What's the Story? Sometimes big fish eat tiny batifish. Sometimes you see it happen all around you and can't catch a thing. That gets frustrating. This fly was designed specifically to catch wintertime crappie and American shad feeding on schools of baby mosquitofish. It is tied on a short shank oversized hook and can hook and land large fish.
What's it Good For? The Foiled Again works well anytime fish are feeding on very small baitfish. I've used it primarily on the St. Johns River during the shad run to catch American shad, a variety of panfish and largemouth bass. It also works well in area lakes for bass and panfish.
How to Fish It: The Foiled Again is very easy to cast and surprisingly visible in the water. I usually use it where predators are actively feeding on tiny minnows but have also effectively fished the fly as a searching pattern.
When fishing still water I usually use a slow, steady retrieve. When fishing moving water I’ll use that same retrieve fished down and across the current and will also sometimes dead drift it like a nymph. Some of the most aggressive strikes happen when the fly is sinking below feeding fish or drifting with the current.
Tying Notes The thread covering the hook shank primarily serves to give the UV resin something to grab on to. It should extend a little way past the foil, especially in the front. Make sure you wrap the foil roll relatively loosely with gaps in between. The resin filling these gaps down to the hook shank gives the fly its durability. If the foil is wrapped too tightly around the entire hook shank it won’t bind to the hook and the body will slide around.
Tying Options You can change the profile and tail color to match forage fish in your area. Colored UV resins and powders will let you change the body color.
Available on our Website: Most of the materials needed to tie this fly are available on our website. You probably have some aluminum foil at home or you can find it at your grocery store. Click the links in the materials list below to purchase the available materials.
Put a hook in your vise and start the thread near the middle of the hook shank. Wrap back to just in front of the bend.
Select a grizzly marabou plume that is full and has a rounded shape. You will be tying it in on top of the hook shank just in front of the bend. Measure it so that the feather extends a hook length past the tie-in point. Tie it in then trim the butt end to a taper.
Bind the butt end down securely and continue winding the thread up towards the eye, creating a thread base that covers the rear two thirds of the hook shank.
Tie a whip finish and trim your thread.
Cut a strip of aluminum foil between half and three quarters of an inch wide. Fold the foil lengthwise several times. I like to fold it in thirds first, hiding the outside edges on the inside. Then fold it in half.
Roll the foil in on itself to create a rough rope or roll of foil. A flat piece will cover the shank equally well but will not allow resin to penetrate to the shank and may shade some resin from the UV light and keep it from curing.
Hold one end of the foil securely and wrap the other end around the hook shank up towards the eye. When you reach the front of the thread, cut the foil rope. Push the end around the hook to finish the last wrap.
You should now have a marabou tail with a layer of foil covering the rear two thirds of the hook shank. Use your fingers to mold the foil into a general fish shape, working with the direction of the wraps and continually tightening as you go. Pinch down the front and back to create a natural taper. Leave a little space at the front and back so the resin can bind to the hook shank. The foil doesn’t need to be smooth but make sure there aren’t any pieces sticking out too far from the hook.
Cover the foil with thin Solarez UV Resin, letting it work into the gaps and crevices. If the foil is loose, start by adding a little resin to the front and back and curing it to lock the foil to the hook shank.
When the resin is in the shape you want, cure it with the appropriate UV light. You can build the body in stages, but I find it easier to get a smooth, concentric body shape if I add all the resin at once.
