Davy Wotton Shad

[Phil Lilley]

Davy Wotton Shad

Jeremy Hunt

Recipe:

Hook: Pencil popper hooks, 2/0, 1, 2,4

Thread: .006 monofilament

Lead wire: .25, or .30

Inner body: Wing-n-flash / dubbed around the shank

Outer body: Flexi- cord ¼ / any color you desire. Pearl and pearl silver are the popular ones.

Gills: Dave Whitlock SLF minnow gill

Eyes: 5/16”, 1/4 “

Additional materials for tying this fly right: zap-a- gap, permanent marker pens- black, red, olive green. I like the prisma color markers the best, but you can use what you got if need be.

Tying Instructions

The baitfish was created for the shad kills on our tail waters in the Ozarks. It was originated by Davy Wotton who know resides in Mountain Home, Arkansas. I have a lot of respect for his innovative patterns and might I add that they catch me a lot of fish. Especially this one because of how real it looks. I have put my own ideas to this pattern to create all kinds of different presentations so I could fish it in all water columns. This one that I am going to show you is the easiest way to tie this pattern, but you can use your imagination to do whatever you want. I just wanted to share this fly with you because it is the best shad pattern that I have fished and I can’t seem to find any how to steps on how to tie this pattern so I thought it would be great to post it.

First thing you want to do is weight the fly with lead and only wrap the lead behind the hump in the center of the hook. Just be sure to make room for you’re tail. You don’t want to wind the lead all the way to the back.

Start you’re thread behind the lead on the back side of the hook. Cut a piece of artic fox and tie it in. You can’t see how I tied the tail in, but if you look at the rest of my patterns with tails you can do it the same way as shown in those fly patterns. If you look at the picture you can see that I did butt my tail up with the lead wraps. One thing I will mention to you is don’t measure it to the length of the shank. You want it to be short. So measure it a half shank in length. Most shad’s if you look at them they have a shorter tail than the body.

The next thing you want to do is cut you some wing-n-flash and tie it in at the tail and it will lie on top of the artic fox tail. When you go to cut it to length, cut it a little past the tail. This will make the flash have more action and give it that wiggle look.

So once you have done that advance you’re thread up to the lead and know you’re ready to dub some of the wing-n-flash over the lead wire. Make sure you cover all the lead and only wrap the flash sparse. If you dub the body too fat, you will not be able to slide the flexi cord over it.

If you have any of those loose flash strands hanging all over the place after you are done dubbing go ahead and cut those off. You want the dubbing to be as close to the hook shank as possible.

You don’t need too much of the minnow gill dubbing. Just enough to wrap over the hump and that’s it. Just pay attention to where I am at with the dubbing on the hook shank. I always use that hump for my reference on any of these I tie. Now tie off the thread and you’re ready to slide the flexi-cord on. When you tie it off go ahead and put some zap-a-gap on you’re knot so that the fly really holds together.

When you go to measure the flexi-cord make sure you go a little past the eye of the hook so that you can form a slop in the belly. Measure from where you tied in you’re tail and the whole length of the shank and a little past the eye.

This part can be a little tricky. One way that I have fixed this problem is by putting some zap-a-gap on the top part of the flexi cord so that my thread grabs it and doesn’t slide down it when I go to cinch it around the shank. You will notice that when you do this step you will see the thread want to slide down to the tail forcing the thread to not stay on the cord. Another thing that has help with this step is burning the ends of the flexi-cord before you go to slide it on will form little notches that will keep you’re thread from sliding down. Make sure that the flexi-cord is not side ways when you go to cinch it in. Look at picture 11 you will see that the flexi-cord is setting side ways instead of up and down. Just twist it before you tie in you’re foam over the top.

Wapsi has made this part easier for all of us. They recently came out with different sizes of foam called “Foam Cylinders”. These patterns are usually tied with sizes 1/4 “for the larger sizes and 1/8 “for the smaller sizes. We are using the ¼ “size. These are round in size so we will need to cut this in half. I have found out that using a long straight pair of scissors will do the trick. I started off using razor blades but found out in a hurry that this wasn’t working. My foam always seemed crooked. The only thing you need to pay attention to when you go to cut this is don’t try to make to many cuts going up the foam. I try to make one solid cut so that I don’t see my cuts on the edges of the foam. So after you have made you’re cut tie one half of this in the back on top of the flexi cord. Tie you’re thread off and put some kind of glue on you’re wraps so it will hold together.

