When fishing California’s many offshore islands, inshore drop-offs, or deep freshwater lakes, fly fishers are routinely confronted with the challenge of fishing a fly in deep water: how to get the fly down into the feeding zone.
There are many ways to sink a fly. You can use a heavy shooting head and thin running line or a full density-compensated weight-forward sinking line, and a short leader helps ensure that your flies follow them down. But a lightly dressed, fast-sinking fly also can help ensure a deep soak into the feeding zone: the Bend-Up Deep Anchovy.
The Bend-Up Deep Anchovy is obviously based on Bob Clouser’s original Clouser Minnow, one of the most productive fly patterns of all time. It was 31 years ago that he tied Waspi barbell lead eyes under the shank of a bucktail streamer, forever changing fly-tying history.
This new bend-up version has a few slight variations that will help sink the fly like a rock. All the materials are tied on top of the shank on the bent-up front section — unlike the original pattern, there are no materials tied under the shank. The lead eyes are placed forward, closer to the eye of the hook, helping the fly drop nose down with the aid of a Loop Knot. I developed this pattern to resemble a natural-looking bait and to sink it deep under small feeding calicos and mackerel to get to the large, lazy yellowtails in 60 feet of water or deeper. Believe me, it works. Give it a try.
Here’s how I like to tie it, but please realize you can use many different materials to accomplish the same goal.
Materials
Hook: Daiichi X472 (long shank), size 2
Thread: Red Danville 210 Flat Waxed Nylon to attach the eyes, Danville fine clear mono to build the fly
Dumbbell eyes: 3/32-inch Dazl Dumbbell
Body: Blend of red EP and SF fibers, then UV white followed by peacock
Flash: Silver, violet, olive EP Sparkle
Stick-on eyes: 3/32-inch Mirage 3D
Cement: ZAP CA Thin after each wrap, plus ZAP Goo to attach the Mirage Eyes and Tuffleye or five-minute epoxy for the head
Step 1. Put a bend in the hook about a quarter of an inch from the eye. Use a longshank hook to help ensure a good hook set.
Step 2. Secure the hook in the vise with the point down in the usual orientation. Tie in a pair of barbell eyes top on of the hook just behind the bend you made and continue the thread wraps forward to the eye of the hook.
Step 3. Now invert the hook. Taper the ends of some red EP SF Blend and tie it in just inside the forward bend of hook as gills. Hit each set of wraps with ZAP CA Thin as you complete this and the following steps.
Step 4. Continuing to taper the ends, add some white EP SF Blend to define the length of the fly, then add some EP Sparkle flash on top.
Step 5. Continue tapering with white SF blend to build the body of the fly. Add darker peacock SF blend on top as you approach the eye of the hook to create the baitfish of your choice. Use shorter pieces of top material as you get closer to the eye of the hook to fill in the gap and create a nice head, allowing the materials to cover the hook point, which will help create a weedless fly.
Step 6. Whip finish, trim the fly to shape, and add a Mirage 3D stick-on eye to each side with ZAP Goo. Keep these eyes low to the dumbbell eyes behind the eye of hook so you do not impede the hook set. Add Tuffleye or five-minute epoxy to the head for durability. Make sure to fish this fly with a Loop Knot so it swings and sinks easily.
