Hatches Magazine Fly Patterns

1. Marabou for tail
2. 4 mm glass worm rattle (optional)
3. “Designer Ribbon” 3/4′ diameter mesh tubing found in ribbon/gift wrap section of Hobby Lobby ($4.99 for 5 yds)
4. Plastic 3D prism eyes
5. White or pink thread
6. Mustad 92611 1 or 1/0 hook with offset straightened; Eagle Claw 66NA is the same hook (and sizes run the same)

1. tie in worm rattle along top of hook shank if desired, giving a good bed of thread coated with head cement and then wrap rattle as completely as possible with thread and coat with head cement.
2. Wrap thread to bend of hook and tie in marabou or other desired tail material
3. Place mesh tubing over hook and tie in at the bend of the hook. Tie off here and coat windings with head cement
4. Manipulate the mesh to the desired shape (very skinny by stretching to maximum and tying down the mesh with the thread at the eye of the hook) to fat shad shape (obtained by slight compression of mesh, and tying off). Take as many wraps as needed at the eye to secure the shape desired. Trim off the excess mesh, and trim bits of trim from around the eye. finish with a whip finish and add head cement to the windings.
5. Glue 3D prism eyes on with E6000 (superglues don’t adhere well to this material)
4. Color body with permanent markers such as Sharpies or Prismacolor pens.

This material allows you to make bodies from the extremely thin to extremely fat for minnow imitations. The material is extremely porous, and thus the flies described here sink. You can more or less completely obscure the hook gap with the “fat shad” shape to make a weedless fly, because when the fish bites, the mesh readily compresses (and it will spring back to shape after compression). I’ve just started experimenting with this material. thus far it is available on in the clear and the pink mesh.

Hook: Mustad 92611 size 2 to 1/0 with offset straightened
Thread: to match color scheme
Body: Two pieces of the soft side of Velcro
Tail: Marabou
Wing: 4-6 peacock herls
Eyes: 3D adhesive eyes
(Optional: glass worm rattle)

Cut two pieces of the soft side of adhesive-backed Velcro available in white, black tan), and sandwich the hook shank between the two pieces of Velcro (if you are putting in a worm rattle sandwich it between the Velcro above the hook shank). Trim the Velcro to the desired baitfish shape using a sharp scissors. If you use white Velcro, you can decorate the Velcro using Prismacolor or Sharpie permanent markers to match various baitfish as desired. Mount the fly in the vise. At the bend of the hook and the end of the body, tie in a tail of marabou. Tie off and cut the thread and coat the wrappings with head cement. Reattach the thread at the head of the fly, and tie in a wing of 4 to 6 peacock herls. Tie off, cut the thread and coat the wrappings with head cement. Apply the 3D adhesive eyes.