Umpqua Cuda Killer

The cuda killer was originally designed to imitate and appeal one of a barracuda's favorite meals…the juvenile bonefish. When out on the flats it seems cuda are always laid up (laying in wait) for a school of bonefish to come cruising by them on a flat. Most seasoned bone fishermen have had their prized possession stolen (or should I say cut in half) by a big cuda while retrieving their bonefish. This is what led me to design a baby bonefish fly. Using the success from my magnum baitfish (just changing the colors slightly) I designed this fly to be able to cast well in a stiff wind, yet once it hits the water it will sink slowly and blow up into the shape of a juvenile bone fish. Once cast, the cuda killer will breath and move in the water as if it were alive. Best of all, cuda simply cannot resist it. Greg Vincent (owner/operator of Fly H2O– Grand Bahama Island) has told me that this pattern is his and his guides #1 cuda and shark pattern on the flats. I have personally had this fly land twenty feet away from a cuda (poor cast on my part) and had them hit the fly before I could even strip the slack out of my line. My best story on this fly was having fed a laid up cuda in Abaco a cuda killer and had it immediately bust me off (it ate thru the 8" of piano wire and nicked the mono leader). Once things calmed down the cuda went back to its laid up position by a mangrove with my broken off fly hanging off the left side of its mouth. I proceeded to tie on another cuda killer and lobbed it out to the fish again. Within a split second I was again hooked up to the same fish that stole my first fly….That is when I knew this fly was special!