to the drop-off to prospect for some Garrick on the pushing tide. To my amazement I saw huge numbers of large spotted silver fish slowly swimming toward me in knee-deep water. I mean hundreds and swimming to within a few rod lengths of me before spooking. I immediately recognized them as Spotted Grunter, Pomadasys commersonnii, but I only had large Garrick flies. Needless to say none of them worked on that day, with most of the fish spooking when the fly dropped loudly near them or when they spotted it. Nevertheless, on that day I immediately fell in love with them and so my quest for sight-fishing for them on the bare sand flats started.
During that time very few people targeted Grunter on the sand flats, but I heard rumours that people, including MC Coetzer and Jannie Visser, had some success with the now famous JAM fly. After a few initial sessions for the Grunter over the sand flats I basically concluded that it is impossible for me to catch them over the sand and I decided to try and catch them elsewhere. I was advised that I should try tying up a few floating articulated deer hair prawn patterns and retrieve it slowly in the deeper water, especially in the vicinity of Grunter activity (visible brown mud clouds and boils/”pancakes”). To my surprise this worked, as long as you put in the hours. I caught good fish in this way – the largest a 78 cm beast that kept me busy for a while and left me shaking when I finally landed it. However, I believe that any size grunter on a fly is a prize catch. As a matter of interest, those articulated flies were many years later rebranded as “Turd flies” and the name just stuck – like the Afrikaans saying “dit sit soos double”k” middle “a” aan n wolkombers”. However, in the back of my mind I could still see those gleaming fish over the bare sand and though one day I may try to catch them again. I just needed to first build up a bit more confidence.
Fast forward to 2019: Work done and dusted we retired to Plettenberg Bay, just across the road from the Keurbooms estuary (near the mouth). From our house I could see bare sand flats, similar to those I saw on that first day at the Breede River mouth. Soon after I put my bags down I grabbed my fly rod and waded out onto the sand flats to see if I could see a Grunter. Not many, but I spotted a few and started experimenting with different flies. I had limited success with all the normal flies. Crab patterns, Clousers and heavily weighted flies basically just spooked most of them. It was time for a rethink: I needed a small fly that would land softly, have eyes for a trigger, would give off some vibrations (like a Wooly Bugger), could be fished on the sand or in mid-water and could be mistaken by the fish for a variety of prey items (e.g. swimming prawns, grass shrimps or baitfish) depending on how it is stripped. And so Die Spookvlieg (“The Ghost Fly”) was conceived to target the spooky Spotted Grunter over bare sand flats in knee-deep water.
While Die Spookvlieg is far from a magical fly, my success rate improved drastically and it is certainly worth having in your fly box. Like any fly you use for Spotted Grunter (or trout), it is not only about the fly, but how you use that fly under different conditions. Here are a few tips that I have learned the hard way by spending many hours on the water:
To date Die Spookvlieg has accounted for many fish and a variety of fish species, including:
In South African Salt Water:
Spotted Grunter, White Steenbras, Garrick, Shad, Southern Mullet, Striped Mullet, Big-eye Kingfish, Eagle Ray, Cape Moonie, Cape Stumpnose, Bar-tailed Flathead, Blacktail, etc
In South African Freshwater:
Largemouth Black-bass, rainbow trout, Smallmouth Yellowfish etc
In International Waters:
Angolan Grunter, Bonefish, Bluefin Kingfish, Cuberra Snapper, Flagfin Mojarra, Bonga Shad, Pompano, Pellonulas (small herring), Lesser Amberjack, Cherry grouper, Yellow tail snapper, young trevally, a little barracuda, Blackchin Tilapia, etc.
The Spookvlieg Range:
Variations of the standard Spookvlieg:
I tie Die Spookvlieg in different sizes and variations. While predominantly tied with white Arctic Fox, I also tie it in tan or grey. Some I tie with flash and others without. Some slightly weighted with a bit of lead wire under the hook shank. I also know that some people use Craft Fur, Zonker fur or CDC instead of hackle.
“Fish Die Spookvlieg with Confidence”
Tying Die Spookvlieg
Materials:
Step1: Place hook in vice and lay a thread base. Tie in eyes so that it just extends past the hook bend.
Step 2.: Wrap three times around the eye stalk and then around the hook shaft. Repeat with other eye stalk. This will force the eyes open and slightly upwards. Manipulate slightly with fingers if necessary and repeat steps until you are satisfied.
Step 3. Options: If you want to weight the fly (I carry un-weighted and weighted in my fly box), tie in 2-4 pieces of 0.02 mm thin lead wire under the hook shank. Or tie in the barred silicone feelers. Or both.
Step 4.: Flip the hook over. Cut off a small bundle of white Arctic Fox fur and remove the longest guard hairs (set aside for later use). Tie in at the bottom of the hook shank so that it sticks out about 1 hook shank length past the bend of the hook.
Step 5: Fold excess forward (to provide a bit of bulk) and cut off just behind the hook eyes. Fold forward and tie down.
Step 6: Flip hook around and tie in two pieces of flat pearl flash (NOT Crystal flash as it is too intense and will normally scare the Grunter), at the point where the bottom fur starts to flare, so that it creates slightly sprayed feelers. This is an optional step. Tie some without flash.
Step 7: Wrap the remaining flash in 4-5 open spirals towards the hook eye and tie off. Cut off excess flash at the hook eye.
Step 8: Take a uniform long white hackle with around 10-15mm barbs and strip off the barbs on the one side. Tie in behind the eyes so that the feather extends past the hook bend.
Step 9. Flip hook over. Cut off another small bundle of white Arctic Fox fur and add the longest guard hairs earlier set aside for later use. Tie in at the top of the hook shank so that it sticks out about 1.5 times the hook shank length past the bend of the hook.
Step 10: Wrap the feather back towards the hook eye in open spirals while stroking the barbs toward the eyes. When you reach the hook eye gently pull the barbs towards the hook bend with your fingers, and starting with soft loops, tie the feather off so that it forms a slight cone shape towards the hook bend (not at 90 degrees like a Wooly Bugger). (Some people use CDC instead of hackle for this step). Add some Sally Hansen’s Hard as Nails, or similar, to the thread wraps if you are not in a hurry to go and fish.
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Step 11: Admire your first Spookvlieg and go and give it a swim.
Variations:
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