Bodkin / Patterns

Keys Toad

Attractor · Tarpon · Permit · Snook · Redfish · Intermediate · 1 version

Reference Recipe

  • Hook Saltwater / tarpon hook (e.g. Gamakatsu SC15), 1/0-3/0
  • Thread Chartreuse or tan Flat waxed / GSP

Materials

  • Marabou Tan / olive / chartreuse marabou (1-2 plumes for tail)
  • Saddle hackles Grizzly / natural saddle hackles (2-4 splayed)
  • Flash Gold / pearl flash (few strands)
  • EP fibers / wool Tan / olive ep fibers wool (spun head body)
  • Mono weedguard Clear weed guard (1 loop)
  • Small eyes (optional) Black / gold material (1 pair)

How to tie it

  1. Start thread at the rear of the shank (well up from the point. Tarpon toads are tied short and forward). Tie in a full marabou plume as the tail, one to two shank-lengths long.
  2. Set two to four saddle hackles splayed outward on either side of the marabou, then add a few strands of flash down each side.
  3. Just ahead of the tail, tie in a mono weedguard loop pointing back, to be finished later.
  4. Build the flat 'toad' head/body: tie in clumps of EP fibers or wool across the top and bottom of the shank, packing forward toward the eye so the material flares out to the sides.
  5. Optionally figure-8 a pair of small eyes near the front.
  6. Whip finish behind the eye and cement.
  7. Trim the EP/wool body flat and broad (wide and paddle-shaped when viewed from above, thin in profile) and set the weedguard by binding the mono up in front of the point. Cement the head.

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