My momma always said "beggars can't be choosers".
I have the one you tied in our swap but I don't fish those I display them.

I only tie to fish.. and I've lost some real pretty flys

check out what I caught today with a big bass bug











[img]http://www.theeagleweb.com/images/chaps1mar08-4.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.theeagleweb.com/images/chaps1mar08-6.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.theeagleweb.com/images/chaps1mar08-8.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.theeagleweb.com/images/chaps1mar08-10.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.theeagleweb.com/images/chaps1mar08-12.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.theeagleweb.com/images/chaps1mar08-14.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.theeagleweb.com/images/chaps1mar08-16.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.theeagleweb.com/images/chaps1mar08-18.jpg[/img]

Now that is some seriously beautiful water and fishes too!
Man, thank you for the share!

Any of the aforementioned bugs or flies will work for my numbers 2 through 4. But my number one bass catching fly of all times is a Sneeky Pete, yellow body with black spots, and white rubber legs.

Thanks Billy Jack for the heads up on a Sneaky Pete. I have never heard of them before. I have heard of a Pistol Pete. I found tying instructions for one. (for both actually) However, I do not know a thing about clear coating after it is all finished. I will have to look that up. I do not have any foam popper material either, sadly enough. I will have to rectify that situation asap. :-) I wonder if he meant epoxy for the clear coat?

My favorite has always been the venerable #1 Peck's Popper. I've caught bass up to 9lbs on it.

HLS, I did take your offerings out this weekend. It wouldn't sink, so I'm thinking I must have done something wrong. Flouro leader would probably help. I added a little splitshot in front of the fly and could get it to go down a little (a couple of inches below the surface). I kept increasing the size of the split shot to get it to fall. Anyway, no fish, but it does look good in the water.

swalker,
Those bucktail bass bugs should sink but very slowly after they get really soaked, they are tied to stay just at or under the surface. I'll step on them in the mud to get them dirty and heavy and sometimes that first cloud of mud coming off the fly will make a bass go nuts Looks like a water dog coming up for air or something.. They will work best when the water is nearing 65 degrees and the bass are active.. Where did you fish them and did you use your six weight?

There is a small private lake that is loaded with big bass that I have access to. The water is pretty muddy right now and the fishing has been pretty tough. I also don't think the water has gotten to 65 degrees yet. Everytime it looks like we are ready for the fish to turn on, we get it with another cold front (like tonight). They are just now starting to move to the shallows and start hunting for beds. I did use my 6 wt. The rod is hard to cast anything, but it handled those fairly well. (I think it is underrated--I probably need to put heavier line on it).

stepping on it would break my heart (they are beautiful flies), but they are suppose to catch fish. I'll give that a try. I think the mono leader was keeping it on top. I'm going to try a flourocarbon leader. That should help. They look great coming through the water. I thought it kicked like a frog, and they moved a lot of water.

I just use a 5 foot straight piece of 12-20 pound mono, usually in low-vis green. My floating line is so old it doesn't float anymore so it's like a slow sinking tip fly line.. I think because these flys do move a lot of water that is what attracts the bass and the fact that it looks like a big slow moving meal. I'm learning that for bass the uglier the fly the better, and only under certain conditions will lighter and/or brighter colored flys work better. But for the most part dark, drab plain flys seem to work best..

swalker9513,
I bet if you didnt want to step on them, you could also just grab them and squeeze them underwater like a sponge to remove alot of the air from them. But since the water is colder, I can see why you wanted them to go deeper,but as it warms up more, having this run shallow will be fine.

This is for Jerry.
A hook-up rabbit strip rattle bottom deceiver

I love the way rabbit strip swims and pulsates through the water!

I here at work watchin what you're up too and LOVIN it!!!