Mark's Sardina Fly

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Sardina Chronicles

Some guys just buy flies and tie them on when a guide tells them to.  Others like myself tie many of their own flies and are always looking for something that will do a better job.  Some fish are very selective in what they eat.  They have discerning eyes and can detect the difference between the fake and the real thing.  Particular populations of spring creek trout are legendary for their selectivity on certain hatches.  Many species of saltwater fish are at least as capable at detecting phony prey.  In the Sea of Cortez and along the Mexican Pacific Coast there are a host of hard pulling fish that eat Sardinas.  Many of these fish are extremely selective as to the size, color and movements of Sardinas. In the beginning, we used several of the established sardine and herring fly patterns. Fish would often charge our fly from many feet away only to reject and turn away only a few inches from the fly. It became apparent that a better Sardina fly was needed.  The process listed here is an abbreviated version of a three-season experiment to evolve the perfect Sardina fly.

Sardina or Flatiron Herring, Harengula thrissina: The Sardina, or Flatiron Herring, has a moderately deep body, iridescent olive/brown back, golden yellow lateral stripe, silver sides, and a black spot just behind the top of the gill cover. The Sardina, cannot be easily confused with any other sardine or herring due to its wide body and lack of elongated dorsal fin rays. Average size is 5-inches.  It reaches a length of 7-inches and is virtually weightless. It is normally found in the first 30 feet of the water column in massive schools over sandy bottoms.  In Mexican waters, it is found along the Pacific side of the Baja California peninsula south of Guerrero Negro, throughout the Sea of Cortez, and along the coast of the mainland south to Guatemala; it does not appear to be present around the oceanic islands, however.  Although it is a herring, in Mexico, this species is almost universally called a “Sardina,” or “sardine,” by natives and tourists alike.  The reason that Sardina are so popular for chum, is that they are easy to obtain and survive for long periods in a live-well bait tank.

My first close encounter with sardinas was in a bait tank in a panga at East Cape in the Sea of Cortez..  Mexican guides harvest them for live bait and chum.  Sardinas are weak swimmers and are easily caught by hand in the tank.  Thus they are easily examined, both in and out of the water.  You would think that this is the perfect opportunity for a fly tier to copy the exact size and color of the organism.  In fact it proved to be the perfect deception.  Sardinas that are in the wild look quite different from the same fish

that have been netted and especially different from one who have spent several hours in a bait tank.  At left is a sardina that has spent most of the day in a bait tank.  Many of the scales are loosend from the body and many are missing all together.

At left is a Photo Shop rendering where I am attempting to turn the fish into a fly on paper.  In the beginning many of my flies contained a lot of silver flash in the sides.  This mimicked the loosened scales of the bait tank fish.  I tied many variations along the same theme.  The more silver

that was tied into the fly, the less strikes I got.  This is because the sides of fresh fish reflect as white instead of silver.  Sardinas have have a prominent false eye spot on the each side that is nearly identical in size as their pupils.  What the exact purpose for this is not known, but tests using

flies with or without the spot weight heavily in favor of the spot.  This kind of research in fly tying ultimately gives the angler a few insights as to how well predator fish see their prey. Indications are that they see what they eat in great detail.  In Mexico sardinas are used extensively as chum to bring sport fish close to the boat where they can be fished with fly gear.  It appears that bait that is fresh with attract more fish than bait that has been getting beat up in the live well for several hours.  Indications are that Dorado, Rooster Fish and Jack Crevelle like there meat fresh and healthy.