The Coyote Carp Fly

North Texas in January is a rough place for fly-fishermen. An unfortunate amount of our time is spent indoors and when we can get out, the fishing is marginal at best (usually). We pacify ourselves with trips to the Blue River or the Mountain Fork in Oklahoma for trout or maybe a desparate trip out to the Brazos below PK to see if any of the big fish are moving around. Unless you're into ducks (and the hunting has not been that great this year), our sporting chances get kind of slim in this dark corner of the year.

One thing that sustains me when I can't get on the water is fly tying. Between the utilitarian business of re-stocking various boxes that have been depleted by a busy season on the flats (and the streams of Colorado) and filling a few orders for boxes of flies for clients, I try to leave a little time at the vise to get creative with the bugs. Usually nothing comes from this except a few minutes of fun and then I razor off the hideous creation to save the hook. When I started tying I always kept a box of "maybe" flies. These were mostly goofy, hybrid creatures whose only positive virtue was "maybe a bluegill would hit it." I've learned over the years that I never used those damn things and they just sat there until they would get dumped into a raffle bin or trash can somewhere.

A few creations have stuck - my "Little Black Fly" being one (a subject for a later post - I promise), and a variation of the Clouser that REALLY fishes well is another. Well, here's another that I think might just work - the Coyote Carp Fly.

This thing just looks FISHY! The original inspiration came from a West Coast surf perch fly. It has two tan rubber legs and several strands of Krystal Flash forming a tail (or antenae if it were a retreating crawfish), a body consisting of a pinch of coyote fur, and a tan hen saddle feather palmered to the eyes for "legs." The example pictured above is on a stainless #6 with large silver bead chain eyes and should be a redfish/bonefish KILLER. I have since tied some on a #8 scud/pupa hook with small gold eyes that looks like a serious carp fly. We'll see - a handful of them are headed to the Brazos in a few days for some R & D!