I grew up devouring fly-fishing books and was especially fond of the flies created by Roderick Haig Brown, Letcher Lambuth, Wes Drain, Syd Glasso, Polly Rosborough, Walt Johnson, Harry Lemire, Les Johnson and most everything in the templates in any of Trey Combs’ all-encompassing steelhead books. Even though I spend my time now chasing and guiding for monster Hawaiian bonefish, I grew up in steelhead country. What does steelheading have to do with bonefishing? Well, in fly development, I gravitated early to the great steelhead tiers of Washington, British Columbia and Oregon. I was really drawn to those “buggy” looking flies, flies tied with natural materials that pulsated and breathed. I love palmered hackles, egg sack splashes and tails with segmentation. This love of natural materials kept me away from Krystal flash and other shiny stuff. I still sneak in a strand here or there on some patterns, but for big Hawaiian bonefish I try to stay close to the colors of nature, the colors of our flats.
Mantis Inspiration
As many tiers have mentioned, most flies we see today are directly related to something someone else tied. We change some color, we move the legs around, and we might even flip the fly upside down so it rides point up. But its base is in another fly that caught our eye, and we modified and or copied it with our own flair. That is where we must “man up” and be honest with those around us and give credit where credit is due.
Through stomach samples, I realized that 90 percent of our giant Hawaiian bonefish’s (Albula glossodonta, Hawaiian record is 18.4 pounds) diet was mantis shrimp, and I became real serious about developing an imitation. Using input from Tim Borski, Enrico Puglisi and Aaron Adams on silhouette and movement, borrowing ideas like the orange butt on the Chico Fernandez snapping shrimp and the rubber leg concepts used by Clayton Yee, and influenced by the book Tying and Fishing the Fuzzy Nymphs by Oregon’s legendary Polly Rosborough, I had the base for a hell of a mantis shrimp pattern. After a few different versions, I ended up with what you see here, the Spam and Eggs, a fly that I call my own and hand to my clients daily here in Hawaii.
Savage Stomatopod
Now, for those of you who don’t know what a mantis shrimp is, do yourself a favor and do a little research on the critter. Mantis shrimp are faster than lightning, meaner than a rattlesnake, tougher than woodpecker lips and smarter than the bonefish that eats them, and they have the best eyesight on planet Earth. This member of the stomatopod (lobster) family is hell on wheels, a killing machine with intelligence. If these guys got any bigger we’d never stick a big toe in the ocean. They are segmented, have numerous legs and come in every color imaginable. There are 17 species in Hawaiian waters, with only three being endemic; the ciliated mantis and Philippine mantis (stabber and puncher, respectfully) are probably the most common.
You can tie the Spam and Eggs fly in a variety of colors for various situations. For me, I use it in tan, dark brown and EP Backcountry depending on the bottom. The one pictured here is deadly on sandy bottoms. Fish this fly with long, slow strips — doing so will allow the fly to move just like the mantis shrimp does. When a bonefish wants to eat it, it will rush the fly and there will be no question on whether or not the fish ate it.
MATERIALS:
HOOK: Gamakatsu SL11-3H hook
THREAD: Danville .006 fine monofilament tying thread
TAIL: Tan EP Fibers
BODY: Tan Hareline Dubbin Polar Dub; Howard saddle hackle
EGG SACK: Burnt orange Finnish Raccoon
LEGS: Sand Hareline Dubbin Loco Legs
EYES: Tungsten predator eyes
WEED GUARD: 30-pound mono