I’ve been on the fence about writing this one. There are three distinct patterns I’ve come up with that have had a profound effect on a particular target. In 29 years of fly fishing, not the greatest strike rate. One of those was “invented” by another angler about two years after telling me of its success in the Florida Panhandle (and subsequently blocking me and anyone who called him out on social media thereafter). That leaves the other 2. My crab is on the brink of the same fate. This is not a new thing in fly fishing. Rays swimming crab was invented by Cathy Beck after it was handed to her by the guide Ray gifted it to in the same season. So in an active defense strategy against all things plagiarised, I present the Vegan Meatball.

A version of the pattern was initially conceived as a quick tie for St Francois milkfish feeding on the bottom. On return from that trip, I started chasing my favourite version of Vaal yellowfish -the ones in the skinny glides just beyond all the rocks that want to break your ankles. The biggest of these specimens would tail on specific rocks and suck algae off of many. My initial trick was to just consistently present nymphs to these fish. Sometimes it would work, sometimes it wouldn’t. It just never felt like it was what the wish were after. The victories not convincing enough.

Earlier this season the rock suckers were back, and the meatball got its shot. The fly was so absurd that it took me many fish to convince myself I was in fact onto something. Some fish turning and following far downstream before eating.

The best bit for me? Two things;

1. The fly is large enough that a eat is extremely visible (generally id set on body language on nymph cast fish)
2. The fish seem far less leader shy due to the big fly and less delicate presentation.

Its a pattern that has transformed my shallow water fly fishing for smallmouth yellowfish. Its also seen success on common carp, mirror carp and grass carp (and of course, Milkfish, although that version has some uv flash in).

The recipe is simple. A brush of green craft fur and tarantula legs. Either green and rust/brown, or green and red. Sometimes fish will respond to the red legs more aggressively. I have no idea what it imitates, but my guess would be somewhere between a bird poo and the micro algae these fish eat on (which is full of worms). Adjust hook type for sink rate. I go from a Diachi chinu #4 on the light end to a kona carp hook for faster sink rate.

The presentation? I generally cast about 50cm ahead of the fish so the fly sinks to its depth in time.