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.













Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tying A Zonker Leech On A Circle Hook

Image
Zonker strips have some of the best action of any tying material. They wave in the water and have great action while also holding a solid profile. Apart from being a solid leech pattern this fly also imitates a sculpin. This fly that I have come up with is a fairly standard zonker leech tied on a circle hook. Circle hooks can be a bit tricky due to the fact that you essentially ignore the bite to set the hook.  Materials needed: 1. Zonker strips of your color choice 2. Dumbell eyes 3. Scud dub or another similar synthetic dubbing 4. A circle hook Step 1. Tie in your dumbell eyes as close to the eye of the hook as you can while still having some room to tie on. Step 2. Tie in your zonker strip upside down. This is done so the strip rides correctly while riding upside down from the dumbell eyes. Step 3. Tie in another zonker strip and wrap it around the hook a couple of times. Step 4. Begin tying in your dubbing by v-tying. For this fly I a
Read more

Tying an ep bulkhead

Image
 This is a fly I just recently came up with and it will work well during spring and summer time when minnows are schooling. This fly is best fished with long strips followed by a couple of fast strips and a pause. This will make the zonker strip tail flow to imitate a minnow’s tail. The head of this fly is tied with a technique I learned from McFlyangler and fly fish food. It is achieved by flattening stacks of ep fibers between your fingers and then spreading them around the hook evenly. Materials needed:  Thread  Rabbit zonker strip Ep fibers Sharpies or other markers(optional) Glue on 3d eyes Step 1: start your thread a little ways back on your hook to mark a point to start your ep fiber head and then bring your thread to the bend of the hook Step 2: measure out your rabbit zonker to fit your hook length and then tie it in directly on top of the hook. Once you’ve done this you can cut your tag on the zonker strip to stop right before the spot you marked to start the head of the fly
Read more

Tying a diver fly for bass

Image
 This is a pattern I came up with at the beginning of winter and it’s based off of Andreas Anderson’s deer hair fly patterns. This fly dives when you strip it with a sinking line and slowly returns to the surface. The intent for this fly was to create a versatile bass fly for spring time. Flies like this work best when it is clear and the bass are spawning. When stripped down into a bass bed it is sure to draw a reaction strike Materials needed: 26 degree bent hook Normal thread GSP thread for the deer hair(optional but recommended) Bucktail Flash Deer hair Flat edge razor blade Mylar tubing Step 1: if you don’t have a bent streamer hook, you can bend it yourself. This is the best time to do that if so. Start your thread behind the start of the bent section on the hook to mark where to end your body stacks Step 2: tie in a small price of Mylar tubing to help flair the bucktail. Make sure you keep this stack short so it’s not as visible through the bucktail. Then tie in a sparse stack r
Read more