Black flies are a good tactic in the brightest light.
Soft baits come in black, and many other dark hues. Just take a look at any manufacturer’s color chart and you’ll see myriad choices. Soft bait manufacturers such as DOA Lures make their smaller plastic Terror-Eyz jig in a handful of colors, but the dark-brown version is the most popular of all among anglers fishing at night, or in discolored, muddy or tannic water.
Striper and cobia fans know that black seems to infuriate their favorite fish. The Berkley Powerbait black eel, for example, is a great choice, rigged on a large jighead, for both cobia and stripers. I keep this lure rigged and ready on my cobia rod on every summertime fishing trip.
Fly fishermen are probably the most opinionated, divisive anglers on the water. Some will claim that three strands of gold flash on a 1-inch fly spells the difference between catching and not catching. However, a question regarding the use of dark flies posed to two highly experienced fly-fishing guides, Marcia Foosaner of Stuart, Florida and John Kumiski, a regular on Florida’s Mosquito Lagoon, got immediate similar response.
“Black has been very good to me. Clouser minnows and rabbit strip flies for reds, black drum, and trout, all-black flies for tarpon, you name it, black flies are very good. I wouldn’t leave home without them. They seem to work especially well in discolored water,” said Kumiski.
Conventional anglers often prefer darker baits in tannin-stained water. Fly anglers should follow their lead.
Marcia added strength to my own theories, saying, “I am absolutely sure of one thing that hasn’t failed me over the years. Nothing has been more productive for me with tarpon than a black fly. I don’t care if I am in the crystal clear ocean or in the stained estuary; it is like black makes them mad and they just have to kill it.”
If the water has the least amount of stain or mud and I’m throwing at reds or blind-casting for seatrout, a black Clouser tied on a No. 2 hook hits the water first. Long, slow retrieves seem better, too. Again, it’s probably contrast that’s the key to all of our success with black flies. But in dirty or dark water, long, slow retrieves with flies or lures that push a lot of water or that send off vibrations really seem to incite the most aggressive striking instincts in a tremendous variety of gamefish.
