Written By - Capt. Dave Sutton - 05/17/2007
Link to Original Article here

Here is a new addition to our little family of flies. A Redfish fly that is made for shallow water, like in Florida Bay and the Everglades. The grass flats are a great place to find big Red's, but the weed less flies just too heavy sometimes. Well enter "DJ'S Lil Red" I made this up to be light weight, easy to cast in the wind and in the backbend configuration. It's been a killer...!
The best thing about this pattern is that you can tie it in so many different colors, green & white, red & white and with a couple of hackles & some hurl, turn it into a deceiver pattern with a touch of marabou.     

List of Materials  
Hook ................. Mustad 3407 or the longer 34007 ... in size 2, 4 & 6.
Thread .............. Monocord 3/0 in bright red.
Body ................. Orange buck tail for flotation.
Wing ................. What wing? well, I guess we can say ... orange marabou.
Sparkle .............. Holographic crystal flash.
Eyes .................. Glass as always, & a size larger than your first choice.

Tying Instructions

    * First off ... Don't buy those expensive pre-bent hooks. It's so easy to put the bend in them yourself. All you need is a small pair of needle nose pliers and put a little bend in the hook about 1/4 of the way back from the eye.

    * Tie off your monocord and head cement. Build up a small bump to make the deer tail flair a bit, then add it in and head cement again.

    * Tie in 10 to 15 strands of holographic crystal flash at least as long as the longest buck tail, and head cement. Try to keep the crystal flash together and on top of the deer hair.

    * Take a single strand of marabou and trim to 2/3's the length of the longest crystal flash and tie in, keeping it centered and on top, then .... yes ..... head cement again.

    * Add in the eye's and 5 minute epoxy to give a nice round head and a real durable fly that will stand up to a few Big Red's.

    The upturned hook will keep the majority of weeds off, but it really helps when you drag it over the oyster beds looking for Redfish. We had a ball with this little guy during August when the Redfish were on the crowns of the flats in ...8 to 10 inches of water. Fish it slow until it gets noticed then speed it up and watch them attack.

See you on the flats, Capt. DJSutton,  Homestead, Florida.