The Thief

Here they are again, swimming up our valley rivers — the smelly, slimy, entirely marvelous herring called the shad. In anticipation of the arrival of this great game fish, I sit at my tying bench accompanied by an IPA — 12 ounces of deliciously irresistible beer fortified with 8 percent alcohol. I take a sip and stare at my vise, into whose metal jaw is clamped a shad fly, a pattern that previously represented a caddis, but which has now gone through a transformation. Originally realistic, in its present state it’s an abstract representation. My youthful pursuit of an art degree in painting opened my eyes to the infinite possibilities of creative interpretation and the artistic license to steal — er, excuse me, to borrow — compositional elements. I bring those studio skills and artistic license to my tying of this abstract caddisfly fished as a shad fly. I call it the Thief.

The Thief is based upon a fly named the Nitro Caddis that consists of realistic visual elements representing the black head, wings, olive thorax, and abdomen of the insect. Intended for trout, it worked great as a shad fly, too, but wasn’t durable enough to cope with the punishment of the many hookups associated with shad fishing. I then tried using a chartreuse Copper John, which also worked well, but the hooks of the commercially tied flies kept straightening out. I wanted something more, so I borrowed compositional elements from my friend Jeff Ching’s killer and durable pattern, the Bloody Maria, and changed the colors. Here is how to tie the Thief.

Begin by threading a 1/8-inch white tungsten bead onto a size 12 heavy-wire pupa hook, then mount the hook in the vise. Next, attach a strong fluorescent yellow/chartreuse thread behind the bead (I use Danville’s 210). For the tail, choose about fifteen strands of UV Flashabou. Attach them behind the eye and wrap them along the shank, stopping about two-thirds of the way down, then wind the thread evenly back to the bead. Trim the tail to length. Now add a rib of medium chartreuse wire by attaching it behind the bead and wrapping it evenly down the shank to the tail. Build a thin, slightly tapered thread body between the bead and the tail. Now wind the wire like a barber pole stripe up to the bead, tie off, and snip away the excess wire. Create a dark collar by adding a few turns of peacock herl over a thin coating of cement behind the bead. The cement strengthens the fragile herl. Add a little head cement to the thread, make a few turns, and call it a wrap.

The Thief is the culmination of visual refinement borrowed from multiple sources and put to use on the water with friends and clients. I tie this pattern down to size 14 for when the shad shun the larger flies traditionally used. Thank you Jeff Ching and all the tyers who contributed to the foundation on which my vise rests. Have a sip of beer or a favorite beverage and tie a few examples of the Thief. Then, the next time you fish for shad, get ready to set the hook.

Andy Guibord