Free Saltwater Fly Tying Patterns

Saltwater Fly Tying Patterns

Here are a few saltwater fly tying patterns to inspire you fly tying fanatics out there, feel free to revisit as new fly patterns will be updated reguarly. Good Luck, Tight Lines and Enjoy.

If you would like to see any of your own patterns on these pages simply Email CudaFly with a paragraph desrcibing and how to fish, tying instructions with material list and a photograph. Please title the email 'fly tying pattern submission' due to the amount of junk email we receive.
For every pattern listed we will send you a fly tying 'goodie bag' worth £10

Saltwater Fly Tying Patterns - Olve Surf Candy

Fly Tying History
Surf candies have been available since epoxy has been used in fly tying. This particular pattern is on of the easiest to tie and therefore one of the best to start tying. All candies represent various baitfish, this one the common sand eel. Sand eels are found all around the UK coast from March until October and all year in the south west. These high protien packed morsels are actively sought by all fish species especially the European Bass. Fish this fly on all densities of fly lines with a Varied retrieve.

Fly Tying Method

Hook - Stainless steel size #6 to #2/0
Thread - White
Underbody - Silver Holographic Tinsel
1st Wing - White Crinkle Hair
2nd Wing - Olive Crinkle Hair
Flash - Pearl Crinkle Flash (Krystalflash)
Eyes - Flat Holographic
Head - Epoxy

Fly Tying Proceedure

Bed the hook with thread and tie in silver holographic tinsel at the rear of the hook. Return the thread to the eye and wrap the shank of the hook with the holographic tinsel and tie in. Trim the excess and tie in a length of white Crinkle hair just before the eye. Trim excess and tie in a few strands on pearl crinkle flash and overlay the final wing of olive crinkle hair. Tie all excess materials form a neat head and whip finish. Apply a coat of epoxy and wait to dry. Once dry apply the eyes and draw gills on either side of the fly with permanent red marker. Apply a second coat of epoxy rotating the vice until dry so as to get an even coat around the fly. Once dry apply a coat of Sally Hanson's hard as nails if preferred for a smoother finish.

Saltwater Fly Tying Patterns - Pearl Crazy Charlie

Fly Fishing History
As with many of the worlds most successful patterns there are a huge number of variations on the original pattern. The Crazy Charlie is one of those patterns. Crazy Charlie’s can represent anything from shrimp to small baitfish of which the pearl variation represents these very well. Although this pattern was designed for warmer climates it works well in UK waters. Fishing this fly from rock marks produces mackerel, Pollack and garfish and when those elusive bass are on small fry there are few better patterns.From a tying design perspective the Crazy Charlie offers some noteworthy points. The first in the heavy dumb bell eyes ties in at the top of the hook shank. This ensures that the fly will fish ‘up side down’ giving the advantage of the hook point has less chance of getting fouled by water debris. The dumb bells also give the fly a ‘jigging’ action in the water which predatory fish find attractive. Lastly when the fly is fished over sand the dumb bells create small puffs of sand similar to both sand eel and shrimp. I have used this method to great effect on trout flies such as cat’s whisker which can produce when other methods have failed. The second noteworthy point is the heavy mono rib in touching turns. This gives not only a protection for the delicate tinsel body but also a segmented effect. This method is an excellent alternative to epoxy.As said earlier I have had great success with the fly in the UK but also overseas catching species form Spanish mackerel to bonefish.

Fly Tying method

Hook - #4 - #8 stainless steel
Thread - White
Eyes - Brass or lead dumb bell
Body - Pearl Crystal
Over body - 25lb mono

Fly Tying Procedure
Bed the hook with tying thread; tie in a tail of pearl crystal flash. Return the thread to just before the eye of the hook. Tie in some more pearl crystal and a length of 25lb mono. Bed the materials down to the bend of the hook and then return the thread back up the hook to the eye position. Wrap the shank of the hook with pearl tinsel in touching tie off and trim. Do the same with the 25lb mono. Here you will need to tie in the mono plenty of times otherwise the mono will unwrap. Tie in the dumb bell eyes on the top of the hook shank with figure of eight wraps ensuring that the eyes are 90 degrees to the hook shank otherwise the fly will twist in the water when fished. Tie in a throat hackle of pearl crystal flash. Tie in a neat head whip finish and varnish. For extra durability I varnish with Sally Hanson’s hard as nails including the figure of eight wraps over the dumb bell eyes. For an extra hitting spot why not paint the end of the eyes with fluorescent paint (as pictured).

