Patterns for Strippers and Shad

486 views
Skip to first unread message

Tyson

unread,
Feb 28, 2017, 12:52:24 PM2/28/17
to Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders
Hey Folks, Which patterns do you recommend for Shad and Stippers?

HeaveToo

unread,
Feb 28, 2017, 1:29:41 PM2/28/17
to Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders
Sure, I'll bite on this one.  LOL

For stripers there isn't much better than a Clowser's minnow.  Easy to tie and easy to find.  My fav color pattern is Chartreuse and white.

For shad I primarily fish a pattern that I created called a Red Headed Flasher.  If you search the board you will see a post on how to tie it with pictures.  This is a very easy fly to tie.  Commercially you can buy all kinds of shad darts.  Flashy is good for shad from my experience.

Charlie Church

unread,
Feb 28, 2017, 1:54:23 PM2/28/17
to Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders
Shad: 
I have also done well on small clousers (size 6) where I trim the tails off behind the hooks. I would tie a bunch up in different color patterns (Blue over white, Chart over white, Orange over white, pink over white). I also would always fish two flies for them and keep swapping colors until I find what they are dialed in on. Honestly though, I think they aren't that picky. I'm more convinced the key is finding fish, getting it in front of them and presenting it well. I have seen people catch them on some pretty haggard patterns.

If you are buying from a store, I know Tommy Mattoli's patterns are pretty popular. and orvis carries them.



Stripers:
Baitfish patterns. A clouser or a deceiver is a safe bet.  Stripers are targeted by so many fly anglers through out the country that searching online will turn up tons of really cool patterns people use. 


Rob Snowhite

unread,
Feb 28, 2017, 5:47:43 PM2/28/17
to tidal-potoma...@googlegroups.com
Here is my current shad box. For strippers the Clouser Deep Minnow or a Double Deceiver should work. We catch stripers on shad flies regularly. 

image1.JPG

Sent from my iPhone
--
http://www.tpfr.org
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to tidal-potomac-fly-...@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to tidal-potoma...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tidal-potomac-fly-rodders/f7c1b400-2455-4eba-803a-3f41c3ce74f3%40googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

Preston Knowles

unread,
Mar 1, 2017, 7:08:40 AM3/1/17
to Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders
What is the typical tippet test and line weight you prefer for these stripers?


On Tuesday, February 28, 2017 at 5:47:43 PM UTC-5, Rob Snowhite wrote:
Here is my current shad box. For strippers the Clouser Deep Minnow or a Double Deceiver should work. We catch stripers on shad flies regularly. 

image1.JPG

Sent from my iPhone

On Feb 28, 2017, at 1:54 PM, Charlie Church <charlie...@gmail.com> wrote:

Shad: 
I have also done well on small clousers (size 6) where I trim the tails off behind the hooks. I would tie a bunch up in different color patterns (Blue over white, Chart over white, Orange over white, pink over white). I also would always fish two flies for them and keep swapping colors until I find what they are dialed in on. Honestly though, I think they aren't that picky. I'm more convinced the key is finding fish, getting it in front of them and presenting it well. I have seen people catch them on some pretty haggard patterns.

If you are buying from a store, I know Tommy Mattoli's patterns are pretty popular. and orvis carries them.



Stripers:
Baitfish patterns. A clouser or a deceiver is a safe bet.  Stripers are targeted by so many fly anglers through out the country that searching online will turn up tons of really cool patterns people use. 


--
http://www.tpfr.org
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to tidal-potomac-fly-rodders+unsub...@googlegroups.com.

Yambag Nelson

unread,
Mar 1, 2017, 9:28:21 AM3/1/17
to Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders
Depends which ones you are fishing for.  For the big cows that will be showing up in a few weeks, probably a 10 or 11 wt and I have no idea what kind of tippet.  For the schoolies that will show up a bit later and are around through the fall, I use a six weight with an intermediate line and a couple feet of 1x or 2x.

