Olive Tadpole (Plattie)

Olive Tadpole (Plattie)

This fly is fished with a floating line in rip currents in surf, bays or estuaries.

Materials

Tying Instructions

3) Tie in tail of marabou 2-3 times length of hook shank above deer hair. Make one wrap of thread around the marabou only to keep it concentrated on the top of the hook shank again helps reduce tail wrapping

4) Wrap lead wire along centre half of the length of the hook shank and double back wrapping second layer to make a “ball” shape. The lead results in a dipping action on the retrieve.

5) Tie in chenille at tail and advance thread to hook eye. In process of this build up small “cone” of thread in front of the lead wire this helps the chenille transition from the lead to hook shank and prevents lead sliding forward

6) Wrap chenille forward to hook eye to form the body

7) Tie off chenille, trim and whip finish

Alternatively it can be tied in black. In South Africa this fly imitates platana tadpoles that are often olive. Hence the name Plattie

Fishing Instructions

(While fishing a lake one weekend there was a 2-3lb Brown cockfish that kept swimming a specific circuit through an area of the shallows, every time I tried to present a fly it spooked and disappeared for 15-20 minutes. Eventually I put the fly on the bottom and waited, as the fish approached I gave a 6 inch in tug this elicited a charging take and the fish was on!)