Favorite Flies #5 - The Sneaky Duck

 By David Hutton, Palmetto Fly n Fish

CHECKING All THE BOXES ...
"The Sneaky Duck"

    If you want a unique fish catching surface fly, one that is unlike the other "bugs and poppers" out there, The Sneaky Duck is for you.
    This  pattern shot onto my radar thanks to friend and fishin' pal, Donald "Don" Schmotzer. He found the pattern in the Spring 2011 issue of "FLY TYER" magazine, originally tied by Col. (Ret.) Roger Duckworth. 
    I don't know Colonel Duckworth, but if Don Schmotzer likes a fly and has success with it, you better take notice. You'll see why, as we hear more from Don further on.

    But with a name like, 'Sneaky Duck,' a pattern has to do more than sound clever - it needs to check all the boxes.

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Assorted Sneaky Ducks

Materials and Tools

    The first thing you notice about the Sneaky Duck is the innovative use of materials. The main component is 1-3mm EVA craft foam, cut into discs, then dressed with rubber legs and a few wisps of marabou and hackle feather. 
    The foam for this fly is craft foam; it is tough as nails, and can be very resilient.

You'd have to work hard to really hurt it. I like the stuff for strong flies.    

Colors

    What about colors for the Sneaky Duck? One topic that always gets the proverbial feathers flying, is talking about colors and flies. Every angler has his pet favorites, and the trendy colors get more interest than honey in a beehive.
Honestly, I'm not sure that fish share this fascination with the chromatic - one color seems to work about as well as the next. Nevertheless, when it comes to colors for the Sneaky Duck, the sky is the limit.
    The originals featured a chartreuse tail and body, black under hackle and white rubber legs. I tie them that way, a lot, but I prefer alternatives. Glitter and sparkle foam is nice, along with with all the common colors like green, yellow, white...and more! 

TIP: I don't neglect long wavelength colors, like blue or purple. I have found these to be as good as any. 

Purple and Blue w/ black legs

    Once the foam discs are prepped, they are affixed in-line and overlapping one another, on top of the hook. A tricky pinching cinch is needed to lock them in, and a dot of cement is added to strengthen the connection. Together, these discs form the floating body. 

    When combined with the other elements, you get a whimsical, "creature fly" that is not only visually fun, but which catches a lot fish.

    We are checking off several boxes, at this point!    

Don Schmotzer foto

Don Schmotzer foto

Don Schmotzer foto

Sizes
    My Sneaky Duck flies come in sizes 1-8, for my target species, bass and bluegill.
- 1-4 is about right for large- and small mouth bass. 
- 6 and 8 round out the Sneaky Duck arsenal for panfish.
I'm sure you could go larger, if you were after pike, perhaps.
    

    So how about smaller Sneaky Ducks?
    Let's have Don Schmotzer share his thoughts about "micro" Sneaky Ducks...

"I tie bigger Sneaky Ducks on #4' hooks. But my favorite for 'gills is #10's. I feel a miniature size 12 Sneaky Duck will also be a real '"gill killer.'"...  I intend to try a smaller disk (.30" or even .25") on a size 12 to see if I can find the right balance for a sunfish size Sneaky Duck. It may take a while to get the proportions right......but its fun to play with .......Don in SC
 
    I tie Sneaky Ducks down to size 12, so that's possible if you like flies at the lilliputian end of the scale. I do leave the under-hackle off these teensy versions, though.

Size 12, 10, and 8!

One Extreme To The Other

    So lets check off the box marked, "versatile," shall we?

Slider For The Win
    I almost always fish top-water to start a session, and the Sneaky Duck is just right for that. Fishing the 'Duck is pretty straightforward:

- Cast the fly to a fishy spot
- Allow it to sit and just "be there"
- Twitch it a couple times. Let it sit some more
    

    If nothing happens...

- Strip it hard, or snatch it with the rod tip. It will "duck" under the surface then pop back up.
- Be ready for the strike

    If you chose a spot with a fish nearby, it cannot help but nail that Sneaky Duck!

    Because of the sloping head and body, this fly is classified as a slider pattern. When you strip in the pattern, or twitch the rod tip, the fly dives, or "slides" beneath the surface. Then, when you stop, it floats back to the top.
    This activity brings another element into the game: 
     

    Stealth. The Sneaky Duck is stealthy.

    This is a pattern lives up to its name. It makes a noticeable disturbance that fish eagerly key on. But, it is a "quiet disturbance." 
    Unlike poppers, with their extreme splashy and noisome commotion, sliders like the Sneaky Duck behave more like swimming or struggling prey. It is a subtle, stealthy presentation,... more natural. 

    It is, in short, a "sneaky duck," and that is yet ANOTHER box checked off!

No Legs, Deer Hair Tail

Sneaky Duck Moments
    I spun around quickly, fly rod held tightly in hand...
"Hey Don, quick - put it in neutral for a second!"
"Huh? Why?" he asked. "Hold on - you got a fish?!"
He shook his head in disbelief, shifted outta gear, and the boat slowed to a drift. 
"No, it didn't get hooked..., but I got a blow-up strike back there!"

    We were creeping along the lee side of an island in Don's pontoon boat, with Don at the helm. He was keeping the boat at casting distance from shore, the prop barely engaged, and mostly just sightseeing. The two other guys in our party, Tony and Leon (RIP), they were on the forward deck, lazily casting flies to the shore and hooking up with small brim now and then. Everyone was in laid-back mode.

    Except me. I didn't come to lounge around; I had a different idea in mind.

    Standing on the rearmost platform of the boat, I remembered Buck Perry's motto, "Deep water is the home of the fish." From my stern position, I was focusing on that advice and surface-trolling a Sneaky Duck over subsurface weed beds.
    The other guys were fishing toward the shallow shore. But I was pulling a big, #2 Sneaky Duck behind the boat, over the deep edges of an underwater weed line, well out from shore...

     The water was clear and I could see the weed tops below as the boat passed over them. The 'Duck chugged along about 30 yards astern, when I spotted an inlet down in the weeds. I watched it fall behind the boat 'til it was just in range of my fly.
    As the 'Duck 'swam' into the open water above the cut, I quickly flicked a mend into the line and fed the fly some slack. In this way the fly twitched once, then just stalled and hung temptingly over the open spot - and POW! It got a big strike!
    That was what I was hoping for, of course, but no one took any notice until I spoke to Don. The others were pre-occupied with their own business, and Don was piloting the boat, so these events went unseen.

    "Hey guys," I exclaimed, "it looks like some pretty nice fish are holding on the outside edge of these weeds... we ought to move out a ways and work along there!"
    But my announcement fell on deaf ears. Tony was watching the shore, Leon had grown disinterested and was dozing in the sun, and Don was in his element guiding the boat. 

    Trolling a surface fly from the back of the boat? Well, lets just say you're not taken all that seriously for it. They looked at me and yawned. 
    My own motto is , 'Don't leave feeding fish," but by then everyone had had enough of this spot and decided it was time to go elsewhere. I looked at Don questioningly, he shrugged... and we veered off on a course for other waters.

    But the Sneaky Duck left a lasting impression at that moment. 

    Don has had his share of Sneaky Duck days, too....

"The other day at H - Ranch (private pond), I only caught a few of those wonderful copper-heads they have there...because I had to keep unhooking those pesky 'green trout,'... thirty-two times that day.

Its hard to get the copper-heads to bite when the bass chase them away from your Sneaky Duck! (I have had worse fishing days LOL)"....Don in SC

Don Schmotzer foto

Or...

"I just got back from the lake; I was targeting bass with the Sneaky Duck. I lost two nice bass on a red & yellow one, but the big story was all the different sunfishes I was catching on the 'Duck. I couldn't keep them off of it! I have never seen so many in the shallow rocks this early in the year. 

My plan was to catch at least one nice bass to filet for supper, but I had a blast catching the brim anyway.
I caught about 25 sunfish and missed those two chunky bass. Not bad for 2 hours on the lake." ....Don in SC

\
Green Sunfish

Don Schmotzer foto

Bluegill

Don Schmotzer foto

Lake-run Red Breast

Don Schmotzer foto

Summary

    Those who try the Sneaky Duck come to like it; good reports follow wherever it is cast. Meanwhile, the fly gets experienced anglers like Don Schmotzer into the action.
Little else is needed to recommend it.

    
    Proven many times over, the Sneaky Duck checks all the boxes...

☑ Tough - made from strong materials
☑ Appealing to the eye - fun, whimsical, even "cute"

☑ Versatile - can be tied in many sizes, many colors
☑ Stealthy - natural, quiet presentation
☑ Effective - consistently catches multiple species

    If we are honest, there are thousands of fly patterns that will catch fish. One of the greats in the fly fishing game had this to offer...

"The artificial fly pattern may be the most unique sporting element, or tool man has ever developed."

- Lefty Kreh

    With that in mind, lets check one more box for the Sneaky Duck...

☑ Unique - ... it is a unique pattern, in a field that is itself, unique.

    Yes, the Sneaky Duck checks all the boxes. 

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Do you want to add any of the flies seen here to your own fly or tackle box?
Do you have questions, compliments, or suggestions?
Email me at...dahutist@gmail.com

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Thanks so much for reading, and...

Tight Lines,

Dave Hutton

© All rights reserved, David Hutton/Palmetto Fly N Fish 2023 

References

1. Donald Charles Schmotzer, aka, "Don" 

2. Fly Tyer Magazine, Spring 2011 

3. "Bluegill Fly Fishing and Flies," Terry and Roxanne Wilson
 

4. Ultralight Fly Fishing.com

https://ultralightflyfishing.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=69&t=4686

https://ultralightflyfishing.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=94&t=6196

https://ultralightflyfishing.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=69&t=6167  

5. "Leftys Little Library of Fly Fishing," ©1993, Odysseus Editions