Corpusfishing.com

[Paulo]

Reds and Trout take my flies most of the time if I present them correctly but Drum and Sheepshead are a bit of a problem. What is a good fly to catch them on? Please include tying instruction.

[Uncle D]

Try horse flies and a drop of super glue

[lagunaflyoutfitters]

These are the more challenging species here locally although once you learn how to catch drum they become rather easy. the sheepshead however are the texas permit and require precision casting and perfect presentation. they also have great vision when on the flat and often an imperceptable pick up usually when the fly is motionless. both species prefer flies of natural dark materials. no flash. black is a good color and small is good. drum like a fly cast in front and slowly moving away from them although sometimes they can be retarded and eat anything. other times they will infuriate you. crab flies can be useful on both species as well. with sheepshead make your cast on the nose without false casting and if he sees it do not move it keep a tight line and let him start to set the hook himself then as all species strip strike don't raise the rod tip. hope this helps, there are a good number of excellent fly fisherman here in the bend this should be a great addition to the board. thanks tyler

[Jay Gardner AKA snookered]

YES, drum and sheepshead are tricky........drum will sometimes hit a dupree spoon, but clousers work a little better......I haven't found a good crab pattern, but I"m sure one exists that will work well......

drum really are the next big boon for flyfishing......there are probably 5-7 months out of the year that you can find them consistently, and in large numbers......you can find places and wade for them, and find places to drift for them too.......I"ve had days where I just looked at hundreds of them, and hundreds of them looked at my bait too! they can be very finicky on fly.......

as for sheepshead, I haven't caught one yet......don't get me wrong, I've probably casted flys at 50 of them, with no success to date......they ALWAYS come look at the fly, but then get spooked and blaze out......if I wanted sheepshead I would catch them conventional off the jetties, or shoot them in the head with a hawaiian sling while snorkeling.....

Academy has some better flys (than they used to).....also, I still encourage you to go by JerryB's.....especially this weekend, they are having a tournament/weigh-in there at the shop.....

[marcus1977]

I know my buddy gets his crab flies from roy's and they work pretty good for reds...not sure about drum or sheepshead
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still chasing my 30" trout

[lagunaflyoutfitters]

your best bet is to ty your own flies it is a modest investment and saves lots of dollars in the long run. plus it is fun to catch them om your own invention

[SaltWindandFire]

Ok, this is going to make you purists groan, so if you refuse to throw anything but fur and feathers, just go on to the next post.

Everybody else, get some of the fishbites material, the one that comes in a sheet. White works well. Tie up a crab pattern using fishbites for the body. Cast. Catch drum.

The only bad thing is they sure don't seem to last very long, the fishbites don't hold up to casting as well as other materials.

[Tyler]

I had thought about doing that but for spinning rods only just cutting out a pattern from the sheet of crab fishbites.

[RPool]

There is a pattern in Greg Berlocher's book designed solely for sheepies - a design offered by Les Lehman, Jr. called the "Green Weenie". It is tied on a small hook, size 6 or 8 with the gap opened slightly to improve hook-ups in the bony mouth of a sheepshead. Basically, a bead chain eye is tied mid shank on the hook bottom, the body is dubbed rabbit hair and the fly is palmered with olive grizzly hackle with the fibers trimmed off on the bottom and sides of the body, leaving hackle fibers protruding up towards the barb side of the shank - some marine invertebrate mimic. Has anyone tried it? - I have not but it's simple to tie. I've had good luck on drum with black Crazy Charlie's I've tied, also on small hooks - better luck than with Clousers and spoon flies. I don't strip them much but a black marabou tail gives them some action even when the fly is stationary. Tight lines.

[lagunaflyoutfitters]

rpool i have tried it but i dont believe any more effective than any other small dark fly.

[RPool]

Thanks for the answer - I won't waste my time. Like you, I'll stick with small and black.

[Jay Gardner AKA snookered]

thanks for the thread and field-test guys.......will keep it in mind this season....