Lee Baermann is a very successful fly tier and fly innovator. Tested by literally many hundreds of fly fisherman, his flies are not just designed to look good, but to catch fish … surf species, in-shore species, and Baja species. His Bull Candy flies are also sought after by freshwater fisherman, both fly fishers and conventional, for striped bass.

Checkerboard Surf Fly

These surf flies, the Green Tailed, Brown Tailed, Red Tailed and Orange Tailed Checkerboards have transformed over the years from a bad copy of a Hasting’s Surf Rat to what you see here. The first day out it landed a very nice corbina and continues to be my go-to-fly. When wet, the orange tailed version looks like a newborn perch, the halibut and leopard shark love it. They even landed calico bass.

The checkerboard fly continues to prove itself in the Southern California surf. At the 2009 One Fly Tournament at Dockweiler State Beach, a red tailed checkerboard took two of the three trophies with Most Fish and Biggest Fish. Then a year later at the One Fly Tournament in Huntington Beach, a orange tailed checkerboard took two more trophies with First Fish and once again, Most Fish.

Camo Surf Fly

Lee braided the new chenille color for a Berkley camo worm look, and it produced many nice perch today on its maiden voyage. Took some time this afternoon to chase some corbina and they were on the chew. Hooked 4 and landed one. The first two hook ups took me by surprise, landed the next and missed a strip that gave some slack so the last got off. All were hooked on the Camo Worm Fly.

A before and after shot of a Camo worm I used on to catch numerous barred surf perch. Yes, they do have teeth and they’ll wear out a fly in no time. But it was still catching……..

Soft Shell Sand Crab 

 

Soft Shelled sand crab flies work great, especially for Surf Perch. However, don’t be surprised when you catch other surf species with this fly. Here’s a nice corbina on the soft shell sand crab pattern.