great start on the pilchard. that blue polar bear is exactly the right color. get those doll eyes glued on. a drop of 'Zap' gel will hold them until you can epoxy the heads. i'll be interested in your experimenting with stinger hooks or not. the only time i now use them are on really long, 12" streakers, that i troll for dorado. but most of my saltwater flies are less that 6" so only one hook but 5-6mm doll eyes. i do believe attacking fish key on those eyes as the target. so far i have not experienced the short strike problem so long as i have incorporated eyes of some sort.