Copper Liz

It’s ostensibly a redfish fly, but I don’t live anywhere near redfish and I’ve never fished for them so I can’t really give you much on that front. But! I can tell you it’s great for a lot of other species too.  I first saw them in Lefty’s book on saltwater flies where there are 3 versions listed and immediately thought of mangroves. So, I tied a few and stuck them in my box then promptly forgot about them! It wasn’t till about 2 years later when Iwas  working some mangroves in Okinawa  and the weedguard  on my fly  got beat up and I started getting hung up when putting the fly in close, that I started mooching around my bag for a bendback that one of these caught my eye. The muddler version looked just the ticket, the water was a bit dirty  so the dark tone and water push seemed like a good shout. Being a bendback it’s great at coming through cover so there was no fear about going too deep into the sticks to keep my casts too short to be worthwhile.  The rest of the day was spent with mangrove jacks and other snapper species destroying my flies and leaders. It was excellent and just the kind of experience that really cements a new fly as a confidence pattern.

Since then, I’ve used them in Mexico again for jacks and other mangrove species, (some of which I don’t know the name of) in the Xcalak lagoon. I tie them on a lot while tubing for black bass, I’ve had largemouth and smallmouth on them, but they do best in cover for the largemouth in my experience. Channel cats and Amur catfish love them, especially the muddler version. Northern snakehead  will eat them  as they slither through the weeds as well.  I’ve a friend who now swears by them for the pacific tarpon in dirty brackish spot near his place in Okinawa.  I’m sure they’ll catch other species if you give them a go.

Here are the patterns:

Copper Liz No.1

Hook: Standard saltwater 1/0 with a bendback

Thread: Brown

Weight: 0.020 lead wire (optional)

Tail: Fluo red calf tail

Body: Tan chenille

Wing: Brown marabou

Flash: Copper flashabou (plenty)

Head: Brown deer hair spun and clipped to shape

Copper Liz no.2

Hook: Standard saltwater 1/0 with a bendback

Thread: Brown

Weight: 0.020 lead wire (optional)

Tail: Fluo red calf tail

Body: Gold Braid

Wing: Brown marabou

Flash: Copper flashabou (plenty)

Copper Liz No.3

Hook: Standard saltwater 1/0 with a bendback

Thread: Brown

Weight: 0.020 lead wire (optional)

Tail: Fluo red calf tail

Body: Tan chenille

Wing: Tan marabou

Flash: Copper flashabou (plenty)

 I don't have a video for this, but you don't need it if you've seen one of the others.

Dead simple. Deadly effective.  I might have to go to Hong Kong and see if I can try them on the burgeoning Redfish population that’s establishing itself over there.