Having suffered four years of record drought, California anglers are well aware of the stress our freshwater fisheries are undergoing. If there is a blessing on the flip side of that, the 2015–2016 El Niño event now in effect is promising rain while delivering anglers the opportunity for exciting saltwater sport. Coastal water temperatures were unusually warm through 2015 and are predicted to remain high throughout winter and the 2016 season. Warm water brought north the spectrum of exotics usually encountered only on long-range trips into Mexican waters, and this past summer, local anglers were treated to an abundance of bonitos, barracudas, yellowfin tuna, dorados, marlin, and even wahoos, a fish extremely rare to the California Bight. Anglers north of Point Concepción found good fishing for yellowtail, bonitos, barracudas, even yellowfin tuna, skipjacks, and dorados — fish seldom found north of there.
In addition to exotic pelagics close offshore, Central Coast anglers working the surf zone found numbers of striped bass. As of December, we were still catching bonitos, barracudas, and skipjack tuna in Morro Bay waters. With more of the same predicted for 2016, there has never been a better time to wet a fly in the salt and by doing so giving stressed freshwater fisheries a needed break.
Saltwater fish are feeding primarily on anchovies and sardines, but also Spanish jacks and true mackerel. And this is a happy circumstance, because any of these baitfish might confidently be simulated with one simple fly pattern — a basic bucktail streamer tied to simulate a “greenie.”
Anybody who’s fished from a California live-bait sportfisher carrying anchovies, sardines, or mackerel in its slammer knows that a greenie is that one bait standing out among dozens available in the trays surrounding the bait tank. The greenie is an olive color, much lighter than the others, and this coloration marks a bait that is much more active than the others — “hyperactive,” you might say, and frustratingly difficult to catch by hand. If you are lucky enough to snag that greenie from the tray, your chances of getting bit increase dramatically.
The longer I fish, the more I am convinced that presentation is the main factor contributing to angler success. This is a point that Scott Sadil often makes in his savvy columns on fly patterns. Regarding the fly, I believe size, silhouette, and motion to be the major factors, followed by color. In designing the Greenie, color was an easy choice. And presentation, in saltwater situations, is often affected to great extent by fly construction and material choice, which determines how the fly looks and acts when immersed and moved. For tying saltwater streamers, my first choices are natural materials, tried and true yak and bucktail, because these materials provide motion that no synthetic can surpass. Natural hair possesses a “spine” that gives it memory to hold its shape, and unlike some synthetic streamer materials, it will not sag when the fly is stopped and left to hang in the water. Also, the natural taper of hair serves to impart a just-right bulk and taper to baitfish designs, without the need of trimming to shape — when using more than one color, simply eyeball the tips even, and the whole thing tapers perfectly when wet. That’s not to say I don’t use synthetics, because I do, though I prefer them as a lateral coloration or accent sandwiched between natural hair.
The Greenie could just as well be tied with yak, and that would be my choice for a fly that’s over four or five inches in length. But there is no arguing the effectiveness of less expensive and readily available bucktail. A large northern bucktail will supply enough material for dozens of streamers up to four or five inches in length. The pattern featured here is about four inches long, a good all-around length for the salt. I’ve also found this length useful for freshwater stripers and bass, and a shorter version works to simulate the smaller shad that stripers and bass feed on in lakes.
Hook: Size 2 to 6 (The four-inch-long fly in the photo is tied on a sized 2 Dai-Riki 930.)
Thread: Light olive UNI 3/0
Gills: Red tinsel wound on the hook shank, coated with a thick, clear cement
Body/Topping: 50/50 white and olive bucktail, stacked on top of the hook shank, in this order: natural white bucktail, then four strands of olive Mylar flash, then olive bucktail, then two strands of blue Mylar flash, then a small pinch of olive bucktail
Eyes: Your preference
Before adding the eyes and applying cement to the tinsel gill section and head, hold the finished bucktail under the hot-water tap for one minute to set the shape, then let it dry. The fly will dry to a sleek, supple baitfish shape. This works to train other natural hair and feathers, as well. Tweeze away any hairs not conforming, apply the eyes and cement, then slip out into the El Niño and locate some breezers.
