Semper Fleye

O n November 1, 2024, the world lost one of the most innovative fly tyers of modern times with the passing of Bob Popovics. A former US Marine, Bob’s enthusiasm for fly tying and fishing was infectious and led to him founding the Atlantic Saltwater Fly Rodders. From his home in Seaside Park, New Jersey, Bob held weekly tying nights for many years, drawing tyers from miles away.

Many fly patterns were created, honed and resolved, including the Surf Candy, Beast Fleye, Bucktail Deceiver, Bulkhead Deceiver, SiliClone, Cotton Candy, Ultra Shrimp, Hollow Fleye and many others. His book, Pop Fleyes, is legendary and features the techniques Bob used to design his ‘Fleyes’. This edition we will feature his Semper Fleye — a large, seductive fly that uses only a few materials.

Tied with bucktail and saddle feathers, the Semper Fleye relies on a long, fine saddle feather tail and a dense collar of wound hackle to create a vortex, imparting action to the fly. The ideal hook for this is the Gamakatsu SL12S from #4/0 upwards but similar hooks are just as effective.

The first step is to tie in a bunch of bucktail at the rear of the hook shank, about half as long as the feathers you are going to use as the tail. The bucktail is there to provide a foundation for the saddle feathers and to prevent them from fouling the hook shank when cast in moments of excitement.

Next, select long, straight and fine saddle feathers of varying length and start tying them at the rear of the hook shank ‘in the round’. This is where rotary vices come in handy but are not entirely necessary. I like to tie my first pair of saddles on the flanks, then tie the next pair on the shoulders before repeating the sequence about 45 degrees off axis.

Bob liked the long, thin saddle hackles for this stage — the ‘sexy ones’ — feathers that will have a lot of movement in the water. It is important to tie the feathers in at the base, including the flue at the bottom of the feather, which helps create movement and adds to the profile. Vary the length of the saddles to help form a taper.

Once the tail has been created, you can add a little flash such as Angel Hair or fine Flashabou. In some heavily pressured fisheries and particularly shallow clear water, flash can put the fish off, so consider tying a few without any flash at all, or use a material that you can remove in the field.

Select several large webby saddle feathers to wind on for the collar. Start by winding on wide saddle feathers at the rear of the hook shank and work your way toward the hook eye. Include the flue from the base of the hackle, that way you get both movement and bulk to your fly. Use the widest saddle feathers at the head of the fly before tying off.

What you have now is a foundation to work with that creates large and easily castable flies. You can add some lead wire along the hook shank to add weight if you are tying flies to use offshore. You can tie in some tab eyes between the tail and collar to create a squid imitation. You can add ostrich plumes in the tail for extra movement, or wound marabou to improve the transition between the tail and collar. Long grizzly saddles on the flanks or shoulders add appeal. Tie the entire fly from schlappen feathers for the biggest flies or to imitate a deep bodied baitfish… The possibilities are endless.

You can tie the whole fly in any colour you like to imitate large bait for GTs or Murray cod. And best of all, you can use up all those strung Chinese saddle feathers that are not ideal for tying Lefty’s Deceivers and Pink Things.

Perfect for creating large castable flies that swim as though they are alive, the Semper Fleye belongs in any serious angler’s fly box.