free shipping

How To Tie: The Sad Flea

Difficulty: intermediate

45% difficulty

Time: 5-10 minutes

35% timely

Cost: average

average cost
About these metrics

Imitates: shrimp, ambiguous/something tasty

Target species: bonefish

Where to fish: flats

Notes: Use beadchain or plastic eyes for tailing fish

Save 10% on materials with the kit:

Sad Flea Material Kit
Sad Flea Materials Kit
#2 Ginger/Tan
$38.69 2 in stock

About the fly:

When it comes to flies for bonefish and permit, Biscayne Bay guide Capt. Dave Saddler likes simple and effective. With those guidelines in mind, he came up with the Sad Flea and has great success with the fly due to how naturally it lands.

The Sad Flea hits the water softly and sits on the bottom with the tail end looking up at the fish, much like a crab or shrimp in a defensive position. The weed guard will then keep the fly snag-free as it (unsuccessfully) attempts to flee.

The Sad Flea helped angler Brower Moffit achieve victory at the 2009 Superfly S.L.A.M.

Helpful tools/additional materials:

Clean up stray marabou:
To flatten tie-in end of weedguard:

Recommended ties:

How To Tie: Pass's Guide Shrimp | The PERFECT Bonefish Fly

Difficulty: easy | Time: 5-10 minutes

Imitates: shrimp, ambiguous/something tasty

Target species: bonefish, permit, snook, redfish

How To Tie: The Go-To Joe

How To Tie: The Go-To Joe

Difficulty: intermediate | Time: 5-10 minutes

Imitates: shrimp, crab, ambiguous/something tasty

Target species: bonefish, redfish

How to Tie: Veverka's Mantis Shrimp

How to Tie: Veverka's Mantis Shrimp

Difficulty: intermediate | Time: 10-15 minutes

Imitates: shrimp

Target species: bonefish

How to Tie: Bonefish Gotcha

How to Tie: Bonefish Gotcha

Difficulty: intermediate | Time: 5-10 minutes

Imitates: shrimp, ambiguous/something tasty

Target species: bonefish

How to Tie: The Golden Gotcha

How to Tie: The Golden Gotcha

Difficulty: intermediate | Time: 5-10 minutes

Imitates: shrimp, ambiguous/something tasty

Target species: bonefish

Discussion:

Leave a comment

You must be logged in to join the discussion.

Need Help? Talk to our fly fishing advisors

 Chat  561-995-1929