Kobberbassen

Saltwater fly imitating shrimp and scuds, for sea trout. Beginner. Frank Jensen, 1996.

A short Krystal Flash tail and a shaggy, teased-out copper dubbing body with a copper wire rib, on a short-shank, wide-gape hook.

Materials

Steps

  1. Attach thread Attach the thread at 90% of the way along the shank with a few turns and trim the tag end.
  2. Wrap thread Wrap the thread to the start of the bend in touching turns.
  3. Tie in: copper krystal flash Tie in the copper krystal flash, leaving 0.4× the gape sticking out behind. A few strands, trimmed short.
  4. Tie in: copper wire Tie in the copper wire with a few firm thread turns.
  5. Dub: copper lite brite or angel hair Twist a thin noodle of copper lite brite or angel hair onto the thread and wrap it forward to 88% of the way along the shank. A loose noodle, fuller in the middle and front like a scud's back.
  6. Wind: copper wire Wind the copper wire forward to 88% of the way along the shank in 5 turns. Open turns; tease the dubbing out underneath first.
  7. Tie off: copper wire Tie off the copper wire with a few thread turns and trim the excess.
  8. Whip finish Form a small head, whip finish with 5 turns and cut the thread. Tease again so the fibres stream back and down.

History

Frank Jensen's fly from 1996. GlobalFlyFisher sees it as two strains run together: Jensen's Kobberbassen and Morten Kristiansen's Kobberlusen, the Copper Louse, which began as a somewhat more complex fly. Both share the copper dubbed body, and the names now cover much the same fly. Tyers add tails, shellbacks, legs and ribs, but in GlobalFlyFisher's words "essentially all you need is copper dubbing of some kind".

Fishing it

A sea-trout fly for clear, shallow coastal water where gammarids are about, often fished as a small dropper ahead of a bigger point fly. Retrieve it in short pulls with stops, or with a steady hand-twist, to copy the darting and gliding of the naturals. Tied small it also serves in fresh water as a scud or cress bug.

Sources