This is another tricky part to do. You will notice that you will have to do the same thing here as you did in the back with the flexi cord. You will see that it should be hanging over the eye. What you will need to do is push the cord back to form you’re belly and while you are holding the flexi-cord back just behind the eye you will need to grab you’re thread and some how tie it around the cord while holding the cord back so it doesn’t slide. What I do is put the tag end in my mouth and count that as my third hand. By having tension on the tag end with my mouth, this will allow you to be able to wind it around the cord and still holding the cord with you’re other hand. I hoe this makes since to everyone. I think in time you will get this. Once you have tied in you’re flexi-cord in fold the foam over and tie it in also.

Now you are ready to whip finish the fly and glue you’re eyes on.

You will see that I’m making a cut on the foam. You will see a lip hanging of the front and the back with the foam. I like to cut those even to keep the fly looking tapered with the foam.

Now when you glue the eyes on the cord, I have found out the best thing for this marine goop. This will definitely keep you’re eyes on longer than other glues.

Additional comments:

A fly rattle may be use in the middle of the shank on the under side by using epoxy.

You can go up or down in the size of the eye if you want too.

Also you can create how you want this fly tie ride in the water by how much foam you are using.

You can paint the cord with permanent markers to create different baitfish.

[Zach Bearden]

Hrmm When I tye in the White fox hair and then angel hair and then the Gray fox hair (or whatever the stuffs is... Im not really sure if this makes much of a difference. Does it for anybody else?

Oh yea and when I bought the pack it didnt have any white dubbing in it. But what it did have in it was red dubbing...

[Jeremy Hunt]

the white dubbing is something I do. It is a substitution for the flexi-cord they use for the inner body. Your suppose to use two pieces of the flexi-cord. I just skip that step all together and use dubbing to hide the lead wraps and to save on material. I don't think it matters if you use the inner piece or not. I have fished this fly going on about three years now and never had a problem with it coming apart.

The red dubbing is for the gill. if you look at the picture it shows when to use the dubbing for the gills. The artic fox tail is entirely up to what you want it to look like. The only reason why I do both colors is if you look at a baitfish the belly is always a whitish color and then followed by a shade of grey in the middle. I like the color combo of tying white, gray and then yellow for the tail. Then tie in the wing-n-flash on top of the artic fox. Hope this helps you out a little...

jh

[Bill Butts]

Jeremy and Phil,

Kudos to both of you for the excellent photos and pattern.

Jeremy, could you write a little essay on your experiences with this pattern?

I think anyone looking for ideas for shad patterns will be very appreciative, and those that don't tie could relate to more specific fishing tips and buy them from a shop.

Since you fish the White River a lot I would assume you use them in the winter in the upper river during the times stunned and dead shad are drifting through, but if you use them for bass or temperate bass (whites, hybrids, stripers) your thoughts and experiences in that arena would be helpful, too.

Thanks,

Bill

[thegundog.com]

Jeremy,

Quick question on your shad pattern... Is the foam on the fly there to keep it afloat , or to make the body appear more full? I noticed that there are lead wraps on the hook which I assume was for weight , or was it as a counterbalance for the foam ? I will be fishing on the White river the first weekend of march . Last year we used Clint Wilkinson as our guide and he showed us a shad pattern that he used . The water was running very fast but there was no Shad kill at that time. After seeing this thread on the forum , I decided maybe I should try to tie a few for myself . Since it was a spur of the moment decision to tie some flies , and never even considered tying anything than my normal flies, obviously I did not have the recommended material to use . I went to my second home, also known as Wal-Mart and hit the fabric department and came up with quite a few possibilities that could be used as substitutes in tying this fly.Before I'd tie anymore let me know if this fly should float on its side to simulate a dead fish , or should it float belly down to simulate a weakened shad. I would put a picture of my first attempt at a Shad pattern using the material that I got from Wal-Mart but I wouldn't want anybody to laugh at me . I will say this however, the material that I used , which is actually sheer ribbon with silver on each edge looks strikingly like Shad SKIN, even down to the tiny scales . Since it is basically sheer and therefore see through, the red gill material is easily seen through the body of the Shad . If you would like I could take a picture of it, and send it to you for judgment and your honest opinion as to whether it would work or not .

DogRunner

[Jeremy Hunt]

Hello Dogrunner,

Here is what I think will help you.....

Question: I noticed that there are lead wraps on the hook which I assume was for weight , or was it as a counterbalance for the foam ?

Answer: It is to counter balance the foam. It will raise up on the pause of the strip. The longer and faster the strip the more it will sink. The goal to this fly is to get the reaction of a dying shad. Kind of like a shad twitching or something. Depending on how much weight you want to wrap is up to you. The heavier the lead wire the faster it will get down. Also remember you can go lighter on the foam as well.

