Tying a Beach Comber

Producer: Richard Strolis

Rich Strolis: “The Beach Comber was the result of a three-year project that I started to create a lightly weighted sand eel pattern for the flats of Cape Cod during striper season. I had been tinkering with all sorts of ideas to create a fly that would sink to the bottom quickly and ride inverted (with the point up), but with minimal success. I tried tungsten beads, cones, scud bodies, etc. But I kept creating flies that were too heavy and when presented in front of a fish cruising the flats would habitually end the fish running to the hills. Not to mention, those options really bring nothing to the table in terms of creating a realistic baitfish profile.

Enter the Fish-Skull. By inverting the Skull, you essentially create a fly that rides with the point up. The sky is the limit in terms of representing smaller forage fish or baitfish as a change in the colors can cover most bases. This fly can be fished a slew of different ways, but really shines off the bottom. Lastly, this isn’t a salt-only fly as it can be used for various freshwater fish too.”

Materials

Hook: Gamakatsu SC-15 size 2-1/0
Head: Fish Skull (Inverted)
Thread: UTC 140-210 Denier
Flash: Krystal Flash
Wing: Pseudo Hair
Collar: Senyo Laser Dub

Rich Strolis started fishing at an early age in western Massachusetts. By the age of 11 he was introduced to fly fishing and fly tying and never looked back. Rich has been guiding for nine seasons now as well as professionally tying and selling some of his unique fly patterns, which have appeared in several fly fishing publications. To see more of Rich’s work visit his Web site at www.catching-shadows.com.