Saltwater Tying Patterns - Hares Ear Saltwater Shrimp

Fly Pattern History
This is one of the best saltwater shrimp patterns for tropical waters that we at CudaFly have come across. We have used this pattern extensively around many of the Bahamian islands to great success for species from bonefish to parrot fish. This fly should be tied in a variety of sizes concentrating on size #4 and lower. Its also easy and quick to tie. You can fish this fly on all densities of lines although our preferred method is to fish the shallows with a floating line.

Fly Tying Materials

Hook - #4 - #8 Stainless Steel
Thread - Black
Feelers - Natural Hares Mask / Dubbing
Flash - Pearl Crinkle Flash
Eyes - Gold Dumb Bells
Rib - Medium Pearl Tinsel
Body - Natural Hares Ear

Fly Tying Procedure
Bed the hook with tying thread finishing just slightly past the beginning of the bend of the hook. ( you may notice that the thread used is black rather than using brown. When the fly is wet the underbody thread colour darkens the body of the fly and therefore lighter spots when combined with the hares ear guard hairs ) Select a natural hares mask and cut some fibres from the cheek of the mask, the longer the better, remove the fluff from the base of these fibres and tie in as the feelers. Select a few strands of pearl crinkle flash and tie this in as a topping for the feelers. Tie in the medium pearl tinsel and wind the thread along the shank of the hook until you reach approximately 1/3 along the hook shank. Tie in the Gold Dumb Bells on top of the hook shank making sure that the eyes are at right angles to the hook shank. This will ensure that the fly fished upside down in the water. Return the thread to where you tied in the pearl tinsel and dub the thread with wax. Select your hares ear, using as much guard hairs as possible in the mix and dub this onto the thread. Wrap this around the hook shank ensuring to cover where the Dumb Bells meet the shank of the hook both above and below. Continue until just before the eye of the hook and rib the fly with the pearl medium tinsel. Ties off, whip finish and varnish. As an option you can paint red spots on the Dumb Bells as a hitting spot.

Saltwater Tying Pattern - Steve's Ultra Shrimp

Fly Pattern History
We at CudaFly have always enjoyed fishing the original Ultra shrimp pattern and have had great success both here in the UK and abroad, but felt that it could do with a more life like representation in the water. As most Saltwater species, including Bass, heavily feed on shrimp. After many months of experimentation this was the final result. When fished the pattern resembles the translucency of the natural and has enough definition to for the fish to easily see the fly in clear water. The fly doesn't sink quickly and hence needs to be fished on a variety of sinking lines in the UK. When fishing the Bahamas the fly fishes best on a floating line.

Fly Tying Materials

Hook - #4 - #6 Stainless Steel
Thread - White
Feelers - Natural Buck Tail
Flash - Pearl Crinkle Flash
Eyes - Burnt Plastic
Over Body - Champagne Savage Hair
Under Body - White Savage Hair

Fly Tying Procedure
Bed the hook with thread stopping at the bend of the hook. Tie in a pinch of natural deer hair and top with a few strands of pearl crinkle flash. Take 2 strips of plastic tubing and hold the ends close to a flame until the ends ball, then place to one side to cool. Once cool tie the eyes in on the top of the hook shank so that the balls are equally spaced. Trim excess. Return the thread until just before the eye of the hook and take some champagne savage hair and tie this as a shell cover. Before you tighten the threads using your thumb spread the savage hair at the tie in point to fan out the hair. Trim excess and tie in firmly. Turn the hook upside down in the vice and repeat the above process with the white savage hair. Form a neat head with the thread and whip finish. Turn the hook now the right way up in the vice and coat the shell back and the thread with permanent marker half way up the shell casing ( the champagne savage hair). Once this is dry coat the top of the fly with 5 minute epoxy.

