top: a macro close-up of a squid’s amazing skin looks like a modern abstract painting. below: a calamari fly tied by Al Quattrocchi.
Author Archives: ondafly
the worm float…
using some craft foam as the end of a tail will can make your worm flies come alive, and float under water. i like to use goop for adhesive. cut a triangle shape, slice the foam with a single edge razor or heat up a bodkin and burn a hole through the foam. for the latter you need to use thin wire to pull the chenille through after coating it liberally with goop. once it sets, then trim the tail to a desired shape. using a weed guard will help with fouling, but the bomb-proof method is you can use heavy mono off the bend of the hook about a half inch past the bend, (burn a ball at the end of the mono before wrapping the chenille) continue to wrap your chenille like the front of the fly, whip finish, allowing the remaining chenille to swing free solve any fouling issues… photos and flies by Al Q
redemption at the beanery
2012 © photos by Al Quattrocchi.
well there are still a lot of corbina around and everything seems to have started late this year. the water was pretty cool through June. it never warmed up into the 70s until mid-July. these warmer water temperatures have seemed to activate these crazy fish. i fished with a buddy on saturday morning at at dark o thirty and we had the perfect incoming low tide and a calm summer sea. if you look at the picture above you can see the channels of sand crabs being washing back with each incoming push. timing your casts and lining up with one of these channels is the place to have your fly when these fish come in tight to plant their foreheads into the sand looking for crabs. we saw many large schools of corbina moving up and down the beach. i was fortunate enough to have hooked two fish on saturday, the first one i landed with my pink merkin stuck to it’s face. the second fish blew up a big group and took off perpendicular to the beach, his metallic side shimmering inside a wave, then unbuttoned. Unfortunately there were many sharks at the same party, mixed in with the corbina. many times i though I got bit by the right kind only to be spoiled by the steady tractor-like pull of the shovel nose sharks. i beached two, and broke off another two that i never saw. good times…
the marquesas headland by galen mercer
left: marquesas headland, original oil on canvas, 2012 by galen mercer. right Al Q with a marquesas tarpon circa mid nineties.
I recently purchased an original oil painting by Galen Mercer, who just happens to be one of the finest outdoor, landscape painters in the country. galen’s use of paint to portray the glistening sunlight as it tickles the clear turquoise waters of the marquesas headland is breathtaking. I can just stare at this painting for hours and imagine the tarpon rolling in the distance. the fabled marquesas keys are located approximately 30 miles off key west, florida. the marquesas was and is still, a legendary destination for record permit and tarpon. it was a place I used to dream about as a child. i remember paging through old issues of the saltwater sportsman while growing up in brooklyn and reading about my fly fishing pioneers like lefty kreh & stu apte. the black & white images of tarpon flying through the air with the picture perfect background are etched into my mind. this picture has a deeper meaning to me than just being a beautiful oil painting. it is very dear to my heart, because it depicts the place I caught my first tarpon on the fly. a moment frozen in time and space. it reminds me of the generosity of my friend jerry, who invited a young wide-eyed kid from brooklyn to take this adventure with him. it reminds me of capt. ray fetcher who guided and poled us across this never ending holy water. i don’t know if i will be back there soon, but i smile and appreciate that experience every day i look at this painting….thank you galen!
satelite image of the marquesas keys
beauty is in the eye of the beholder
A rare catch on the fly, the california opaleye will put up a scrappy little fight when hooked in and around rock piles and jetties. they do eat flies on occasion. they have strikingly beautiful blue cobalt eyes that light up in the sunlight. on a recent outing with my buddy vaughn podomore, adam and I landed our first opaleye on fly. © 2012 photo by Al Quattrocchi
every fly will work…lol
© 2012 photos by adam perry lang and al quattrocchi
well august is upon us and massive crab beds are still bubbling under the sand’s surface as summer’s slow rolling waves recede back to the sea. this is good for corbina but often times no good for the angler. me and friend, adam have found large schools of healthy corbina doing what corbina do, gorging themselves. in the last four days have hooked at least 7 and put five on the beach, unfortunately all of these fish were FOUL HOOKED. why? well, i believe there is too much food for these fish to want to aggressively grab a fly. we have been putting our flies right in their kitchen but to no avail. frustrating but still fun! all the fish we landed were all healthy fish with big fat bellies full of sand crabs. in past years i have witnessed the same behaviors. these fish get less grabby as we head towards the end of the summer. the first two, minus low tide cycles in july have always been money for fair-hooked fish in the past, with the second not as good as the first. maybe they are on some sort of spawn cycle, who knows? for my friend adam, who has just started fishing our west coast beaches, it has been a great lesson in sighting corbina, observing their shallow water feeding and behavior. it never gets old for me when you look over your shoulder and see your friend hooked up with a big smile on their face…the tug will always be the drug! hopefully this foul cycle will change and they will start eating our bugs…
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calamari friday
calamari squid fly tied by Al Q. © 2012 photo by Al Q
squid are great all around versatile baits found in oceans worldwide. they are fun to tie. I have finally got some time to play around with the new articulated shanks by fishworks. i tied this squid last night using a 4/o mustad tarpon hook in the rear and then attaching it to the shank by clipping the hook onto the shank. this is a very easy system to build a long squid. the materials i used in this fly were: tan ostrich herl dotted with purple and orange markers, large doll eyes attached on each side with a gob of goop, enrico puglusi large orange brush, sf rainbow blend, lead wire, orange crystal chenille over the shank, and mono thread with tuffleye finish.
sweet!
a first, corbina on fly for my buddy and barbeque master, Adam Perry Lang landed this morning in the south bay. © 2012 photo by Al Q
fleye foils to be introduced at the reno fly tackle show…
new cover of fly tyer magazine with bob’s new fleye foil candies
just finished designing bob’s new two-sided business cards and fleye foil logo. I completely hand drew Bob’s signature from a loose sketch. the last signature I did similar to this was seriously, frank sinatras. lol
if any of you fine folks in fly fishing cyberland are going to the Reno fly tackle dealership show in August, please stop by the Tuffleye booth to say hi to ashley, ned and bob. bob popovics should be tying and displaying his new fleye foils. these new fleye foils will make tying candies a snap, no more fussing with individual eyes and trying to line them up. bob is always bending that curve…and making the process easier for everyone to tie nice looking flies.
here’s one for the collection
2012 © photo by Al Quattrocchi
Just got my official Lefty Kreh, 2012, signed Topps Allen & Ginter card! I think this is a limited edition version, there are others available that are not signed but equally as hip and collectible. I had to get one of those too. Growing up with baseball cards as a kid, I never thought I would see my pal and mentor, Lefty on a Topps card but then, they put the Lefty’s Deceiver on a US stamp years ago, what am I thinking? Lefty has done it all. He fought in the Battle of the Bulge and has taught many US presidents how to fly fish. He is like fine wine, getting sweeter with more character as he ages. There will never be another like him.
flies, sand & surf 