Martyn White | Thursday, 4 January 2024
As things get back to normal after the new year, my thoughts are turning to the pending return of the seabass from their spawning grounds. I've already seen a couple of photos of fish showing up on social media, but I'm pretty sure some of them are older pics of prespawn captures, so I'm not in a huge hurry to get out after them yet. It's getting close, but I'll stick with carp for the next week or so.
I always take spawning time to sort out my seabass box for the season, it's really mid-seaseon as I don't really fish for them much in the warmer months but I can't really muster much enthusiasm for that job while I'm keeping my warm water boxes stocked. I'm still continuing with my diversification process and also bringing some old patterns back that have fallen out of use for whatever reason (my previous addiction to the rubber candy being the main factor usually). AS part of that, I've been playing around with albiewhores this week, using UV resin instead of the original hot-glue and working out a set of tying steps that suit me. I'm not usually one for changing things, but hot glue is a real pain to work with and I hate it. Plus, I've never found one that is really clear and non yellowing. I've seen videos where people omit anny kind of glue or reenforcement just palmering the hackle and sticking a fish mask on front, but I never liked that. IT looks a bit crap to me and it definietly sacrafices durability in favour of ease. If the fly only lasts half a trip as a result, I'm not keen; simpler doesn't always mean better. So UV resin it is, easier to work with at least as durable as hot glue, clear and non yellowing. It maybe takes a bit longer to tie, but I thnk I've got the steps down-thefact of having to cure the resin between stages makes things a bit different from using hot glue. I might change things over time If I end up tying large numbers of them and work out how to shave a few minutes off the tying time, but for now I'm happy.
Even if you use the hot-glue you can get a nice, durable fly that is non fouling and is a great imitation of small bait like smely and anchovies. I'd definitely recommend them to any saltwater tyer who hasn't tried them. My Mate Raslan is visiting from Malaysia in a couple of weeks and wants to get out so I'll be able to put them to the test assuming the temperature change isn't too shocking for him.