Overview

The Featherlite Changer is Flymen Fishing Company's feather version of the Changer, the articulated baitfish fly created by Blane Chocklett. It is built on a chain of small articulated sections, so the whole fly bends and swims like a live baitfish instead of moving as one stiff piece.

Natural feathers make it light and easy to cast, and they move in even the slightest current. That matters because a predator usually eats when the fly pauses or drifts, and the Featherlite keeps undulating when you stop stripping. It is a fly for trout and bass in fresh water and for redfish and striped bass in the salt, and the three sizes let you match anything from fry and small minnows to big baitfish.

How to Fish It

• Strip and pause: use short strips with pauses. The articulated body keeps swimming on the pause, which is when many fish eat.
• Swing it: on rivers, cast across and let the current swing it. The feathers breathe and the body flexes with no help from you.
• Match your line to the depth: a floating or intermediate line for shallow banks and flats, a sink-tip for deeper runs and lakes.
• Big-fish water: work the Large size along drop-offs, weed edges and structure for bass, pike, stripers and big trout.
• Leader: a short, stout leader turns over the larger sizes. Add a bite tippet for toothy fish.

Choosing Color and Size

Pick the size by the baitfish you are matching. Micro #4 is under 3 inches on a single #4 hook, sized for small minnows and fry and the right choice for trout and panfish. Small 1/0 is about 3.5 inches on a 1/0 hook, a strong all-around size for bass, trout and inshore fish. Large 4/0 & #2 is about 5 inches with two hooks, a 4/0 up front and a #2 trailing, for big predators and fish that strike short.

For color, White, Gray & White and Green & White imitate shiners, shad and other light baitfish in clear water. Olive and Tan are natural colors for sculpins, chubs and young trout. Black & Purple gives a strong silhouette in low light and dirty water, and Pink is a high-visibility attractor that also covers shrimp in the salt.