THE STEALH BOMBER - A GO-TO PATTERN

 A Fleet of Stealth Bombers

I recently made a post on Palmetto Fly n Fish, talking about Stealth Bombers, again…. Yeah, once again. This is noteworthy, because until a couple years ago, I didn't give this pattern much notice. More like, I didn't give it ANY notice. Nevertheless, fast forward to now and, while I'm no expert Stealth Bomber pilot, I think of them as a must have pattern. Reasons to Have Stealth Bombers So what happened? Why do I like them now? According to Georgia's Kent Edmonds*, the creator of the pattern, the Stealth Bomber is a foam-based derivative of the "Turck’s Tarantula." 

Being a foam diver/slider, it duplicates the Tarantula’s diving motion and the resulting bubble trail made when the fly is stripped hard. * I once met Kent Edmunds, and had no clue who he was. I feel kinda bad about that, now. Sorry, Kent. Okay, fine. But what is special about the Stealth Bomber? Well, the Stealth Bomber..... ... features foam, hair, legs, and flashy stuff. The only thing missing is hackle, I guess, and there's probably some way to work that in, too. Otherwise, the Stealth Bomber has it all.

... floats in the surface film, not above it. This mimics what most real critters do; they float and swim half submerged. Many experts claim this increases hook-ups, and I'll take their word for that. .... marries a slider with a popper....but mostly a slider, since there's no popping face.

.... makes that desirable, but elusive, “quiet noise.” It doesn't 'pop' and 'kersploosh,' so it's less likely to scare away pressured fish. But it dips and dives seductively, which is likely to entice them.

.... leaves a good bubble trail in it's wake. This is a visual thing the result of that big, open foam loop at the rear. Your garden-variety popper doesn't manage this feature all that well.

With all this going for it, how can you go wrong? Looking back... I don't think I’ve ever cast one out, that failed to get attention from the fish. At The Vise The Stealth Bomber is also just enough of a challenge at the vise to be interesting. First off, it requires a precise shape for the foam. To make this shape consistent, you want either a purpose-made cutter, or a template. Either will do the job and allow you to knock out the correct shape, time after time. But, since I'm too cheap to spend $20 apiece for each different size foam cutter, I made a tracing template out of some old countertop micarta. Fortunately, Kent Edmonds makes the template available in .pdf, on his webpage. So that’s a good thing. You download the .pdf, print, and make a tracing template like the one seen below....

Tracing Template, size 6

You can find a link to the templates in the end notes.

What else? Well, the pattern is a bit of busy work, but not overly fiddly. It is a bit complex, too, but only enough to keep you honest and make you pay attention.

The Stealth Bomber is not a fast tie, but not painfully long, either.

And if you screw something up, it’s not a big deal to step backwards and correct it.

Take my word for that.

So, I like to keep in practice tying them. I’ve got them down to size 8, and probably wont go smaller. 

Between 8 and 6, you're right in the zone for bass and panfish.

Variations Unlimited Here's the another good thing about the Stealth Bomber - its flexible. The theme for this session was red…. because the foam I used was red. And people, they like red.

Fish, on the other hand,...well, I don’t think they care much about color.

But people, they like red. However any color will do, as long as you like it. Blue has some appeal to it, in my experience. I believe chartreuse is the most popular color. And certainly the old standards of black, green, white, yellow, orange, all these are bound to have some fans. And why not pink? Or Fire Tiger? Why not indeed?

I included lotsa legs, too, because I’m a leg man. I don't suppose it hurts to make it look "buggy" this way.

As you can see, the variations are probably only limited to what you have available. The construction is standardized, which lends itself to infinite subtle - and not so subtle - variations.

That also suits my FTADD*….. I’ve tied no two Stealth Bombers the same way, twice. Those shown here are no different. They are all within the theme, but each is a variation on the one before. * Fly Tyers Attention Deficit Disorder Fishing Notes This is what Kent says about the fishing the Stealth Bomber The originals were basic, and tied in black. But for bass and big bream, I often tie some in bright color combinations and add flash wings and rubber legs. The "stealth" name hardly applies to their appearance..., but its action can still be quite stealthy. With soft little strips it will wiggle and maybe "bloop" slightly. Strip with a just a little bit more vigor and it will dive and bubble, but still stay in the target zone (the strip here should be very quick, but very short). Give it a longer, harder strip and it will dive hard and create a major commotion. To learn more, go to the links at the end and get the template. It's all there.

So, yeah…. Stealth Bombers. Get you some.

Materials - recommended Hook - sizes 4-10, straight shank Thread - strong, because were working with foam Foam - 2 mm craft foam Tail - bucktail, synthetic poly "hair," Krystal Flash Underbody - dubbing, peacock herl, yarn, etc

Wing - bucktail, synthetic hair, Krystal Flash

Legs - rubber, silicone, stretchy legs - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Thanks for reading. I hope you liked it, and will share it with your friends. David
Visit Palmetto Fly n Fish, here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/flyfishingsouthcarolina © All rights reserved, 2022 End Notes 1. Kents page about the Stealth Bomber: http://www.flyfishga.com/stealth.htm 2. Downloadable template: http://www.flyfishga.com/The%20Stealth%20Bomber%20Fly.pdf