This shad fly is part of The Pfeiffer Collection.
This is the ninth of eleven California shad flies in the collection originally found in the booklet How to Catch, Bone and Cook a Shad produced by the California Department of Fish and Game. I found this fly somewhat strange as the bead chain eyes looked to be tied on the bottom of the hook rather than on top of the hook where they would typically be tied to flip the hook so it rides hook tip up. I did try to tie a version with the bead chain on the top of the hook and flipped the throat and wing and it did not look bad, so you may want to give it a shot yourself if you are fishing slower, shallower water like the St. Johns River, where having a fly that rides hook tip up results in less snags. The original pattern calls for a white wing, but in this particular video I chose orange as I like to have some solid orange flies as well as white and orange.
California Shad Fly #9 Pattern:
Hook: Size 4
Thread: Orange Danville’s Flat Waxed Nylon
Eyes: Bead chain (tied on the bottom of the hook)
Tail: Orange Kip Tail
Body: Silver Oval Tinsel
Throat: Orange Hackle Fibers
Wing: White Kip Tail (I chose Orange)