Give 'em the Eye. Four popular eye choices (clockwise from left): Decal done eye (black leech), hollow doll eye (white Muddler), Moon stalk eye (Peterson spawning shrimp), Painted lead dumbbell eye (Clouser Minnow) (Photo by Mike Conner)
September 03, 2025
By Mike Conner
“If it has eyes, it dies.”
I struggle to recall where I first heard that clever fishing analogy but the angler who said it was right, and it certainly is an argument for adding eyes to flies we tie to mimic baitfish, shrimp and crabs. And frogs! And snakes! Oh my!
When I first dabbled in fly tying in the mid-70s, adding eyes to baitfish patterns such as the venerable Lefty’s Deceiver entailed painting the eye on the cemented thread head. A white enamel dot, and a smaller black one for a pupil. Years prior to that, many tyers (including me for a spell) added a jungle cock feather to each side of the head of their freshwater streamers and it made for a passable eye.
A UV light and resin kit results in a “bully proof” eye adhesion. (Photo by Mike Conner) Eyes on Flies for Fly Fishing Nowadays, there are dozens and dozens of commercially produced eyes to choose from. So-called “decal eyes,” with and without raised clear “domes” that lend a 3D look, come in many colors and sizes.
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These so-called stick-on eyes are not sticky enough to stay on your fly, no matter if you tied the streamer with natural hair or synthetic. You must use a good adhesive, of which there are many choices. Choose between Super Glue Gel or Zap-a-Gap, or as I prefer, hot glue. You’ll need a hot glue gun and glue sticks.
The Fish Skull Living Eye is among realistic decal eyes on the market. (Photo by Mike Conner) I also like many of the UV resins on the market, and I recently found one kit, the Let’s Resin bonding kit, complete with a bottle of resin and a “pen-style” UV light that has a USB charging head, all for just $12 on Amazon. There are a number of others, in fly shops and online. With the UV resins, you can apply the eye, then coat the fly head surface around the eye and cure it for a really solid hold.
Two solid options to attach decal eyes include hot glue gun and UV resin and UV light. (Photo by Mike Conner) Those hollow “doll” eyes with moving pupils are still ideal for deer-hair bass bugs. And they add buoyancy at the head which is good for a floating bug. For durability, it’s best to use your scissor tips to further trim out a “crater,” a little larger than the eyes diameter so that the eye sits deeper in the clipped head. It will be less fall-off when contacting objects or when the fish grabs it. Use Super Glue Gel, hot glue, or UV resin to attach them to the bug’s head.
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Lead Eyes From left to right, standard brass bead chain, black painted lead dumbbell, painted lead dumbbell, black bead chain plus mono stalk eye, painted eye on thread head. (Photo by Mike Conner) The introduction of “dumbbell” lead eyes is among the most revolutionary developments in fly tying. They came on the market in the mid-1980s and quickly became the rage, for bonefish flies especially, and later for the venerable Clouser Deep Minnow and permit crab flies. Originally, simple bead chain segments were used, both for the “eyeball” effect but also to add weight to flies. Bead chain is now available in a half-dozen sizes, coated in various colors. Be sure to choose a brass bead chain to avoid rusting in salt water.
The author’s eye box includes assorted size and color bead chain, hollow doll eyes and assorted size lead, tungsten and aluminum dumbbell eyes. (Photo by Mike Conner) Also, there are dumbbell eyes called hourglass eyes which are machined, and can be aluminum, brass, tungsten and other metals. There is also a heavy rubber, non-toxic eye available. Buy them painted, or paint them yourself to save some money.
Both lead dumbells and bead chain eyes are tied to the hook shank with figure-8 thread wraps and many tyers add a few lateral wraps for good measure. A drop of two of head cement helps secure them. Always build a thread base on the shank before attaching them.
Monofilament Eye Stalks Burning 20-pound-test mono for a small crab fly. You can control the size of the “eyeball” with some practice. (Photo by Mike Conner) I’m not sure who came up with the clever trick of melting monofilament tag ends to make shrimp and crab eyes, but it lead to the mass commercial manufacture of them, and there are dozens of brands to choose from. But you don’t have to buy them, they are easy to make—simply snip a piece of mono about 4 inches long, and lightly touch a light flame to the end. Think about how you roast a marshmallow over a fire. Not too close! Get the “melt ball” started, and manipulate the strand so that the ball forms and darkens a bit.
A No. 4 Borski Critter Crab with prominent eyes. You can color the eyeballs with permanent markers as an option. (Photo by Mike Conner) It can range from light amber to dark brown. And then blow the glowing flame “halo” out. It will take some practice to get good at this. In time you’ll be turning out almost identical eyestalks. Heavier test mono (greater diameter) will allow you to make bigger eyeballs if desired. I use 15- to 20-pound-test mono (bonefish, redfish flies) and 40-pound for the biggest eyes I use for tarpon or permit crab patterns. A word of warning: Fluorocarbon does not melt into a nice round ball as mono does. It simply burns to a black end, without a ball shape.
If you don’t care to melt your own “crustacean” eyestalks, choose a commercial product, such as EP Crab-Shrimp eyes or Hareline Dubbin’s Epoxy-Mono Crab Eyes . These eyestalks average around .75 each. Though you can get 50 eyestalks for around 10 bucks made by Almencia through Amazon.
Depending on the fly pattern you are tying, attaching them is simply a matter of tying the stalks side by side to the hook shank, usually before dressing the fly with materials. And you should tie them in allowing the eyeballs to extend beyond the materials so that they are visible to the fish.
