Tying the zoo couger fly



 The zoo couger is a classic fly pattern for trout and bass that was developed by Kelly Galloup. It’s deer hair head sheds water and dives when used with a sinking line. The fly is best fished with a hard strip then a pause.


Materials needed:
Thread of choice(preferably GSP for the deer hair)
Marabou
Deer hair
Mallard flank
Dubbing
Tinsel


Step 1: start your thread a little ways behind the hook eye to mark where you will start your deer hair head. End your thread between the barb and the hook point and make a small thread bulb to support the marabou

Step 2: tie in your tinsel right in front of the marabou. After this wrap dubbing up to just shy of where you started the thread to leave room for a mallard flank feather
Step 3: wrap your tinsel through the dubbing to further secure it to the hook shank and add a little bit of flash to the body

Step 4: tie in your mallard flank feather with the concave side facing down. You can also add a little bit of calf tail or deer hair to help support it

Step 5: tie in the deer hair collar slightly in front of the feather and to follow this step add one stack of spun deer hair slightly in front of it. This will leave you at the hook eye so you can whip finish 

Step 6: trim the bottom of the fly flat with a razor blade and trim the top at a slightly upward angle. You can then round out and flatten the sides of the fly. This is probably the hardest step so it might take you a few attempts to get it right

This fly sheds lots of water and dives a little bit so it’s great for fishing during spring when the bass are spawning. It also works very well for trout as well. I recommend fishing this fly when you are fishing an open area of water in order to push water to attract the fish.













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