FF@ Smelt '98 - Bob Petti

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MAGOG SMELT, FATAL ATTRACTION (SMELT)
Submitted By Bob Petti

MAGOG SMELT

FATAL ATTRACTION (SMELT)

HOOK	Daiichi 2271, #2
THREAD	Danville 6/0, black
TAG	Oval Silver Tinsel
TAIL	Teal
BODY	Flat Silver Tinsel
RIB	Oval Silver Tinsel
THROAT	Red Hackle Barbules
WING	White, Yellow, and Lavender Bucktail
TOPPING	Peacock Herl
CHEEKS	Teal Flank
HEAD	Black Thread

HOOK	Mustad 36890, #4
THREAD	Danville 6/0, Black
TAIL	Silver Flashabou
BODY	Silver Diamondbraid ending w/ Red SLF
HACKLE	White
WING	Pearl Krystal Flash, Lavender Bucktail, Peacock Krystal Flash
TOPPING	Peacock herl
HEAD	Black Thread

Bob Petti's Comments On These Patterns

Magog Smelt

These were the first Magog Smelts I had ever tied. The inspiration to choose this pattern came from the sample included in S&A's "Flies for Atlantic Salmon". I thought that dressing was particularly handsome, so I wanted to give it a try.

The key with this fly, and any fly with a tinsel body, is keeping as smooth an underbody as possible. I started my thread at the bend and wrapped back, bringing the tag tinsel with me. I wrapped the tag (long, like in S&A's book) and tied it off, tied in the tail, then secured the waste ends of both as I wound my thread slowly and carefully up the hook shank to the where the back of the head would be, finally trimming any left over waste from the tail/tag. Now I tied in the ribbing tinsel and slowly and carefully wound back to the tail, bringing the tinsel with me (everything gets tied on the bottom of the shank), making smooth touching wraps with untwisted thread. When I reached the tail, I wound a final layer of thread back to the hook eye, making every effort to keep this layer as smooth as possible, because the mylar tinsel is coming next. At the head, I tied in the mylar tinsel and wound it to the tail and back in touching, but not overlapping, turns, keeping constant tension on the tinsel to make it lay as flat, smooth, and tight as I possibly could.

The body was the hardest part of the fly, and took the most time. The thread I used was Danville 6/0. When untwisted, it lays super flat on the hook shank and is a real help when trying to keep a smooth underbody for any fly, whether it will be covered with tinsel or floss.

After the body was done, my next challenge was avoiding bulk in the wing. It's sounds silly, but it's hard to build a three layer bucktail wing without making it overly thick and bulky. Each layer feels like it's just a few hairs from the tail when you tie it in, and you'd swear it was not enough, but when all three are taken together, it looks full, yet not bulky. Getting each layer to "separate" so you can see each band of color was tricky, but a good strong "pinch and loop" did the trick.

The rest of the fly was pretty straightfoward.

Fatal Attraction (smelt)

The Fatal Attraction style was designed by Dan Blanton. He was looking for a new pattern to imitate salmon smolts when fishing the coastal rivers our west. The first he called "The Natural" which isn't a heck of a lot different than the one I submitted as a smelt. The first time I saw his fly was in the premier issue of "Fly Tyer" magazine. Something hit me, and I knew it would be a fish catcher. A black and orange version has been my number one salmon fly on the Lake Ontario tributaries the past couple of seasons.

Dan's Fatal Attraction is not so much a specific fly pattern, but rather a fly design which lends itself to infinite variation. Since I had already submitted one standard classic pattern for the swap, I wanted to send in something a bit unique, so I chose to dress a Fatal Attraction in smelt-like colors. The only deviation from a standard Fatal Attraction is the bit of red dubbing at the front end of the body. It seems that a splash of red near the head of the fly is popular on many smelt patterns and I did not want to omit this detail from my fly, as I believe it's one of the triggers that will entice a fish to strike.

I believe the fly has two key design features. One is that long tail of flashabou, which Dan feels is a flyrodder's answer to a rotating spinner blade. I'm not completely convinced of that, but it sure does flutter and twinkle in the water like no other fly I've seen. The other unique design is the way the hackle and wing are tied. The hackle is tied in a full collar and the wing is tied immediately in front of this. I believe the little "bump" from the hackle keeps the wing up a bit and prevents it from fouling around the hook bend. I've fished the FA numerous times now, all with wings extending to the middle of the tail (well beyond the bend), and I've never had one foul. The fly fishes extremely well.

I think the silver body and tail, white hackle, and a sparkly lavender and herl wing will make a decent smelt pattern. If anyone hooks a fish with one, I'd sure appreciate knowing about it.

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