stillwater fishing with booby flies
KEITH ROE: OMAK, WA
A few years ago, I heard some of the guys talking about a still water fly. The name made me chuckle as I thought it was someone’ s idea of a gag fly. Not so, when I started doing a little more research into this fly, I was surprised at its legitimate and successful use.
From what I have found out, this fly got its start back in the late 50’ s in England. At that time it was named the Booby Nymph. The name lends itself to the bulbous eyes tied on one of the types of nymphs used back in that time. Since its creation, the Booby fly has taken on many different styles of creation. Some are still tied as nymphs, streamers and mostly as an attractant pattern.
The flies tied in an attractant pattern are a combination of marabou and one of the many types of synthetic chenille. Hook sizes will vary from a size 12 to a size 6, depending on the style of pattern tied. One thing that I’ ve noticed is that most of the hooks, no matter what size used, are a shorter shank then a“ standard style” hook. Most of the designers have all stated that using the shorter shanked hook helps prevent too deep of a hook up. The streamer style I tie is a longer hook, and I have not experienced any deep hook ups. This may be because it’ s a streamer and not the shorter style patterns such as the nymphs or attractor.