New from Hareline, these Double Pupil Lead Eyes are a great substitute for tying Christmas Island Special bonefish flies.
These new painted lead eyes from Hareline look fantastic. The fluorescent colors (Fl. Pink, Fl. Orange, and Chartreuse) are super bright and the white iris and black pupil definitely give your flies some extra bling-bling.
When looking at the Double Pupil Lead Eyes, there are three ideas that immediately pop into my head:
1) Christmas Island Special bonefish eyes
2) Redfish flies
3) Some cool variations on steelhead or salmon Intruder flies
I think these eyes will be particularly interesting to the guy trying to tie the Christmas Island Special. These eyes are the closest thing we’ve seen on the market for the dumbbell eyes on a Christmas Island Special. According to some inside sources, the only way to get them exactly like the commercially produced, original pattern is to paint brass eyes with a background color, then an iris color, and then the pupil color. That’s a lot of work! Plus, how well does that paint stick to plated brass anyway?
Well, the good news is, these new Double Pupil Lead Eyes look pretty dang good. Just keep in mind that these are lead eyes instead of the brass eyes typically found on the original Christmas Island Special. Since lead eyes are heavier than brass eyes, consider a smaller size in these lead eyes or bulk up the wing on your fly to achieve the sink rate you desire for your fly.
The X-Small size is perfect on a TMC 811 size 6 hook for bonefish flies. It would also be the choice for a size 8 in my opinion. For size 4 and size 2, I would probably go with the size Small.
Go to Double Pupil Lead Eyes -- Quantity of 10 eyes per package.
- X-Small - 3.2mm Diameter - 1/60 oz
- Small - 4mm Diameter - 1/40 oz
- Medium - 4.8mm Diameter - 1/30 oz