Flies And Finesse

 This is a fly pattern that I recently came up with to target bass in the spring and summer. I tied it with a hidden cone head to give it weight which allows you to put a deer hair head on the fly and still have it sink. This fly was designed to be fished on a sinking line to prevent it from jigging in the water column but you can probably make it work on a floating line as well but  this will give the fly a different action. I recommend fishing this fly when the water is slightly off color so that you can fish it fast and keep it in the middle of the water column. Materials needed: Thread(I used gsp for this fly but feel free to use any strong thread of your choice) Rabbit zonker strip Rubber legs Craft fur  Deer hair Conehead Any size streamer hook Step 1: slide your conehead onto the hook. You’ll want this to be facing forward. Then start your thread behind it and bring it to the start of the hook bend Step 2: tie in your rabbit zonker strip. The length can be determin...

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...

 This fly was developed by Bob Popovic to target predator fish species. This fly has many variations but this is definitely one of the most simple ways to tie it. It is effective in either salt or freshwater. This is one of my favorite flies for bass because you can fish it in almost any conditions depending on what color you choose to tie it in. Different variations alter the way the fly moves in the water so if you are interested  in seeing an alternate way to tie this fly you can check out one of our older posts. The fly from the other post is tied on a weedless hook but you can use the same technique for any size hook you need Materials needed: Thread Bucktail Flash Any size streamer hook(I tied this one on a shorter shanked hook so you may end up tying in more stacks of bucktail than I do) Step 1: start your thread anywhere on the hook shank and bring it back to the start of the hook bend. From here you will tie in a stack of bucktail and spread it around the hook with yo...

Gurgler patterns are highly effective for almost any type of fishing. You can use smaller gurglers for panfish and use the larger ones for saltwater fish such as snook or sea trout. I recommend fishing this fly by either walking the fly on the surface or with long and aggressive strips. Materials needed: 1.Marabou 2.Crystal flash 3.Foam 4.Cactus chenille 5.Streamer hook 6.Gel spun thread Be sure to select all of these to fit your needs for size and color. Step 1. Start your thread base and bring it back to where the bend in your hook begins and then tie in the marabou and flash. Step 2. Tie in a strip of white foam directly in from of the marabou. Step 3. Tie in your cactus chenille and wrap it around the hook shank. Step 4. Bring your foam over the chenille and tie it in near the eye of the hook. Step 5. Make a small loop with your foam so that it hangs over the eye of your hook. After you secure the foam with your thread you...

 This is another fly I came up with recently to target bass in the spring and summertime. It is similar to a jerk fly but it is also very much like a bulkhead fly. The combination of the two techniques makes for great action and the ep fibers add a little bit of suspending time in the water. You can modify this fly to be a jerk fly by simply not tying in the stacks of ep fibers on the side and adding more onto the top. This fly does take a while to get trimmed if you don’t get your ep fiber stacks tapered well enough but it’s definitely worth it. Materials needed: Thread  Bucktail Flash Ep fibers Eyes Streamer hook or weedless hook(I used the pr378 from Ahrex for this fly) Step 1: start your thread anywhere you want on the hook and make a small thread base. Follow this step by tying in a sparse stack of bucktail and use your thumb to push the bucktail around the hook evenly Step 2: v-tie in a small stack of ep fibers on top of the bucktail. This should reach out to just shy of...

 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 sta...