Caleb

unread,
Mar 1, 2017, 9:33:34 AM3/1/17
to Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders
These sound like good recommendations for stripers, but for strippers I would probably use a rig like this

Image result for i gotcha a dollar


On Wednesday, March 1, 2017 at 7:08:40 AM UTC-5, Preston Knowles wrote:

Danny Barrett

unread,
Mar 1, 2017, 12:05:58 PM3/1/17
to tidal-potoma...@googlegroups.com
Not sure if anyone else has done this.  For shad on the Potomac and Rap, I throw little bass spoons on my 8 weight switch.  Just your basic Walmart 3 per pack, like 1/8" long.  Dirt cheap. I think the metal reflects like a small bait fish.  Sink tips and a few feet of 15lb fluro. Anyone else ever have luck with these?
On Wed, Mar 1, 2017 at 8:13 AM, Caleb <cbs...@smcm.edu> wrote:
These sound like good recommendations for stripers, but for strippers I would probably use a rig like this

Image result for i gotcha a dollar

On Wednesday, March 1, 2017 at 7:08:40 AM UTC-5, Preston Knowles wrote:
What is the typical tippet test and line weight you prefer for these stripers?

On Tuesday, February 28, 2017 at 5:47:43 PM UTC-5, Rob Snowhite wrote:
Here is my current shad box. For strippers the Clouser Deep Minnow or a Double Deceiver should work. We catch stripers on shad flies regularly. 

image1.JPG

Sent from my iPhone

On Feb 28, 2017, at 1:54 PM, Charlie Church <charlie...@gmail.com> wrote:

Shad: 
I have also done well on small clousers (size 6) where I trim the tails off behind the hooks. I would tie a bunch up in different color patterns (Blue over white, Chart over white, Orange over white, pink over white). I also would always fish two flies for them and keep swapping colors until I find what they are dialed in on. Honestly though, I think they aren't that picky. I'm more convinced the key is finding fish, getting it in front of them and presenting it well. I have seen people catch them on some pretty haggard patterns.

If you are buying from a store, I know Tommy Mattoli's patterns are pretty popular. and orvis carries them.



Stripers:
Baitfish patterns. A clouser or a deceiver is a safe bet.  Stripers are targeted by so many fly anglers through out the country that searching online will turn up tons of really cool patterns people use. 


--
http://www.tpfr.org
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to tidal-potomac-fly-rodders+unsubsc...@googlegroups.com.

--
http://www.tpfr.org
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to tidal-potomac-fly-rodders+unsub...@googlegroups.com.

Andrew Sarcinello

unread,
Mar 1, 2017, 12:57:51 PM3/1/17
to Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders
Caleb, that was my Halloween costume this year. It attracted a homeless guy at one of the metro stops...

Rusty Shackleford

unread,
Mar 1, 2017, 1:33:44 PM3/1/17
to Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders
I've had great luck with Rob's chartreuse snowhite damsel, as well as his other shad patterns (particularly in pink).  I bought some spoons this year to try out, so we'll see how that goes.

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to tidal-potomac-fly-rodders+unsub...@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to tidal-potoma...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tidal-potomac-fly-rodders/f7c1b400-2455-4eba-803a-3f41c3ce74f3%40googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

--
http://www.tpfr.org
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to tidal-potomac-fly-rodders+unsub...@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to tidal-potoma...@googlegroups.com.

arthur...@gmail.com

unread,
Mar 1, 2017, 9:29:40 PM3/1/17
to tidal-potoma...@googlegroups.com


Sent from my iPhone

On Feb 28, 2017, at 5:47 PM, Rob Snowhite <r...@robsnowhite.com> wrote:

Here is my current shad box. For strippers the Clouser Deep Minnow or a Double Deceiver should work. We catch stripers on shad flies regularly. 

Steven Butler

unread,
Mar 2, 2017, 10:41:56 AM3/2/17
to Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders
Although strippers is a possibly a different story, I was curious if anyone had any tips for catching striper specifically over shad? I've had some success with the timing sinking line strategy for shad on the Snowhite style flies, but not really any using the same type of strategy for striper with clousers/etc. Is it time spent and luck? Or is there some strategy I have hitherto yet to try.


On Wednesday, March 1, 2017 at 9:29:40 PM UTC-5, arthur noglak wrote:


Sent from my iPhone

On Feb 28, 2017, at 5:47 PM, Rob Snowhite <r...@robsnowhite.com> wrote:

Here is my current shad box. For strippers the Clouser Deep Minnow or a Double Deceiver should work. We catch stripers on shad flies regularly. 

