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Kantner’s Small Stuff Step-by-Step:
Last spring, I dedicated a number of Step-by-Step posts to preparing for a pair of spring forays to south Florida. I leaned heavily on the recommendations of “Land Captain,” Steve Kantner, during this preparation and highlighted a number of his go-to patterns for targeting snook, tarpon and other predatory species along the Everglade’s famed Tamiami Trail.
While there, however, the abundance of smaller species (native and exotic) became more and more apparent. And, as each trip progressed, I found myself forgoing larger baitfish patterns in favor of smaller offerings more suited to targeting panfish nearer to home.
A return to south Florida slated for late March, I recently found myself returning to Kantner’s texts in search of patterns that might improve my odds with these mini predators.
Among those recommendations was a simple woolly bugger variant deemed the “Small Stuff.”
| Materials: | ||
|---|---|---|
 3X or 4X Streamer Hook (#8-10) |  8/0 or 70-Denier (Olive) |  Tungsten (1/8″, Black Nickel) |
 Grizzly Marabou (Olive) |  Ultra Chenille (Olive; Standard) |  Grizzly Marabou (Olive) |
 Ultrawire (Gold; XS) |
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Kantner’s Small Stuff Step-by-Step Tying Instructions:
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Tips and Tricks
- Substitutions – While there’s little room for substitutions on a pattern this simple, it is worth noting that I deviated from Kantner’s original in one aspect. While I used counter wrapped Ultrawire to secure the palmered marabou, Kantner’s original utilizes Kevlar thread. The reason for this substitution…I simply do not own any Kevlar thread.
- Dragon, Damsel, Minnow or Crustacean – While this pattern seems to be an ideal damselfly or dragonfly nymph imitation, Kantner suggests it can also be used to imitate baitfish and crayfish as well by simply adjusting the retrieve. So…alternate between fishing it fast and slow, deep and shallow to see what works best on a given day.
Proof of Concept
With a return to south Florida still six weeks away, proof of concept will have to wait. It is worth noting, however, that Kantner claims to have landed everything from Mayan Cichlids to freshwater Tarpon when fishing this pattern.
Tight Line!
Chris
Species Caught on Kantner’s Small Stuff Fly to Date:
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