A few months ago Jimmy Eagelton introduced me to a pattern that produced quite a few silver kob (Argyrosomus inodorus) for him on the West Coast. He tied the fly specifically to be fished tight against rocky substrate where the kob were holding, without getting snagged. The drop-shot fraternity on the West Coast and their sucsesses with silver kob motivated him to come up with this pattern. Hence the name; DMA stands for Drop-shot My Ass.

Jimmy's DMA

Jimmy’s DMA

Jimmy ties his pattern on a 60degree jig hook with heavy dumbbell eyes. This allows the angler to bump the fly over the rocks and ‘feel’ his way along the bottom. Should you get snagged, a gentle pull will free the fly.

My vertion of the DMA, tied with bucktail (because I'm lazy) and replacing the dumbells with a sculpin head

My vertion of the DMA, tied with bucktail (because I’m lazy) and replacing the dumbells with a sculpin head. Fly colour is really not that important, and I caught kob on grey, white and tan flies. Apparently chartruese is effective in dirty water.

I have never felt the need to fish for kob tight against rocky structure, because the areas we usually fish off the bricks and in the surf is fairly shallow, and most patterns retrieved low in the water column and over the rock yielded success. That was until recently when I started targeting dusky kob higher up in estuaries off rocky points and deeper ledges. I needed a fly that could be counted down deep, and retrieved until it hit the ledge around which the kob were holding. A few weeks ago I tied up a couple of DMA’s and was really surprised by it’s effectiveness with juvenile kob.

DMA tied with dumbell eyes

Juvenile kob loves the DMA

DMA tied with a sculpin head

DMA tied with a sculpin head

8 Comments

  1. Leonard Flemming 15 October, 2015 at 11:04 - Reply

    Awesome Conrad! That fly is so deadly man, I am dead keen to try it on tigerfish soon as well…

  2. Andre Van Wyk 15 October, 2015 at 11:23 - Reply

    Lekker looking fly Conna, and even better looking Kobbies… Gonna have to try spin a few of those up..

  3. Platon 15 October, 2015 at 13:13 - Reply

    Very cool. I have become mildly obsessed with jig hooks in bigger patterns since you introduced me to the Meat Whistle. I have an idea I’m working on for The Pole Dancer using jig hooks based on the Zara Spook design. I’ll keep you posted. . . . If it works 😉

    Sorry I’m missing you at Vice Squad, it’s going to be a good one. I’m off to Cyprus for 3 weeks, so hook up when I’m back.

  4. herman 15 October, 2015 at 14:26 - Reply

    bro, a smaller version of that puppy could be deadly for smallies

  5. herman 15 October, 2015 at 14:27 - Reply

    top pic looks just like a redfish !!!

  6. Konrad 15 October, 2015 at 17:05 - Reply

    Nice flies and very jealous of those Kob! Now for the real question, where can I get some of those hooks? (Make, Model, Size will also help)

  7. Conrad Botes 16 October, 2015 at 10:10 - Reply

    Hi Konrad. You’ll have to shop around online and see what you can find. I got some 2/0 Targus 9413 60 degree jig hooks a few years ago and that is what I’m using now. The Mustad 32786 BLN jig hook also looks nice.

    Perhaps Stream X can bring in a few packs of these jig hooks. Craig?

  8. Peter Coetzee 16 October, 2015 at 16:10 - Reply

    this is awesome! always amazed at the flies Jimmy comes up with. Love the sculpin adaption.

Leave A Comment