Darters

[turkey]

Does anyone here on the forum tie or fish a darter pattern? A friend of mine spin fishes with live caught darters on the Allegheny and has been very successful. He has told me that the smallmouth seem to prefer the darters over other forage fish.

Just curious if anyone here has a go to pattern.

Thanks.

 

[Fly-Swatter]

Does your friend use a specific flavor of darter?

Darters are part of the perch family. "At least 21 darter species have been recorded in Pennsylvania, especially in the Allegheny River watershed." - PAFB, Perches and Darters

They vary widely in color. Here is an image search: Darters

 

[GeneBeam]

I found this online:
https://www.google.com/search?source=hp&ei=ISiXXvDpDuufytMP66-t2AI&q=darter+fly+pattern&oq=darter+fly&gs_lcp=CgZwc3ktYWIQARgAMgIIADIGCAAQFhAeMgYIABAWEB4yBggAEBYQHjIGCAAQFhAeMggIABAWEAoQHjIGCAAQFhAeMggIABAWEAoQHjIGCAAQFhAeMgYIABAWEB46BAgAEApKFAgXEhA2LTgxZzkxZzY4Zzg4ZzkySg8IGBILNi0xZzJnMWcxZzFQggpYxiVgqDZoAHAAeACAAVeIAcQDkgEBNpgBAKABAqABAaoBB2d3cy13aXo&sclient=psy-ab#kpvalbx=_KCiXXpLBKMPC1QHylpfADA31

 

[sandfly]

this for allegheny

 

[sandfly]

or these

 

[Dave_W]

turkey wrote:
Does anyone here on the forum tie or fish a darter pattern?
Thanks.

Any run of the mill sculpin pattern would work. I'd suggest tying it a bit more narrow as darters are not fat and bulky but do tend to be thicker up front. Color tones should be on the light brown with darker bands side.

Like sculpins, these are bottom dwellers and a pattern tied with dumbell eyes so as to swim hook-upward would work best.

 

[falcon]

Bob Clouser has fly patterns for darters. I remember seeing the patterns in his book "Clouser Flies"

 

[turkey]

Thanks everyone. Great info.

Falcon, I have that book somewhere.

 

[BrianMyers67]

https://flysandguides.com/how-to-tie-brad-wrights-taneycomo-sculpin/

Works well with small mouth in areas where darters are abundant.

 

[turkey]

BrianMyers67 wrote:
https://flysandguides.com/how-to-tie-brad-wrights-taneycomo-sculpin/

Works well with small mouth in areas where darters are abundant.

Thanks Brian. I like the looks of this pattern.