Spikes (mayfly nymphs) and scuds are a favorite food source for winter panfish. The Slab Spike, with its segmented body, rubber legs, and seductive Marabou tail, closely imitates a small mayfly nymph. Plus, the tied with a tungsten bead gets it down fast! While a standard brass bead offers a subtler approach! Slab bluegills and crappies can get pretty finicky under the ice, and ice flies are sometimes the only way to hook mid-winter panfish. These flies often turn negative fish that reject the baited jig into biters, a situation common with finicky cold-front panfish. On bigger sizes with tungsten, these work well as the big fly in a Michigan rig to get it down fast. The smaller sizes work well as the small fly above a tungsten jig/fly or drop shot.
The sky is pretty much the limit as for the color patterns, but since this is designed as a subtler pattern, I like more natural colors, i.e. brown, olive, gold, white, red, etc. That said, I have also had good luck with pink and chartreuse-colored ones.
- Hook: #14-#8 nymph
- Bead: standard, tungsten, or beadless
- Thread: 8/o uni thread
- Tail: Tan marabou with a single strand of flashabou on each side (I like to match the flash color to the body)
- Body: Micro tubing for #14-12, Standard tubing for #10-#8
- Legs: Mini Centipede rubber legs (Other sizes can work; however, mini ones are best since they are subtler and twitch a little better)
- Thorax: Squirrel or hare’s ear blended with ice dubbing that matches the body and x-wrapped over the legs
