Because of the popularity of soft-plastic baits in the chartreuse-pink Electric Chicken color, fly anglers and guides created several flies to mimic the jig’s silhouette and motion.
About 15 years ago, Jack Brown, a guide from Beaufort, S.C., created his weighted Electric Chicken fly with fuzzy pink, ice chenille and strips of chartreuse rabbit fur. The natural jigging action of the classic Clouser Deep Minnow fly, with the same color combinations of bucktail, also nicely replicates the action of the Electric Chicken jig. Both flies can be fished slowly, with a bottom-bumping action, or faster to elicit instinct strikes. Guides in the Lowcountry fish them both ways with success.
Fly anglers frequently choose an 8-weight rod and reel with floating line and about 9 feet of leader ending in a 20-pound fluorocarbon tippet for redfish. The rig works well for trout, but a 6-weight rod and a sinking, shooting head gets the fly down faster to the magic 2- to 3-foot depth, and the lighter rod makes playing the hooked trout more fun.
Few people would claim a fly could match a jig, but in certain conditions it would be close, and it’s always lots of fun.
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