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| My Bahamas box |
The story of its creation goes something like this:
Ted McVay and his son, Jim, were on their way to the Andros Island Bonefish Club in a taxi. Jim snipped some yellow carpet fibers from the floor of the taxi and used these fibers to tie a new fly. Then they gave it the fish test. They were immediately met with great success. Every time a fish hit the fly, guide Rupert Leadon would say, "Gotcha." The rest is, as they say, history.
You can tie the fly with heavy lead eyes for deep water or without eyes (blind) for tailing fish. The classic pattern uses the standard bead-chain version. If you are tying a dozen Gotchas, most locations work best with this ratio: 3 with lead eyes, 6 with bead chain eyes and 3 with no eyes (blind). This covers all water depth situations. Some anglers tie their Gotchas with extremely long wings, (called Super Gotchas) or with grizzly hackle tips over the wing (Grizzly Gotcha). Another variation that works well is to tie it in reverse fashion so the eyes are at the bend of the hook and the pink nose becomes a pink heart.
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| Blind Gotcha |
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| Blind Grizzly Gotcha |
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| Reverse tied Gotcha |
Although the original pattern works well, it has a bit too much flash for my tastes. I like it a bit toned down and tied with some different materials than with the original pattern. Here are some variations and improvements on the pattern that I prefer:
Black Gotcha: One of my favorite variations of this pattern is to tie the fly on black hook like a Gamakatsu SL45 bonefish hook and use black bead-chain or lead eyes. This example below is tied with bunny instead of craft fur. Bunny gives the fly more movement and makes the fly look more alive. I often tie a version with an orange nose too which seems to work great on mottled bottoms.
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| Black Gotcha |
Rubber Legs Gotcha: The rubber legs, like bunny fur, really jazz up this pattern and add motion to the fly even when it is not being stripped.
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| Tan Rubber Legs Gotcha |
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| White Rubber Legs Gotcha |
Becks Silli-legs Gotcha: This is an Umpqua pattern that really works well and many anglers consider it as a staple in their arsenal.
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| Becks Silli-legs Gotcha |
Hot legs Gotcha: This fly really gets a bones attention and can turn a bone on the move.
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| Hot legs Gotcha |
Bunny Gotcha: Personally, I don't tie any Gotchas with craft fur anymore. Now I only use bunny. It moves, creates a halo effect, lands softly and looks more alive.
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| Bunny Gotcha with orange nose |
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| Bunny Gotcha with pink nose |
The following flies are tied by S. S. Flies. They've upped the ante by using both fox fur on their traditional Gotchas and pimped out the classic Simran Gotcha pattern to make it much more successful. If you are interested in buying these flies, give me a call (800-211-8530) or e-mail me at scott@anglingdestinations.com
I'll give you a code for a discount and make appropriate color and size suggestions depending on the island you are fishing.
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| Traditional Simran |
Super Sim Ran: This pattern takes the traditional Simran and adds prominent antenna and a slightly translucent body to let the base color come through. They have also added two colors (gray and golden olive), that are not typically available, but are highly effective.
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| Super Sim Ran |
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| Super Sim Ran |
Foxy Gotcha: The Foxy Gotcha is the classic Gotcha with a foxtail wing instead of the usual synthetic. Atlantic salmon fishermen have relied on the movement and lightweight bulk of dyed fox for years; these characteristics translate perfectly to flats fishing. The bodies of Foxy Gotchas are tied carefully so the underbody color just bleeds through resulting in a tan Gotcha with just a hint of pink. Also available in olive and chartreuse.
Again, If you are interested in buying these flies, give me a call (800-211-8530) or e-mail me at scott@anglingdestinations.com
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| Foxy Gotcha |
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| Foxy Gotcha |
Blind Foxy Gotcha: Same materials, no eyes with a weed guard for very shallow water.
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| Blind Foxy Gotcha |
