Realistic Weightless Dumbbell Eyes

Weightless dumbbell eyes are one of the best ways to add eyes to baitfish designs. The main issue with eyes on baitfish flies is the durability. Stick on eyes, even when glued on, will come off after a few toothy predators mangle the fly. If you are like us then the fly looses some attractiveness without the eyes and needs to be replaced for one with eyes.

After much trial and error we have settled for two solutions for eyes for baitfish; tab eyes (link) and weightless dumbbell eyes. Each option has it's advantages and disadvantages, so your choice really depends on what you want to achieve. The dumbbell eyes are extremely durable because they are tied onto the shank. The disadvantage with dumbbell eyes is that they need some material in front of the eyes to make the fly look good. For the right design this is no problem and dumbbell eyes are a great choice.

Our current line of dumbbell eyes has a new transparent plastic frame that is more durable. With the old frames there were some issues that when the fly was crunched hard (especially with hard-mouthed fish like tarpon) the frame would break on occasion. These new frames are much stronger and breaks are rare.
The new Weightless Dumbbell Eyes come in a realistic smoked, silvery colour that imitates a wide range of common baitfish eyes. We have also increased the number of dumbbell eyes from 6 to 10 per pack, so that the price per piece has come down a bit; better eyes for less money!