We are absolutely stoked to have received a few limited edition JAM Flies tied by Leroy Botha.
Get our stylish Fly Revolution logo tee in Charcoal or White and one of Leroy's insane JAM Flies. Elevate your grunter game !
Place order and we will reach out to you with color and sizing selection for tee.
The JAM Fly is the original grunter pattern. Imagined by Jannie Visser and developed by him, MC Coetzer, and August Lohan at the turn of the century, give or take, it was the first fly to consistently catch Western Cape grunter. And it's a work of genius: it is designed to get in the zone fast and then maintain a lifelike posture, and it is usually tied to be a fairly general suggestion of 'a prawn'. And it was good enough for grunter.
LeRoy's version looks more mud prawn than sand prawn but is a great choice for sight-fishing to grunter over both mud and sand substrates. It's caught fish from the Breede to Knysna.
According to LeRoy,
"JAM Fly fishing is an art form in itself, let's not lie. The fly will hit the bottom quickly, so it can be presented in two ways: Firstly, sighted cruising fish should be led by at least two metres to avoid spooking the fish. The fly is then left static, or, to get the fish's attention, twitched and left or very slowly drawn across the bottom. Keeping contact with the fly is very important. Secondly, you can pitch it directly into a 'pancake': the circular cloud of mud seen where a grunter is actively tailing. Pitching pancakes can be very rewarding, but requires speed, finesse, and accuracy. Grunter seldom tail in one spot for long, especially over sand. The take will come on the drop or shortly after the fly hits the bottom. If not, a slow draw out of the pancake might just do the trick. Getting it done definitely makes you cool.
These JAMs were tied on TMC 777SP hooks. A first-class hook, it verges on art. I prefer the black finish for all my grunter flies, but this hook also has the perfect proportions for a JAM fly, and comes with a point so well-engineered, it's beautiful. It's a real pity they're no longer available - we'll look far and wide for a better JAM Fly hook. Makes me kind of sad to see these ones go.
Fish it on a 7 or 8wt rod, and floating line. A 10ft leader including a 3ft 10lb fluorocarbon tippet should suffice in water up to 50cm or 60cm (knee deep), and up to 14ft for water up to ya ballz (1m)."
