Jannie Visser and I had some great fishing for silver kob on the False Bay reefs some time ago (post coming up). We found that natural colours outfished the yellow and orange DMAs that usually works quite well for kob. I’ve been busy at the vice, filling the gaps and have been tying them a bit differently than I usually do. Normally I tie them very simply, because you tend to lose a lot of them when fishing over reefs. The DMA is Jimmy Eagleton’s pattern – “Dropshot My Ass” and my variation on it is tied on a jig hook with ducktail, flash and synthetic fibre collar with a sculpin helmet weight.

But since I have a lot of time on my hand at the moment, I have decided to tie an improved version, the objective being a fly with a bit more body. Here is the SBS for my improved DMA.

Start with tying in flash on a jig hook. I like using the Gamagatsu EWG 60 degree jig hook 3/0.

I like to use blended bucktail in order to get the desired colour tones I want. To do this, take two clumps of bucktail of equal length.

Blend them together like so. Remember to stack them so that the tips align.

Tie the blended bucktail in. First tie it in lightly and then distribute the bucktail evenly around the hook shank before tying down. Secure with superglue and trim the flash tips.

Tie in a few strands of crystal flash of your choice. For white and grey DMA’s I like silver and / or pearl.

Blend another clump of bucktail but use 30% white and 70% grey hairs. Tie the bucktail in reverse bulkhead style. Make sure to keep this clump on the sparse side.

Use a hair clip to keep the bucktail in place while you build a tread dam that will keep the bucktail in the folded back position you want.

At this point I like to add a little bit of UV flash. I try to use different types of flash in order to create a more varied pattern.

Next I use a dubbing loop spinner to make a brush using grey sculpting fibre and grey flash.

Roll the brush forward while coming out the fibres after each turn. Finish with a small amount of grey flash.

Finish off with sculpin helmets and stick on eyes.

I like to fish these flies on a 9 weight rod, intermediate line and 12 foot leader.