Fatal Attraction
Fly of the Month / February 2015
Original Pattern by Dan Blanton / Tied by Mark Kolanowski
The Fatal Attraction is the fly fisherman’s answer to the spinnerbait. Back in my days of throwing hardware in pursuit of bass a spinnerbait was a go to lure that put a lot of fish in my live well. One of the Largemouth Basses favorite food sources is baby sunfish. This version of the Fatal Attraction is tied in the colors of a Pumpkinseed Sunfish.
This fly features a lot of flash that gets a predator fish’s attention. This is what some of the best known spinnerbaits like a Rooster Tails, Panther Martins and Mepps achieve. Just ask Russell Husted’s son Ryan how effective these little spinners are. He is deadly using these with a spinning rod on the rivers and creeks in Colorado.
The fly and fly angler does have a distinct advantage over the hardware version. A traditional spinnerbait because of its inherent weight will sink quickly when the retrieve is paused or stopped. The Fatal Attraction can be paused and twitched in the strike zone. It hovers and pulses with enticing animation. Because the sink rate is slow you can keep the fly above the weed beds and hydrilla or micro stripped next to a log or laydown. Then hang on! A strip strike works well and keeps the fly in the fish zone for a second attack if the fish missed it on the first one.
Fly Fish Ohio’s Video of a Fatal Attraction
Warm Water Fly Tyer’s Fatal Attraction
Resources and Fun Stuff
Podcast : The Itinerant Angler hosted by Zac Matthews. These podcasts features some of the behind the scenes and business side of fly fishing. Zac interviews artists, photographers, guides, magazine publishers, equipment manufacturers and the movers and shakers of our sport. He has talked with our local TFO rod maker Rick Pope, about how Tibor reels came to be, what April Vokey is up to these days, and why Fishpond and Simms became such successful brands are just a few that are worth checking out. Visit Zac’s website HERE.
Book : The Curtis Creek Manifesto by Sheridan Andreas Mulholland Anderson. Do not be fooled by the comic book look of this slim classic volume. Sheridan was a true trout bum. A wealth of information is conveyed with wit, humor and detailed pen and ink artwork.
Tying Materials : www.featheremporium.com This website is almost exclusively dedicated to feathers. The selection is huge and features great information about what feathers are suitable for different tying applications. The photos are very detailed showing the color and texture of available feathers. If you are looking for that rare Cree rooster cape or even a full mount of a Whiting Farms chicken raised for its tying feathers look no further. Check out the Impeyan/Himalayan Monal Pheasant Skin Bird of 9 colors for $ 500.00 My wife nixed this ! : ) But I picked up a really nice barred olive hen saddle for $15.00 and a Hungarian Partridge skin for $25.00. Free shipping on all orders.
Music : Rome / Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi. This was shared with me by a co-worker with eclectic taste. It features Jack White and Nora Jones and is a modern tribute to the Italian music scores of the spaghetti western movie genre. It is getting a lot of play in my fly tying cave.
Beer : Breckenridge Vanilla Porter / Brewed in Breckenridge Colorado this brown ale has just a hint of chocolate and vanilla. Tasty!
—Mark
Anyone know where I can buy the Fatal Attraction fly? I’m not a tier, but I’d love to have some of them to try on bass and bluegill.
Thanks!
John