Fly Tying Friday - Triangle Bugs For Bass

April 9, 2021 Panfish On The Fly

A fully dressed, weedless bass-sized Triangle Bug. This pattern makes a good disturbance on the surface of the water and is a solid bass producer.

For a long time, I have touted the Triangle Bugs' effectiveness as a topwater panfish fly. Over the years, I have caught a variety of fish species on this little bug while fishing for panfish. This list included many largemouth bass, including one six-pound fish that sipped that tiny size eight fly from the surface like a trout taking a mayfly. So it was a logical decision to tie these bugs a little larger and target bass with them.

The Panfish Devil Bug

April 2, 2021 Panfish On The Fly

The Devil Bug is an old school pattern that works as good today as it did back then.

I was first introduced to this pattern through a musty old pamphlet entitled How to Catch a Fish with O. C. Tuttle's Devil Bugs. I found the molding 22-page booklet in a box of donated fly tying materials that I was sorting for my local Trout Unlimited chapter. I took the yellowing pages home with me and read them cover to cover. Inside were drawings and descriptions of scores of devil bugs tied to catch everything from bluegills to tarpon.

Fly Tying Friday - The Triangle Bug 2.0

March 26, 2021 Panfish On The Fly

The Triangle Bug 2.0 coming to a Lilly pad near you!

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you are probably familiar with my most well-known fly, the Triangle Bug. I developed Triangle Bug many years ago to solve a problem which plaques fly fishers who target panfish.

A Simple Gurgler Variation For Panfish & Bass

September 27, 2019 Panfish On The Fly

This variation of Jack Gartside’s Gurgler is a simple to tie topwater favorite of mine.

Jack Gartside’s Gurgler may very well be one of the most famous topwater patterns ever developed. The Gurgler is a simple foam pattern that can be tied in a broad range of sizes to target a wide variety of fish. The fly has been successfully used for everything from bluegill to large saltwater species and everything in between!

Simple Cork Poppers for Bass and Panfish

September 7, 2018 Panfish On The Fly

A simple bass bug made from a couple feathers a piece of cork and some stick on eyes.

If you are a regular reader of this blog you know by now, that simple is not a common theme around here. As a fly fisherman that loves fly tying almost as much as the fishing, I tend to get a bit carried away at times. However, every once and a while I like to get back to the basics.