Friday Fly Day - Whitebait Flies

So the fishing has been slow the past few days but by changing flies regularly and switching up the retrieve, enough fish have been coming to the net in the estuary. When I switch out my whitebait patterns there are a few considerations I take into account. In slower margins I like fishing materials such as marabou, or rabbit that activate and move with every pull and twitch of the rod tip. When the tides are pulling, or in clearer water then a sparse matuka style fly is my go to. I consider size to be a biggie. Accents, flash and colour, whether a simple splash or the entire wing The biggest consideration however is the profile and materials. If my Grey Ghost isn’t cutting it, instead of switching to another feather-wing pattern I’ll switch to a rabbit or vice versa. Maybe a hard bodied pattern will move through the water different than a fur body. What if a heavy cone will move the fly in a way the fish may respond to better than an unweighted thread head? Even a simply Lefty’s Loop will give a fly more movement. Here are a few trusted options to look to from the Manic Fly Collection to help you to crack the code this spring: Slick Dorothy Slick Ghost Slick Orbit Classic Rabbit Silver Mega Rabbit Silver Fresh Candy Grey Fresh Candy Olive Dore's Mr Glister I always keep the Mr Glister handy when hitting the tidal reaches to simply something different. If your silveries aren’t doing it, switch to the bulkier, darker profile.