Fishing expert Jason O’Riordan takes a close look at what our salmon and trout desire in his blog Game Fishing Ireland.  From Black Tarantula blobs to Black Sculpin Helmets.  From Rabbit zonker strips to sea trout snakes.

Jason explains;

Having recently experimented with trout snake flies  I had an idea for some salmon and sea trout ones.  These are not the traditional snakes tied with a long mylar body over braid and a hair wing.  Mine are tied with rabbit zonker strips.  A treble right in the tail and a salar double up front.  I have seen a few salmon flies tied with zonker strips out back as a sort of long flowing tail.  I could just see sea trout nipping at the tails of these with little or no hook ups.  Take a look at these!!

The treble right in the tail will sort out any short takers.

The hooks are connected by a uv straggle twisted into a rope which forms the body.

This facilitates lots of movement in the water.  Blue and silver is a great combination for sea trout.  The flies are finished off with some arctic fox and a little bling.  They have a super profile!!

12/01/2014: Dave from Waterford Angling is going to fishing in New Zealand later this season so asked me to tie up a few snake flies for him to try on his trip.  The first pattern I opted for was a Black Sculpin Helmet.  The Helmet should add weight and black is a great colour for browns.

The next pattern will hopefully work for him on the lakes there.  It uses White Barred Rabbit, bright braid and has bead chain eyes.

I couldn’t send him off to do any streamer fishing without flies in brown and olive.  These are always great colours. I decided not to add weight on these ones so Dave can let his streamer line pull them down.  I did add realistic eyes though.

While I had the materials out I got to thinking about these flies and that the big attraction of them to trout has got to be their movement in the water.  However, when fishing on stocked lakes these flies can work well fished slowly. In this case what I wanted though was a bit more body to the fly and a splash of colour without taking away any movement.  So I came up with this variation.  Trials start soon  . . . .so watch this space!

06/01/2014: Have had massive interest in the fly I caught that superb double figure brown trout on at Ardaire last Saturday.  So what is the Tarantula Fly – it is a mixture of egg laying blob, worm, and booby!  I’m sure someone somewhere out there has something similar tied already but this is my Black Tarantula pattern!!!

Talk about trigger points.  This pattern has a Glo Brite tag for starters.  Another key feature is the use of the Oval Rainbow Bead for the egg laying element rather than the usual round beads.  The finish on this particular plastic bead is fantastic.  The body has UV Blob Material.  We all know by now that UV can make the difference at times.

Then there are the straggly “worm” legs.  Worms are great at this fishery.  Finally this version is a booby and has those cool eyes too.  Will it continue to work as well as it did on its first outing?  I don’t know.  The latest version is the Turbo Tarantula but I did not yet get to see how this behaves in the water:

I have a few more tied up in various body colours . . . Orange

To make a booking contact..

Jason O’Riordan

Hardy/Greys approved guide and an IFFF Qualified Fly Casting Instructor

Notes: Jason has a lifetime of experience in fishing and guiding on the rivers, lakes and coastline in the area. Jason has given talks on fishing techniques at the leading angling shows in Ireland. Game Fishing Ireland offers guided packages for salmon, river trout, lake trout and saltwater game species. Fishing packages can vary in price depending on the target species and time of year. A typical package can include permits, travel, guiding, and packed lunch. Tackle hire is also available.

Address: Dungarvan, Co. Waterford.
Telephone: +353 (0) 87 296 5712

E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.gamefishingireland.ie