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How To Tie Suspending Floating Shad
Shad Daddy
Recipe: Hook: TMC 5263, or TMC 777SP Thread: Danville 210, White Tail: White Marabou Body: White Marabou Gill: UTC 70, Red
Little history about this fly.
This is one of those patterns I forgot about over the years. Since Taney hasn’t really had major shad kill in the winter months I forgot about this pattern. Until I moved to Arkansas last year and really got to fish the White like I wanted to. I never gave this fly much thought. But now that I've fished it religously I got to find out why this simple pattern is so effective. I’m not going to make claim to this pattern because I learned it from Tom Rogers who owned and operated TNT guide service, was one of the best guides on the White River in the late 90’s but because of health issues you don’t see him anymore. I only got to fish once with Tom and that day we did we hooked some nice fish on the Norfork. So I really owe it to him, thanks Tom.
Even though at the time I didn’t get to understand the pattern I always thought about why this pattern was so simple to tie, but what was really behind this. Most of the simplest patterns are the most effective and I find that time and time again. This is another one. What I have found to be the success of this fly is the way it rides on the bottom. I’ve been experimenting with several bottom bouncing shad patterns, but have found most of them to not be productive all the time. Rabbit was something I really try to put my confidence in because of the action it can give off, but when dead drifting, it can hang on the bottom because of the heaviness after it absorbs the water. If stripping it in I can understand why everybody uses rabbit.
Marabou is probably the best stuff for this type of presentation. I don’t add weight in the fly and only rely on the split shot to do the job. Because marabou comes from a duck it gives off some sort of repellant to water. You can sink this fly under the water and throw it back on the water and it will float. That’s really what you want. So think about it, the split shots on the bottom and the fly is barely hovering over the bottom. So no hangs and a suspended shad is key to how the trout see them. I could go on and on, but you’ll have to fish with me to really understand the theory. Hope this helps you on the next shad kill when you wonder what is going to do the job for the big boy.
Step 1.
I'm using strung marabou for the tail. Measure your tail to be the length of the hook shank. Don't worry about cutting the excess until you've tied it down and secured it. Tie up a little on the excess before cutting.
Step 2.
Cut the excess, I do this by twisting it. It will make it easier when you go to cut it. There won't be as much excess to tie down. Once you've tied down the excess advance the thread right behind the eye of the hook.
Step 3.
Now prep two feathers (two is better than one) in the select marabou. You're trying to look for length in the marabou. The reason is when you go to fold it over you don't want alot of loose strands of marabou hanging out.Tie down both and wind back to the stopping point on where you cut the excess off for the tail.NOTE: Keep the wraps side by side as you wind back so the marabou doesn't show on the bottom of the hook shank.
Also when measuring the length you want it to go a little past the tail. So before securing make sure you get this right.
Step 4.
Keep the white thread hanging in the back. Grab some red and make a smooth foundation where you want your bleeding kills to be. Whip finish, I use a saltwater materelli to get around the bulk marabou in the front.
Step 5.
When folding over the marabou there are a few things to think about. You're trying to create a bubble, in other words, you don't want it to lay flat against the hook shank. Another thing to keep in mind is not to let the marabou twist on you. The individual strands need to stay in line (straight) when tying it down. Before tying it down you'll want to push it forward a hair to get the "bubble" look.
Step 6.
At this point you should see a few marabou strands hanging off the front. Just pluck them out, but be gentle so you don't grab anymore that are tied down. That's why I use select marabou instead of strung.Make a few thread wraps to really secure it. Whip finish it again with a salt water whip finisher to keep away from the head (body) of the pattern.
Step 7.
I use gloss coat and if you've read alot of my how-to-steps then you know I'm a big fan of this stuff. Glue the underside of the whole length to really keep the fly durable. I'm not a fan of head cement at all.
