Bodkin / Patterns

Page's Sand Eel

Baitfish · Striped Bass · Bluefish · False Albacore · Intermediate · 1 version

Classic Recipe

  • Hook Tiemco 800S or standard saltwater, 2-1/0
  • Thread White or olive 3/0 monocord

Materials

  • Tail Marabou plus Flashabou, olive over white (1 plume + strands)
  • Body Pearl or silver body tubing/braid (1 length)
  • Eyes Small stick-on (2)
  • Coating Epoxy or UV resin (as needed)

How to tie it

  1. Start thread at the bend and tie in a slim marabou tail one and a half to two shank lengths long, white with an olive topping, plus a few strands of pearl Flashabou. Keep it sparse: a sand eel is a pencil, not a cigar.
  2. Wet or lick the marabou to keep it out of the way while you work (Page Rogers' own trick).
  3. Slide a length of pearl braided tubing over the hook shank, bind it down at the bend and again behind the eye, and whip finish at both ends.
  4. Shape the body: keep it slender and slightly deeper at the head.
  5. Stick a small eye on each side just behind the hook eye.
  6. Coat the tubing body and eyes with a thin layer of epoxy or UV resin, rotating until set. The hard translucent body gives the glassy look of a live sand eel and makes the fly nearly indestructible.

Tying videos

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