The Bendback Comeback

The Bendback is as undersung as it is underslung. Arguably the most weed-proof and snag-resistant of all flies, it came to light in Lefty Kreh’s first book, published in 1974. While he never claimed any hand in its development, the pattern’s simplicity and effectiveness is trademark Lefty.

A more recent bookmark in my memory is sharing a boat with Lefty during the Downunder debut of a somewhat similar fly, created by his mate Bob Clouser. Destined to become a standard throughout the fly-fishing world, it too was tied with the hook inverted and the sparse ‘wing’ sloping back and up to enclose gape and point. Were many of today’s fly-fishers to be confined to a single fly, it would be a case of ‘just a Clouser walk with thee’. The Bendback faded from use and consciousness.

The maturing of Australia’s ‘barra-belt’ lakes may trigger a Bendback renaissance. For the time being, however, it’s more of a one-man revival that’s come about through a process of elimination. The barramundi occupying my time have a great affinity with salad—namely, the profuse weed around the Awoonga foreshores. Cover and a food source: weedbeds are the food-chain cradle while at the same time offering sun-warmed blanket shelter. The dense and clingy aquatic vegetation isn’t as welcoming to other hunters. Our kind.

In and around the salad borders, back alleys and cul-de-sac slots, there’s an unacceptable ratio of clean retrieves. Clousers are too catchy and quickly clog. Mono weedguards are a waste of tying time. Ditto wire sprags. Trial and error in the salad— mine anyway—hasn’t been a matter of evolution but a backtrack to the Bendback!

RIGGING

Rod weights from #8 through #10 are appropriate across the spectrum of species that take a Bendback. As with all heavy calibre outfits the size of the fly being cast is just as important in selection criteria as the rod’s firepower.

Bendbacks can be fished effectively on lines of all densities. My preference is for shooting heads cut from a jumbo spool of lead core line weighing 14 grains per foot. Lengths range from 24 ft for 8-weights to 28 ft for 10-weights.

The leader is simply a rod length— and sometimes more—of a clear 60 lb mono. That may sound like overkill, but barra are dynamic escape-artists that pull harder than anything else found in the world’s stillwaters. Sometimes 60 isn’t enough when raspy barramundi jaws and razor-edged gill covers get to work. The knots on multi-segment leaders pick up too much weed for my liking.

TYING THE BENDBACK

HOOK: Mustad #34011 long shank or similar, sizes 1/0–4/0. A 10º downwards bend is sufficient, given the geometry of the hook, to ensure the fly rides inverted and that the point is canted at an ideal angle for penetration. Pre-sharpening is recommended. The optimum point configuration for hard-to-hook species like saratoga is a single flat cut along the top, opposite the barb. Nothing more.

WING: The Bendback began life with a single bucktail wing. But when tied Deceiver-style the additional feathers and flash transform it from a pulsing type pattern to a truly lethal swimming fly. A serendipitous consequence is an even greater measure of trouble-free travel through snags and weed. Some twinkle in the tail makes all the difference. Start with a core of 10/20 strands of limp pearl or silver flash material. For maximum effect this should extend a couple of centimetres beyond the other materials. Then tie in four/six longish saddle hackles either side, and add a small bunch of bucktail to both sides to encase the mid and lower levels of the hook gape. Add a further 10/20 strands of limp flash material—pearl, silver or a mix of both—to the top of the bucktail, extending beyond the ends of the hackles. Finally, add a topping of a bigger bunch of long bucktail that completely encases the hook point. Besides providing increased silhouette and sonic signature this last step adds increased protection and buoyancy where it’s most needed—the buoyancy helps stabilise the fly so that the hook- shank acts as a keel.

COLOURS: Colours are a black and white issue. Literally! Variations can include purple or chartreuse toppings. There’s obvious value in using bright flies by day and placing some value on the enhanced silhouette of something darker in low light conditions.

EYES: Eyes are optional. I’m ambivalent, feeling that fish commit to attack from below and prior to checking out any fine detail.

FISHING THE BENDBACK

The Bendback works through the entire water column around lake foreshores. These include weedy areas that can be less than a metre in depth, down to say 10, where the lack of sunlight penetration stifles growth. Barra patrol those edges and shallows on nightly feeding forays. By day they often seek areas warmed by the sun, more so during the cooler months when weedbeds have a thermal blanket effect.

The combination of lead core and a long leader offers the best of all worlds. In so many presentations, barra attack the instant they become aware of the presence of anything representing food. The majority of strikes experienced by lure casters happen during those first few cranks, but fly fishers tend to get hit a little later in the retrieve. We can cash in on that barra blood-rush with a set-up that immediately sinks the fly in a natural attitude. This is where the glitter effect is most likely to attract attention in a barramundi’s upwardly-inclined hunting vision. The unobtrusive passage of lead core through the weeds also gets the attention of predators in the vicinity, complementing the sonic signature and visual presence of the fly.

Effective retrieves range from inchy twitches on the sink, and through small pockets, through to metre-long glides across open flats and upwards from deeper waters. The best all-round barra cadence is two rapid 10–20 cm strips followed by a pause.

It is critical not to allow slack to develop when working the fly back. A good way to guard against this is to keep the rod tip in the water and pointed at the fly. A two-finger line trap on the rod hand will help being taken by surprise.

CLASHES

Barra hit hard and go ballistic with blinding speed and stunning force. In and around weed and stick cover anglers not reacting instantly with ‘stop ’em or pop ’em’ determination have already lost. If you’re still in the saddle after eight seconds the fight might proceed on Queensberry Rules. Might. Thereafter, the rod cushions those diminishing lunges. But should the fish have bulldozed deep into a weedbed, recovery can be impossible.

These hand-to-hand combats are fly fishing at its most brutal. Rod and reel play little part in that furious opening round. The most effective—indeed only—tactic to get the head of a rampaging fish is to point the rod in its direction and handline like hell. Salad Days? Salad Daze!