Saltwater Tying Patterns - Angel Hair Baitfish

Fly Pattern History
This pattern arose after a season of bass fly fishing when there was an extremely high proportion of baitfish compared to sand eel and the bass seemed completely preoccupied with this food source. Usually if you only have sand eel patterns when bass fishing and they are selectively feeding on baitfish a little cutting with a pair of scissors at the waterside on the fly can result in a fair imitation. This season was different. Unless the fly moved in a similar fashion and had the broad side profile the bass where not interested. After some experimentation this was the end result. It worked fantastically. This fly has also caught fish for me throughout the world and has now become one of my most favourite flies. The Angel hair bait fish can be fished on all lines and all retrieves.

Fly Tying Materials

Hook - #4 to #1/0 stainless steel
Thread - White
Eyes - Epoxy eyes
Body - Pearl Angel Hair
Over body - Olive Angel Hair

Fly Tying Procedure
Bed the hook with tying thread finishing just before the bend. Select a length of pearl Angel Hair and tie this above the hook shank. Select another length and tie this under the shank. Continue this process of applying Angel Hair above and below the hook shank until you reach just before he eye. You will notice that the side of the fly looks uneven. Cover the side of the shank on both sides by tying in a section of pearl Angel Hair. Tie in a section on Olive Angel Hair as a topping over the body of the fly, trim all excesses and whip finish. Trim the body to obtain a 'fish' shape to the fly. Apply a thin coat of epoxy to the head and allow to dry until tacky. Just before the epoxy sets squeeze the epoxy head to flare out the body of the fly. Once the epoxy has fully set glue the eyes in place and cover with a further coat of epoxy. Once this has set cover the head with 2 coats of Sally Hanson's hard as nails for a glossy finish.

Saltwater Tying Patterns - GLH Marauder

Kindly Submitted By Gavin Hurst

History
The GLH Marauder has accounted for many of my saltwater catches and is my favourite all round pattern. If you would like to try tying one for yourself the recipe is given here. The marauder is one of the most successful flies in my armoury and can be fished on any line in any location for many of our UK native species.
Tight Lines - Gavin
For more information contact author@carcharodonangling.co.uk

Tying Procedure
Hook - Mustad 39951BLN (Light Weight Version) size 1/0 to 3/0 or Mustad 34007 size 2 to 2/0
Silk/Thread - White UTC 210 denier or G.S.P. 100 denier (Black for night fly version)
Body - Pearl Tinsel or Mylar tied in at the head and wound around the hook shank to a point just around the bend of the hook then back up to the eye.
Under wing - White Polar Fibre or Fun Fur (Black for night fly) trimmed off the backing fabric at the base of the fibres. Remove the shorter fibres to reduce bulk with a tying comb or pet fur comb and tie it in at the head to the desired length dependant upon hook size and spread around the hook shank. To do this first place a couple of loose turns of silk over it then spread the polar fibre around the shank with your fingers before wrapping with a few more binding turns of silk.
Middle Wing - Six to eight strands of pearl Krystal Flash cut to the length of the polar fibre.
Over wing - Black, Olive, Chartreuse or Blue Polar Fibre or Fun Fur tied on the top of the shank at the head.
Flanks - Pearl Uni Mylar #12 tied in on either side of the head cut to the length of the polar fibre.
Building The Body - Apply one coat of Devcon 5min clear epoxy and work it into the fibres with your bodkin just beyond the hook bend and once this has set apply the eyes and draw in the gills with a red permanent marker.
Eyes - 5 mm holographic silver.
Finish - Apply a second coat of 5 min epoxy evenly to cover the first coat and to seal the eyes then place it on an epoxy drier.

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