Q Flies

The Corbina Diaries! Pre-sale is live.

Click here to reserve copies of the book and receive a special Love2FlyFish vinyl decal with each pre-sale book as a thank you.

Don’t miss the opportunity to catch a special limited edition set that includes (1) signed book, (1) 8″ x 10″ color signed corbina photograph, (1) corbina patrol vinyl decal, (1) hand-tied Holy Moley fly by Al Q and a color step by step Holy Moley fly recipe. Supplies will be limited and will not be sold at retail. You can only get this Special Edition here.

The books should be here the middle of next month and will ship as soon as they arrive. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing, designing, illustrating, photographing and fishing over twenty years for these crazy fish up and down our California beaches. – Al Q

The conscious choice to fly fish, as opposed to other, often more productive methods, is generally made by way of entering a fraternity of fishers who choose to find places and ways to more closely approach the natural world…to challenge themselves and to employ methods more artful, than “catchfull.” Add sight fishing for a super elusive species, like corbina, to the mix, and you enter a realm known only to a few stalwarts…Al Quattrocchi has stepped up to the task of walking you through that world. You should join him; I certainly shall. – Flip Pallot

Little do beachgoers know the elusive corbina swims at their ankles, all the while keeping a sharp eye out for Al Q. This is the definitive book on saltwater sight fishing in Southern California. – Jimmy Kimmel

Fishing in saltwater poses many challenges as we all know, but when it comes to fishing in the surf for corbina the challenges are far greater. If there is an angler that could simplify these challenges, Al Q is the one. He has been fishing for corbina for many years with excellent results. – Enrico Puglisi

We all should feel fortunate that Al Q has shared his years of knowledge targeting these great West Coast game fish. Al Q is one of fly fishing giants! From his innovative fly designs to his straight forward narrative, this book is a must read for all fly anglers. Thanks Al Q, for making all of us better fly fishermen. – Capt. Conway Bowman

A triple threat. photo by Al Quattrocchi

Categories: corbina, Corbina Patrol, flyfishing, Q Flies, Sight fishing, sight fishing for corbina, Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | 4 Comments

the Q pinche claw…

I have been getting a lot of requests from fly tiers around the world asking about my DIY Silicone Pinche Claws. I developed these Pinche claws in conjunction with the great Bauer Crab design which ended up becoming my Qs Pinche Crab. It has been a popular pattern in Belize for permit. The great, Will Bauer showed me how to tie his amazing pattern at the San Mateo Outdoor show back in the nineties, it was and still is a stable, deadly fly pattern used in Belize where Will pioneered the permit fishery back in the late eighties. The reason to the addition and development of the Pinche Claw is that silicone is buoyant and will float. These Pinche claws will take on a defensive posture when the crab, shrimp, crayfish or baby lobster lands on the bottom. They also will land in the right orientation when they fall. Very important when stalking permit. I think it makes a positive addition to any crab pattern and really works well. Always swim and test your flies before fishing them, remember everyone is a snowflake.

I hope this all makes sense, I threw it together rather quickly so if there are any questions, please fire away. I try to keep it as simple as possible so we can push the crab evolution forward…LOL

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Start with some wax paper on a board, You will need scissors, CLEAR silicone, EP fibers, bodkiin, water proof marking pens, a ruler and lighter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

measure a length of EP fibers about 1/4 inch in width, leave enough length so you can make a knot, burn and edge so you can put through loop easier, then knot piece together

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Color with sharpie, use your bodkin to add and smooth clear silicone through fibers, on both sides, pull in loose fibers with tip of bodkin then set to dry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can make DIY eyes by burning mono, then marking them with sharpies and adding Tuffleye or epoxy to build up eyes to size. Any clear silicone will work. The sketch will show you how I cut the claw sahpes once they dry, if you want your arms to curve then hold them in that position and add some five minute epoxy, tuffleye, or zap quick set glue to hold shape. Good luck and have fun…

-Al Q

 

 

Final cut Pinche claws ready to be added to your favorite pattern.

Qs Pinche Claws slightly bent inward

Qs Pinche Claws bent inward

Qs Strong Arm Pinche Crab

Qs articulated Crayfish with Pinche Claws

Qs crayfish

Straight Pinche Claws

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Categories: article, Crab flies, Permit flies, Q Flies, Q Tip | Tags: , , | 2 Comments

flies for the flats….

I will be doing an intermediate/beginner fly tying class on some classic saltwater flats patterns that I have personally used with success. The class is on December 15th, right around the corner at Marriotts in Fullerton. (info below)
The class is limited to 6 tiers and unfortunately just sold out…

We will cover 6 classic flats patterns. A modified Enrico Puglisi/Crab, Squimp, McVay/Gotcha, Fernadez/Snapping Shrimp, Ververka/Mantis Shrimp And Nauheim/Crazy Charlie. Also time permitting, I will demo how I make my DIY silicone crab legs and mono eyes…it should be a fun session, I hope to see ya there.

Next year I will try to do two more advanced fly tying classes: one on big saltwater streamers and baits, may throw in the Beast!  …and one on warm water bass flies.
tight lines…   -Al

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Flats Fly selection tied by Al Quattrocchi.

