I have been a long time reader of Ward Bean’s website, Warmwater Fly Tyer . I have tied and fished many of the patterns found on the pages of his site. For the warm water fly fisher/tier this is an incredible resource. I highly recommend a visit.
Sometimes something is sitting right on front of your face, and you fail to notice it. That is the case with the Cockaroo. I have looked at the wet fly section of Ward’s site countless times. I fish wet flies more than any other subsurface patterns, and I am always on the lookout for new designs to try. I have tied many of the flies listed on his page, but for some reason, I have seemed to have skipped over the Cockaroo. During a recent exchange with a gentleman by the name of David Hutton on Facebook I was reacquainted with this particular fly. David, a blogger himself, publishes a blog called Palmetto Fly ’n Fish, he also manages a Facebook group by the same name. Both sites highlight some of the excellent fishing available in the great state of South Carolina. While not entirely devoted to fly fishing, both blog and group mostly contain fly fishing related content so I’ll cut him a little slack!
David Hutton’s Cockaroo, the fly that started it all (for me anyway).
David had posted a picture of a Cockaroo that he had tied and recently fished. There was immediately something familiar about the pattern, but I could not put my finger on it, but I knew I liked it. David quickly pointed me to his source for the fly pattern, and all the pieces fell into place. The next time I sat in front of the vise, I tied up a few Cockaroos and slipped them into my wet fly box. It is still early season here in the northeast so it would not be long before the Cockaroo found itself tied to the end of my leader.
A third version of the fly with a brown dubbed body and brown hackle.
My first version of this pattern was not exactly true to the original. I tied up a variation of the fly using materials I had laying around on the desktop from the previous night's tying session. There was no peacock in sight, and I was too lazy to open a drawer and dig it out. What I did have on hand was a wire core dubbing brush in a dark brown color. Again not the exact ingredient called for, but it would be far more durable than the peacock herl, so I went with it. The other substitution was the soft hackle collar. The original pattern called for brown hen hackle, but I had a gorgeous olive Whiting Brahma Hen Cape on the desk, so I went with that. So, in the end, the fly had the same basic color scheme, but it was just a little mixed up — a brown body instead of green and a green collar instead of brown. In Ward’s own words he gave me permission to take some liberties with his pattern. In his tying notes he states, “Of all the body parts, the tail and the wing are constants. Choosing other materials for the remaining parts; the underbody, body, and collar are up to you” . I know Ward is good with my changes, hopefully, the fish would not mind the slight to the original pattern!
The Cockaroo’s first victim!
My very first cast with the pattern yielded positive results. As fish are still a little sluggish in the still cold water here in the northeast, I retrieved the fly with a painfully slow hand twist retrieve after the fly had settled near the bottom adjacent to a submerged tree in about 5 or 6 feet of water. As soon as the fly passed the branches of the sunken tree, there was a slight heaviness on the line. I was sure I was about to be hung up on a tree limb, but I set the hook anyway. A heavy throbbing on the end of my line greeted my hook set. After applying as much pressure as my three weight could bring to bear, the fish was coaxed out of the labyrinth of branches and after a spirited fight in open water a chunky, good sized bluegill was brought to hand.
Crappie are fond of the fly as well.
In a few days of testing the pattern has coaxed a mixed bag of panfish from the water. After losing all of my original test patterns to tree limbs and the occasional foul mannered pickerel, I returned to the vice and tied up some more. This time I stayed true to the original pattern using peacock herl and brown hackle. The results were the same! The fish took the pattern without hesitation when presented correctly. Tied on a long nymph hook, this fly bridges the gap between wet fly and streamer. I feel it would serve well imitating both aquatic insects and small baitfish.
Wet fly? Streamer? Why not both?
To address those that say that panfish will take any fly, I did a side by side test with my usual early season wet flies. Both versions of the Cockaroo took far more fish than the other wet flies when fished together on a tandem rig. A scientific study? No, but enough for me to add this pattern to my early season arsenal as well as my regular wet fly box!
This bluegill has been eating well all winter but still had a little room for a Cockaroo!
Pattern Recipes
Ward Bean’s Cockaroo:
Hook: Mustad 3906B Size 8, 10, 12
Thread: Uni-Thread - 6/0Dark Brown
Tail: Ringneck Pheasant Rump Feather Fibers
Underbody: Uni-YarnDark Brown
Body: Peacock Herl2 Herl's
Wing: Ringneck Pheasant Select Rump Feather
Collar: Hen Neck Feather Furnace
Panfish On The Fly’s Cockaroo:
Hook: Saber #7231 size 8
Thread: 70 denier UTC brown
Tail: Ringneck Pheasant Rump Feather Fibers
Body: Brown wire core dubbing brush
Wing: Ringneck Pheasant Select Rump Feather
Collar: Olive Whiting Brahma Hen