This season we were joined by our good friend and long time Deneki guest, Frank Carlton, at Andros South. He introduced us to one of his favorite bonefish flies, a pattern he referred to as the ‘Orange Crush.’
Knowing how long he’s fished in the Bahamas, we spun a few up and wouldn’t you know, they work! A glorified ‘clouser style’ pattern, the Orange Crush features just about everything we like in our bonefish flies – a large profile, bead chain eyes, and plenty of orange. If you’re thinking about fishing on South Andros, you’re going to want a few of these in your box.. Here’s how to tie them.
Orange Crush Clouser – Tying Instructions
Materials:
Hook: TMC 811s, Sizes 2-6.
Thread: UTC 140 Denier, White AND Fire Orange.
Eyes: Medium Silver Beadchain Eyes.
Tail/Body: White Bucktail.
Flash: Pearl Krystal Flash.
Under Wing: Tan Bucktail.
Over Wing: Fluorescent Orange Arctic Fox.
Step 1: Starting with white thread, start your thread at the eye of the hook and wrap 1/3 of the way down the shank. Tie in beadchain eyes at this point using figure eight wraps of thread.Step 2: Prepare a small clump of white bucktail approximately two times the length of the shank. Trim the butt ends square for a tidy tie in point.Step 3: Catch in the bucktail in front of the eyes. Pull the bucktail back tight, and advance the thread to just behind the eyes.Step 4: Cover the bucktail with turns of thread to create a body along the shank of the hook. Use your thumb and forefinger of your left hand to pinch the clump of bucktail together on top of the shank of the hook while wrapping. This will keep the hair from spinning around the shank, keeping it on top of the shank as seen in the photo above.Step 5: Cover the body with touching turns of thread to create a smooth body, advance the thread to the eye of the hook, whip finish, and trim.Step 6: Turn the hook over in the vise and attach orange thread at the eye of the hook. Cover the head of the fly with touching turns of orange thread to in front of the eyes so that no white thread can be seen at the head of the fly.Step 7: Catch in a few strands of pearl Krystal Flash. Here, we doubled over two strands making four strands total. Trim slightly longer than bucktail.Step 8: Catch in a clump of Tan bucktail in front of the eyes, approximately the same size and length as the white bucktail.Step 8: Catch in an over wing of orange in front of the eyes. Traditionally, this pattern was tied with orange bucktail, however we substituted fluorescent orange arctic fox fur for added movement, which we’ve found to work really well!Step 9: Create a clean head, whip finish, and cement.