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Categories: Crab flies, Q Flies, Uncategorized | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

a nice note from a friend…

 

My friend Wade Yoshi, is in my humble opinion, one of the best permit fly fisherman on the planet, with well over 300 to hand. I am fortunate to be able to listen and take notes every chance I get when we talk about these crazy fish. I developed my “Pinche Crab” a few years ago based on Will Bauer’s original crab fly, which Will taught me to tie back in the nineties. I modified it, using my home-made sili claws. It makes me happy when an accomplished angler like Wade lets me know we are on the right track…

Hey Al Q,
Been having some bad luck, past few trips. LDR (an acronym for long distance release) 5 fish in both Oct and November. Then this trip, not many shots again, but had every permit see the fly, attack the fly but no hook ups. Today, first shot same thing. Second shot landed the permit, but hook was bent, and broke when we tried to fix it. My guide picked one of your flies, and next shot we landed this nice single. Then for my 4th shot of the day, I casted to a push, and landed a nice bonefish on your fly…. 

Wade

Categories: Crab flies, Permit flies, Q Flies, Uncategorized | Tags: , | Leave a comment

save the dates! first one is coming up

Instagram_EP-ORVIS

 

I will be doing a series of Fly Shop fly tying dates this year on behalf of my good friend Enrico Puglisi and his wonderful fly tying materials, which I will use to demo five basic baits we use in Southern California. I will be doing a altered version of the surfin merkin (sand crab), a squid, anchovy or sardine, bluegill and shad. Hope you can come by and heckle me, lol. This is the first of four dates. The dates are below:

Shop Enrico Puglisi products.

Saturday, May 26th at the Orvis Pasadena Fly Shop from noon to 3pm
Saturday, June 23rd at the Fly Stop, San Diego from noon to 3pm
Sunday September 16th ate The Fisherman’s Spot, from 12 to 3pm
Saturday, October 13th at Marriotts Flyfishing from noon to 3pm

Categories: Corbina Patrol, Q Flies, Uncategorized | Tags: | Leave a comment

the blue floating crab…prototype, lol

Ok, this is a little crazy, but our guide in Louisiana just requested a floating crab the size of my hand. So I made a soft shell blue crab ready to fry and throw into a PoBoy. This is the prototype, the first one, and I am not quite there, but it floats really well, its a little heavy and casts about as aerodynamic as a tennis racquet. I tried casting it with an 11 weight and floating line and can throw it around forty feet without blowing out my arm, the emphasis on toss, not cast. LOL. I used clear silicone to hold this sucker together and I hand cut the legs and claws out of thin craft foam. I used markers to color the crab. Its pretty easy to make once you got all the pieces. I will give you guys a report on the performance of this floater once I get back from my trip next month, I really hope something eats it just for the hell of it.   -Al Q

Categories: Q Flies | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

bugging it in kiribati…

 

 

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photos courtesy of Steve Horgan

all photos courtesy of Steve Horgan

Last year I had the good fortune of running into fellow fly angler, Steve Horgan at the airport in Oahu prior to flying to Christmas Island. Steve prides himself on going after multi-species on fly. Steve just returned from another epic journey and slammed many exotic species on my “Beach Bug” fly pattern. Thanks for letting me share these great pics Steve! I hope to join you someday, Beach Bugs on me,  grin…

 

Categories: Q Flies | Tags: , , | 1 Comment

pic of the day…

photo courtesy of Dustin Sergent

photo courtesy of Dustin Sergent

Fly fishing the surf this morning out of Oceanside, our good friend Dustin Sergent nailed his PB halibut from the surf on one of my surf fly patterns, the Qs Beach Bug. Way to go Dustin!. “The halibut hit on the third cast into a lateral trough. Slammed it!”

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Categories: Q Flies, Surf Adventure | Leave a comment

yucatan adventure…

Local angler and fishing buddy, John Whitaker lands a nice baby tarpon on one of my new Pinched Crab prototypes a few weeks ago in the southern Yucatan.

Local angler and fishing buddy, John Whitaker lands a nice baby tarpon on one of my new Pinche crab prototypes a few weeks ago in the southern Yucatan. Seemed like this tarpon liked it. Click to enlarge. Photo courtesy  of John Whitaker.

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As soon as I am comfortable with how this fly swims I will post a step by step. Still working out the kinks… 🙂

Categories: Crab flies, Q Flies, Uncategorized | Tags: | 2 Comments

the mighty shad…

 

varoius mighty shads tied by Al Q using ep fibers, ostrich and sf blend. I usually weight them with a few turns of lead in the front part of the shank.

Various mighty shad flies tied by Al Q using ep fibers, ostrich and sf blend. I usually weight them with a few turns of lead in the front part of the shank. I like to tie these on a strong gamma or mustad #2 tarpon hook

Local angler, John Whitaker with a nice Mexican largemouth bass landed on a Q Mighty Shad Fly last week. He was fishing some mysterious lake south of Puerto Vallarta.

Local angler, John Whitaker with a nice Mexican largemouth bass landed on a Q Mighty Shad Fly last week. He was fishing Agua Milpas south of Puerto Vallarta.

Categories: Q Flies | Tags: | 1 Comment

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