A small series of hitch flies designed to resemble fleeing baitfish
Tiny baitfish
The Riffling Hitch Sunray Shadow iridescent Pearl is one of two tiny Sunray Shadow flies that we have turned into hitch flies – They also double as micro sub-flies and they will work perfectly in fast water –
The slim black wing made from specially selected goats and the colourful body will give the fish an immediate impression of a tiny baitfish darting away.
See-through… ideas and practice with bigger surface flies
If you have followed the work we do here on Fishmadman you might have read about the qualities of see-through tubing and how we incorporate these elements into many of our flies that we and other anglers over the years have had success with.
Back in 2018, I started out experimenting with hitch flies with very little shimmering body material as opposed to hitch flies covered in shimmering body material – I did so by glueing stripes of shimmering material to the tubing. A process we are still perfecting here at Fishmadman. The body on the two bigger Riffling Hitch Sunray Shadow iridescent we do are made with this technique – and I have thoroughly tested them over the last seasons..and they are just great flies… I fish them primarily as sub surface flies, close to the surface – but I also use them as hitch flies
Jesper Fohrmann
Thoughts and ideas on see-through tubing in practice
Capturing the essence of see-through bait fish
Medium/big
This small shiny version of the Sunray Shadow has a total length of 70 millimetres (2.75 inches) – the Tube length is a mere 20 millimetres (0.78 inches) to a #6 – 4 hook-fly
Similar bigger hitch flies made to imitate small bait fish
Fishmadman Best sellers
Flies for Iceland
Riffling hitch flies
Riffling hitch flies
The other riffling hitch tube flies
The riffling hitch tube fly system – In detail
Delicate micro flies perfected to trail in the surface
All Fishmadman hitch tube flies is based on the same clever system that will enable you to fish with different hooks.
The tippet is entered through a hole in the belly or side of the fly – This will make the fly pull to the surface and wake. Due to the design of the tube system, the fly will hitch with ease even in slack water – We use fine hair from Icelandic horses (Arctic runner) as this has proven to be great material for these subtle micro wake flies.
Technical details
Probably the best hitch tubing – ever made…
We think we have the right to brag… when we say the best tubing ever made. All other tubing found in fly tying shops could not live up to our expectations. Together with a chemical engineer, we developed a new PVC-free plastic formula for the solemn purpose of producing a tube for riffling hitch.
- It will withstand a lot of mechanical wear
- Very low memory – This will ensure that the tube fall back into place after use (hook removed)
- Will work in a wide range of temperatures including frost cold days.
This is the same tube we use for our wake flies and other bigger tube flies. See the tube in our shop
Squirrel tail in the right size
We use hair from very small or juvenile squirrels – This type of fine hair is not too stiff – nor too fine…but just perfect for these subtle surface flies.
Learn more about squirrel tails for fly tying
More on the subject riffling hitch...
Our exclusive page on riffling hitch fishing and flies
Our main pages on the riffling hitch sport – Read more about the riffling hitch pattern history and styling – A dedicated page on Fishmadman.com
Read more on Fishmadman.comRiffling hitch know-how…
Know how page on riffling hitch – See how to fish with them
Read more on Fishmadman.com.
Terry Byrn (verified owner) –
John Shaw (verified owner) –
Robert Holt (verified owner) –