Question: Before I'd tie anymore let me know if this fly should float on its side to simulate a dead fish , or should it float belly down to simulate a weakened shad.

Answer: Of course the way to fish this is up to you. One thing you have to keep in mind when fishing this fly is to know when to fish it. Water plays a big roll on that. If they are generating, I would fish it floating. If you fish it floating then don’t weight it. If you want to fish it deep I wouldn’t even consider this fly. I would throw something in some type of marabou streamer. And remember to fish these right up at the dam to get the best results. If the water is off you could fish it like a baitfish. Throw to the bank and strip it back. Cover a lot of water when doing this. I hope this helps you my friend.

Send some pics. I’m anxious to see what you came up with. I know Clint. Have you ever fished Taneycomo?

Here are some baitfish patterns I’m tying for Phil for Alaska. I think they will work for trout to. That "new magic" head has some great action that I think any big fish would like to eat for dinner. Phil has these in his shop for sale so if you need some you can call the office and do a mail order and they would ship them to you or anybody looking for these. They're awesome and fun to tie with. simple to tie on and they WORK!!!

Let me know if you have any questions about these.

[thegundog.com]

OK I will send you a picture, and then you can decide if it is worthy of posting since I am not exactly sure how to post pictures yet.

Just remember that this is the first attempt at this, so try not to laugh. I accept honest criticism well.

Clint is a good and patient guide.On my last trip after a day and a half on the river he took time to stop by the Brass Door and have a drink with us.(Of course mine was non-alcoholic ) I will be attending a HOAFF get together on the first of March. It appears that there will be about 20 people attending. I will be the guest of one of my best friends and Pres. of HOAFF; Mark Borserine. His wife says that since I used his Gordon setter LADY BELLE- AKA "Tribal name":(Puppy Who Runs Like The Wind), for my avatar, I "will be presented much gifts" .... Mark has been very generous to me through out our dog training relationship, but actually that is not why I treat his dogs so special. He has helped me out in our Scouting events tremendously when I know it was a real hassle for him.

Yes I have fished Taneycomo for years; mostly in the winter as a way to keep from climbing the walls while waiting for Spring.

We actually have taken many trips with the Scouts who were taking leadership training, and made our trips "working weekends". I am sure that many of them are now avid fishermen because of our trips.

By the way, I am still waiting on someone to volunteer THE hot fly and recipe for below the dam for early February ... please! Seriously though I am sure that when I get there that I will be shown what is working and I am sure that I will spend lots of money at the shop buying materials, but it's more of a good will test now that I am hooked on this board.

Dog Runner

[thegundog.com]

Jeremy,

I emailed you a picture of my version of a Shad that has been run through the mill ...so to speak.

Can you give me your critique on my attempt?

\

Dog runner

[Jeremy Hunt]

E-mail it to flytiehunt@hotmail.com

I didn't recieve the last one for some reason.

jh

[Micheal Kyle]

Jeremy the fly you tied looks great and I think that the other baitfish that you have tied with the EP fibers look good aswell. You should come up here to the store or give a call and maybe we could swap some ideas.

Davy showed me how to tie this fly a couple of years ago when he was up here at my shop. I had seen them in a magazine but was unsure exactly how to tie them so he sat down with me and showed me one on one. Thanks

The Davy Wotton Shad has become one of my favorite bait fish patterns that I fish now, espeicaly if there has been a shad kill. (TROUT) The thing I like about this pattern is that if you want it on top fish it on a dry line if you want it to get down fish it on a sinking line and it will be. I feel that ever how you wish to fish the fly it will be efective just pay attenetion to the fish and let them dictate how you fish the fly. I'm sure other people have done this I'm sure I was not the first. And who knows I may be fishing totally wrong.

For the Whites, Hybrids and Stripers I have had pretty good luck with them I fished them some last year down in Tulsa and had pretty good luck epsecially when the fish were very actively feeding. One of my favorite places to fish them is up on Stockon Lake, I'm not sure how many whites that I have caught on them but it has been a bunch it is a very good fly especially when you fish it on a sink tip(150gr-250gr). You want to find the flats that open to deep water and is covered in wind. Thosands of bait fish and a lot of whites. You can sight fish to the schools of the Whites or if it is really windy and the water is all stired up you can blind cast to them. On thing that I will do is get out with my boat and use my graph to locate the bait fish and start casting because the white's will be around some where. I hope that answers some questions.

Michael