This Months Fly is the Talon Tarpon Red and White.

The TTRW is a direct result of my chasing Australian Tarpon. These fish, Megalops cyprinoides, average 450mm in length in Australian waters, with fish as large as 1.2mts being recorded.

These Tarpon are mainly located in the northern sections of Australia from northern New South Wales to Northern Western Australia.

They inhabit both the fresh and blue saltwater, my fishing areas are just above the tidal sections, where the fish live all year round.

A 450mm fish on a 6w is a tropical clone for a Trout, because Tarpon eat, shrimp, baitfish and insects on the surface, and to see a 500mm Tarpon cruise up and smash your fly totally blows the cholesterol out of your veins in a rush and they can be just as selective as Trout with what they will or will not eat.

The fish just above the tidal areas also appear to jump more than the sea or freshwater fish, why, nobody knows.

In a 'normal' year I would average over 100 fish grassed and released with the smallest being 350mm and the largest 600mm, thanks mainly to the TTRW.

This fly represents a shrimp and swims with a vertical up and down movement controlled by the location of the eyes on the shank.

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Material you will require:
Hook : Talon low water Salmon # 6 or # 4, the LWS hook give the fly it's special balance or any other good LWS Hook.
Thread : Talon fine mono or any other fine mono type thread, for the best effect use only fine mono with this fly. Not the course cheap mono threads.

Body : Talon Glow in the Dark thread.
Eyes : Bead chain to suit the hook size, painted.
Tail : Talon Glow in the Dark thread.
Top wing : Pink Arctic Fox Body hair.
Middle wing : White Arctic Fox Tail hair.
Bottom Wing : White Arctic Fox hair.
Lower wing : Talon Peral Flash, violet or any other soft, flashes in low light material.
Head cement: Clear or clear nail polish.

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STEPS
1. Tie in place the bead chain eyes.   2. Fix the tail in place, this is 2 threads of Glow in the Dark.   3. Bind on the GID thread for the body.   4. Paint the eyes on bead chain and allow to dry.
5. Bottom wing. Select amount equal to match stick of Arctic Fox Tail and bind into place.   6. Lower wing. Amount about half the thickness of a match stick is required, bind into place.
7. Turn the fly over and select an amount of Arctic Fox Tail equal to the thickness of a match, tie into place.   8. Tie in the pink Arctic Body, the size should be about 1/4 of the white middle wing. Tie in backwards and then fold over. This will cause the pink wing to flair upwards, when dry, however when wet, it seems to allow the wing to push upwards increasing the wing's movement with any movement of the leader. Click on the finished fly for a larger image. To close, click the cross in the top right hand side.

This is a very quick and simple fly to make, by all levels of tiers. And represents a shrimp/prawn's movement in the water.

The position of the eyes is critical, therefore experiment with your chosen hook for the optimum placement as the fly must have a vertical, up-down movement with every strip, then sink nose downwards when stopped.

Variations : Replace the pink top wing with black, great from Bream, with Chartreuse, for Flathead and Trevally/Skip-jacks, dark blue, for Salmon, Shad, Blues/Tailor and Yellowtail Kingfish.

How to fish this fly : With a Intermediate line and Fluorocarbon tippet. Retrieve, 3 short sharp strips, 150mm/4inches each, stop and wait, for a count of 5 repeat.