What’s y’all’s Big Ugly (bull black drum) go to fly?
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Rabbit strip tail, keel weighted with a rattle inside Mylar tubing, estaz body with a schlappen feather palmered through it.
I’d take a pic if I had some but haven’t really targeted them much since our red fishing has been good. If it’s a big wad of them I’ll throw 90 degrees to their path and drag it slow with sharp hops. They either eat or get hooked somewhere around the mouth…
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The rattle is a great tip from @Nway93 . Dark or LSU colored redfish crack with rabbit tail work good. They also like crab flies fished slow. Drop it on their nose and a long slow strip.
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We’ve taken black drum up in Everglades rivers with this pattern up to about 30lbs - but not exactly the usual strip and retrieve manner… Here’s the fly, it’s my standard dredging pattern for big tarpon - the Tarpon Snake on an Owner Aki 4/0 hook… six to seven inches long - all saddle hackles..
After a few years of never getting a bite from the big drum that inhabit a few rivers we fish in summer (along with lots of resident tarpon…) no matter what pattern we used - one day a big specimen floated by close enough for us to be able to flop that big fly we were using in front of it - like it was a big glob of worms and just tease it with the fly.. To our surprise the fish inspected it for a moment the gulped it down… Since then we’ve repeated that routine enough times to be confident it works.. Who knew?
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This - they are lazy and really don’t work for a meal. They act like they can’t be bothered - putting it on the nose tends to work well.
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I’ve caught a bunch of em sight casting with a paddle tail, but havent really put the effort in with the fly. Last week I was goofing around with em on the oyster bars with a shrimp fly, but my tide timing was off, they were just passing over as opposed to eating.
This fly works pretty good on Black drum, you drop it in front of them, and twitch it , or swim it on the sand. I’ve gotten some good eats with it.
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Black basic ■■■■■ about 3” long with medium eyes. It’s more about presentation than anything
Basicbitch
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I saw a 70 today….. didn’t cast at it
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Never heard of a fly called that!! Can you share a picture?
I’ve threw a shrimp pattern at em yesterday and got zero interest. Floated it right in front of 3 of em.
Seems I’m in a bit of a dry spell currently though, as I can’t even the damn reds to eat. Follow, short strike, ect.. but no hookups..
@Lawndart what is this basicbch? I know it a LA redfish fly but I’m drawing blank on the actual pattern.
Mike maybe that @Lawndart fly should be called Hillary?
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@Loogie but then nothing would touch it.. And it’d definitely fall into the most unproductive, useless fly known to man..
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Anywhere north of the Everglades I have caught them pretty easily on a basic black redfish fly. Just get it on the dinner plate.
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I caught this one (33+“) on this small Clouser, while catching specks with one of my two weights. Hooked way back in the roof of its mouth. I sometimes get eats on crab flies. A friend caught a 45” on a Clouser a couple of years ago.
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A basicbitch is about 3” - 3.5” long, craft fur/rabbit tail , with a brush head and lead eyes. A two minute tie that I’ve caught tons “literally” of fish on.
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Big ugly
Articulated pull it fly. Couldn’t get through Algorithm to give the real name
I’ve caught everything fresh or salt with this fly
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@Lawndart dude..I can smell that pic.... That’s a beast.
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