Alewives are often washed over the Cannonsville Dam into the West Branch of the Delaware River during late winter and early spring when the Cannonsville Reservoir spills.  These baitfish are usually 3 - 5 inches length, with some approaching 7 inches on the larger size.  Often they are stunned from the journey and water temperatures and are easy prey for hungry fish.  This influx of protein can offer the best chance of the year to land a trophy trout.

In the mid 90s angler/artist Flick Ford (www.flickford.com) began fooling around with patterns that imitated alewives.  Combining the movement of marabou and rabbit, Flick added light aluminum eyes and a deep body that caused the fly to roll in between strips.  That action proved deadly and Flicks Phenom quickly became one of our go to patterns on the Delaware System.  It's also a great pattern in Yellow/Brown (see below), Black, and Orange.

Lay a bead of super glue gel along the top of the hook shank and tie off rabbit strip right behind eye.  Head cement the wraps




Step 7:   Take the fly out of the vice and trim the body to shape- usually can be done in two cuts- one on each side on an angle.

Note:  The Yellow/Brown version is tied the same.  the colors change as follows

Materials
Hook: Same as above
Thread:  Uni Yellow 3/0
Eyes:  Same as above
Tail:  Yellow Marabou
Body:  Yellow Hi Vis or Enrico Sea Fibers
Back:  Brown Rabbit Strip
Flash: Gold Krystal Flash