1. Troutnut Forum
›
2. Fly Fishing
›
3. Emerald shiners

A pattern I have found to be very successful on Lake Erie streams for steelhead. I like to swing it across and down but it is also effective dead drift under an indicator. It is very important to add the eye, Without the eye it is far less effective. It is an involved dressing. Two colors of Ice Dub, A hank of Olive Finn Raccoon, silver Flashabou for the lateral line, an olive thread under body over which I wrap 3/32" pearl Mylar. Hook - 4X long #8 Model Perfect bend.

I had my eyes dilated two hours ago and it is amazing how many typos I hvae madde becuuse I cant see the ker boerd

Matt, you read my mind. :-)

They look great! Thanks for sharing.

Very nice, im going to them a go. Hope everything went well with the eye exam!
Thanks, Mike.

Matt,

When you first mentioned Emerald shiners I looked at some photos online and then found what materials I had close to make a few streamer patterns. This is as close as i can come and will let you know if they work on Lake Superior tribs.



Thanks again.

It's late but tomorrow I will post up the instructions for tying that fly with material names and makers.

What happened to the pictures of the emerald shiners I posted up earlier?

Hook - #8 or #10 4X long
Thread - Olive
Body - One or two courses of 1/8" pearl Mylar over one course of 3/0 olive thread
Under wing bottom - modest clump of Ice Dub #234
Under wing top - same
Top wing - small clump of Olive Finn Racoon
Lateral line - one strand of 1/16" wide silver Flashabou Mirage. Tie it in so it is clearly visible along the side and middle of the fly.
Eye - 3D eye with a black pupil and a silver iris.

After finishing the fly and before applying the 3D eyes I apply a soaking coat of head cement. Then I apply the eyes and coat the entire head and eyes with a coat of Bondic and zap it with the UV light.

I've tried different color irises but like the silver. One time about four years ago three of us, all with equal skills, were swinging that fly in a long pool on a PA steelhead stream. The guy in the middle had the exact fly me and the top guy was using except the middle guy's fly had no eye. The middle guy wasn't even getting any strikes while my buddy and I were taking fish often. As soon as we gave the middle guy a fly with a 3D eye he started taking fish.

I prefer to swing it with 6# 4X tippet but I guess 3X will work too.

Any questions PM me.

Matt, can you post the pictures again, I know its a pain, but I really like visual along with written directions.
Thanks, Mike.

I never removed them. When I went to view them later in the evening they were gone. Maybe a mod removed them.