<image1.JPG>

Sent from my iPhone

On Feb 28, 2017, at 1:54 PM, Charlie Church <charlie...@gmail.com> wrote:

Shad: 
I have also done well on small clousers (size 6) where I trim the tails off behind the hooks. I would tie a bunch up in different color patterns (Blue over white, Chart over white, Orange over white, pink over white). I also would always fish two flies for them and keep swapping colors until I find what they are dialed in on. Honestly though, I think they aren't that picky. I'm more convinced the key is finding fish, getting it in front of them and presenting it well. I have seen people catch them on some pretty haggard patterns.

If you are buying from a store, I know Tommy Mattoli's patterns are pretty popular. and orvis carries them.



Stripers:
Baitfish patterns. A clouser or a deceiver is a safe bet.  Stripers are targeted by so many fly anglers through out the country that searching online will turn up tons of really cool patterns people use. 


--
http://www.tpfr.org
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to tidal-potomac-fly-rodders+unsub...@googlegroups.com.

--
http://www.tpfr.org
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to tidal-potomac-fly-rodders+unsub...@googlegroups.com.

Dalton Terrell

unread,
Mar 2, 2017, 10:57:36 AM3/2/17
to Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders
Being vaguely privy to how the guys are successful with spinning rods and jigs (touching the bottom, jigged up a couple feet, then sinking back to the bottom, all while drifting), I'd say it isn't easy to replicate this with a fly.

But take a look at this post: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!searchin/tidal-potomac-fly-rodders/t-17|sort:relevance/tidal-potomac-fly-rodders/ijbZeOSdNCo/vgS8NUhwhfUJ

Dan picked up a decent migratory fish before moving North, using T-17, mono running line and a 6/0 fly.

Dalton

Remick

unread,
Mar 2, 2017, 11:57:50 AM3/2/17
to Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders
Strippers = women of the night
Stripers = striped bass

Herring imitations work best. Also don't be afraid to throw two bigish streamers in tandem. Drift is key to managing fly line. Swinging flies leads to snags but if you can stay in touch with the fly line i.e. keeping it straight and with no drag, you'll be able to fish deep without the pitfalls and constant snags.

Yambag Nelson

unread,
Mar 2, 2017, 12:43:59 PM3/2/17
to Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders
If you fish fletchers, you will see that the people targeting stripers are primarily drifting the Virginia shoreline using bait or jigs.  As was mentioned, the action they use is very difficult to replicate with a fly rod using anything close to normal flyfishing techniques.  The occasional fish will randomly hit a clouser or shad fly, but as far as I know those aren't the really big migratory fish (although still bigger than the schoolies).  in my opinion, the combination of where they are holding, the ridiculous amount of bait available (i.e real food) and possibly an interest in spawing makes them a tough target.   

If you wanted to target them over shad, I would use something very large that won't be of interest to the shad.  And try to get down deep in those areas along the VA shoreline.  Also, try to get out at low light conditions.  Either very early or late.  Unfortunately, this will require having your own boat as fletchers wants them returned well before dusk.

Ashley Frohwein

unread,
Mar 3, 2017, 8:10:24 AM3/3/17
to Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders

namfos

unread,
Mar 3, 2017, 9:10:04 AM3/3/17
to Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders
LOL!  Might be a good idea to de-barb before you put in in her thong.

Mark

Caleb

unread,
Mar 3, 2017, 11:48:58 AM3/3/17
to Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders
That's awesome.  

MikeV

unread,
Mar 10, 2017, 7:07:19 PM3/10/17
to Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders

MikeV

unread,
Mar 12, 2017, 10:54:36 AM3/12/17
to Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders
20170312_002244.jpg

MikeV

unread,
Mar 12, 2017, 11:03:28 AM3/12/17
to Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders
Tails are a bit too long on my initial efforts to tie shad flies... I think, will trim them down some. I need to buy some chanelle and ostrich plums to better tie a bunch of snowhite damsels and darts,puffs...

I've never fished for shad, looking forward to it.

Apparently size 6 hooks are prefered. Size 4 and even 10 were mentioned. Should I continue using 6s alone?

TurbineBlade

unread,
Mar 12, 2017, 1:16:54 PM3/12/17
to Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders
I like the #10 scud style hooks for those damsels.  I don't really care so much about the size, but mainly that they're a 2x strong (thicker) hook. 

Gene
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages