Cheech Pierce & Tim Flagler
Dorado Fly Tying Session
Tying flies specifically for Golden Dorado fishing remains a mystery for the international fly fishing industry. Perhaps it’s a niche market that isn’t fully developed enough for the fly producing companies to get involved. But Argentinean fly tiers have been creating them for decades, and from a ground-zero perspective.
One of the most renowned and effective patterns was first tied in the early 1980s, for use on Dorado in the small tributaries off the middle section of the Parana River. It started as a simple modification of a slim bucktail, and has evolved over time into what we now call, the Andino Deceiver.
To learn how to tie the Andino Deceiver, we asked two of our long-time friends, Cheech Pierce and Tim Flagler (both renowned fly tiers), to join us for a live event to tie flies for Golden Dorado. We intend to personally test the flies with Cheech and Tim during their upcoming trips to Argentina with Set Fly Fishing.
The tying event was overseen by Andres and Gustavo, who came to share their knowledge and advice about how and why traditional Golden Dorado flies work.
When tying a Golden Dorado fly, the quality, size, and shape of the hook are critical. These massive fish have teeth and very hard jaws, and the hook will have to be extremely sharp and durable to penetrate well enough to hold. It will require a wide gap between the point and the shank, for clearance of the point inside the large mouth of a trophy fish; and finally, a short shank to reduce the leverage during an extended fight. After many trials, we’ve found that some saltwater big game hooks fit the need very well, the Gamakatsu SL 12 #4/0 and #6/0 being the favorites among our guides.
The shape and profile of these flies will resemble a large bait fish, and saddle schlappen feathers work perfectly. They create a beautiful silhouette without loading much water, and superior movement in the water. The head needs to be shaped like a large muddler head to create turbulence underwater and increase the tail movement, but kept sparse enough avoid buoyancy. Deer hair works very well for this part. Finally, large bead chain eyes (4mm) will complete this classic Dorado fly, further reducing buoyancy but not too heavy, and pushing water.
Don’t miss the chance to watch these two great fly tiers enter the world of the Golden Dorado, one of the greatest predatory species in the world with unique feeding behavior.