By Dustin Stanberry
With the warmer temperatures beginning to take its toll on some of the trout streams, it’s time to shift gears and target some warm water species. The Masked Menace has been a very successful fly during the warmer months fishing for large and smallmouth bass and is also a great crappie fly for the early season as well. Since the fly is tied on a saltwater hook, this expands the possibilities of use into the saltwater realm. I used this pattern while fishing some tidal pools on the North Carolina coast to catch flounder. The colors can be changed to match the baitfish in your area.
The use of the tungsten nymph body placed on the bottom of the hook shank allows the fly to maintain the proper orientation in the water. Keeping the buck tail sparse will give the fly a bit of a glass minnow effect. Of course you could substitute in flashabou in place of the lateral scale but, if you haven’t used lateral scale in your baitfish patterns you should give it a go. It adds just a little more shimmer and offers the fly a slight appearance of movement at the end of the retrieve. It is a fairly easy fly to tie and is extremely durable. Best wishes and tight lines! Step by step instructions available at theflybin.blogspot.com.
Hook: Gamakatsu SC-15 Size 2
Thread: UTC 140 Gray Brown
Under Body: Medium Tungsten Nymph Body
Body: Senyo’s Laser Dub in Silver Minnow Belly
Wing: Layered buck tail in gray, white and gray.
Over wing: 4 strands of peacock herl.
Flash: 2 Strands of Lateral Scale on each side.
Head: Fish Skull Fish Mask #5
Eyes: Fish Skull Living Eyes Earth color in size 5.0 mm. Super glue into place.
Dustin Stanberry is an instructor at Biltmore Fly Fishing and Sporting Clays located in Asheville, NC.