Talking flies has become one of my favorite topics to write about. As we know, there are countless options to throw in all situations in a flats setting. Today we will discuss the classic slider pattern and how/when I like to fish them.
The slider is a simple fly; your choice of tail fur, some rubber legs, brush collar and deer hair head. I will tie mine on a size 4 with small lead eyes and BAM, you’ve got yourself one hell of a fly. Color pattern is up to you..for me I’ll play around with natural/olive and natural/orange.
They fish easy, with some flow from the tail and a decent head-wake from the front. Short strips or long strips you should be able to convince a fish to eat.
My absolute favorite time to fish these bad boys is dirty water during a summer low tide. The advantages of the slider come in clutch in these scenarios. The dear hair head throws water in the skinny stuff making just enough commotion to get a feeding fish to turn while the action from the body does the rest. I’ve also had success fishing the natural patterns in clear winter water, with maybe a smaller profile overall.
Any way you fish them, they’re gonna work..heck go ahead and throw some weed guards on there and fish them in grass and it will produce. Sliders man...you just cant go wrong.
Photography & Written by Ty Duplaga
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