Here’s an all-synthetic, durable attractor fly for giant redfish, snook and more.
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UNI Products Fly Tiers Corner
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September 2024
Article and photos by Mike Conner
Prior to my first trip to Venice, Louisiana some 15 years ago to fly fish for the region’s giant wintertime red drum, my partner’s chosen guide sent us a photo of the fly he had been fishing lately.
It was big-profile, impressionistic streamer, comprised of a Zonker (rabbit hide) strip and a palmered head of chicken hackle. You could say it was a Zonker Sea-Ducer for lack of a better term. At the time, I was fishing that type of fly for big bridge snook at night, and for years prior had caught lots of tarpon in Florida Bay on a similar thing. So, I was quite familiar with it Zonker patterns.
But I took the opportunity to improvise a bit in the weeks before our December redfish charter week.
I had been increasingly experimenting with more synthetics to produce more durable flies, including Wapsi’s then newly-released palmering chenille which is made of flashy Mylar fibers, and Craft Fur strips, which I cut with sharp, serrated scissors. The idea to do this hit me one day as I was combing out a craft fur patch before snipping off a tuft for a dock-light snook fly.
It was one of those why-didn’t-I-think-of-this-before moments. I fished my two prototypes, of what I’ve coined the Strip Teaser, for big snook at night at two bridges of Stuart’s St. Lucie River with great results. I landed over 10 snook the first time, all in the 26- to 35-inch class, fishing a clear sinking line on a 10-weight rod. The flies were white-and-chartreuse, tied on Gamakatsu SC-15 Wide Gap hook. It is plenty strong for the big reds. I’ve never had one opened up during the fight. I tie in a foul-guard at the bend of the hook to somewhat prevent the strip tail from wrapping around the hook during the cast or in the water.
The finished products.
For my Louisiana marsh fishing, I carry this fly in chartreuse-and-white, which is great in clearer water, but switch to a purple-and-black, all-black or brown-and-orange version where the water is muddy, which is common in the marsh. The darker flies stand out well. This fly can be cast well with either a 9- or 10-weight rod. And these sticks handle reds up to 35 pounds or more. I can claim that I have rarely had a refusal of this fly in Louisiana. You show a big red this one, it eats it. As my guide Capt. Brian Esposito told me early on, “Don’t lead ‘em! Give ‘em a moustache!
