They are real easy to make . From the article:

"He made it by laying a thick bunch of deerhair on top of the hook shank, lashing it down fore and aft, clipping the front into a stubby head, and leaving the rear tips of the hair to flare around the bend of the hook.

Looks better than anything I've done, Dusty. I think to get the flare needed we're going to have to try binding with wire like they did so we can really put some torque on it..

Digging around I found that our friend Orley used twine to build up the body. No wonder one article said it was designed to sink or float depending on how it was fished.

In the spirit of inovation, and because I had already wasted a ton of hair, I tried to tie one using some Christmas tinsil as the hair and My Little Pony tail as dubbing under the hair. I was hoping the synthetic dubbing would float it, but it sank like a rock in the cereal bowl test.

Need to work on the head, but here it is.

TXRR may have hit the nail on the head with the Ford reference. The flys we have pictures of were made, or at least designed, in the early days of the assembly line. IneptAngler said that his "factory made" devil looked like a mini bailer might have been used.

Were these factory made flys hand tied or machine made? Insert a hook and some deer hair, STONK. The head is attached. Turn it around, STONK. There is the tail. Off to the trimming line. Was there a machine for that?

Just wondering if our attempts are closer to the "lashing it down fore and aft" orinigals than to the factory made units. Perhaps the fish know the answer.

I'll think about pausing until I can get a finny opinion on this one. #8 3366. Dagnabit! Too much tail again.

is there really such a thing as "too much tail" ?

Something tells me that, if we get a fish interested in one of these, the short strikes that result from too much tail are not going to be an issue?



Also, Devil Woman is SWTRHWMBO's other, older nickname.

Those Californian's have already gotten to you, haven't they?

At least I haven't broken out the Rainbow Brite yet.
Using the tail from a dog chewed toy headed for the trash was just an extention of my natural New England frugality.

OK, couldn't give up on the hair just yet. Used a chunk of foam for body above the hook instead of twine, but tried to stay with more traditional materials. Hook is a 200R size 6 3x nymph/dry hook. Poorly shaped wings come from touching the razor just above the tail lashing and bending the newly freed hair out. I think I'm going to do a little field testing on this one.

Grashpr. That is looking good, too mu h fail or no.
BassBug, I wonder if the depths of YouTube could ever be plumbed?

Somebody stop me!!! This is all your fault Robin! I just lashed another one, same style hook but in size 16. Oddly enough, I found the little one easier to tie and the hair didn't twist like it did on the bigger one. If my phone decides to cooperate and send the picture I'll load it up.

IA, are you making your first two or three wraps around the bundle of hair (front or back) fairly loose with not much thread tension? Once you make those loose wraps, you can then gently pull them tight and they should flare the hair nicely. Also, if you aren't already, you might want to try holding the hair still with your left hand while you pull the thread tight with your right.

Glad to be of torment. I just now finished off the money makers and will have a shot at Devils Bugs after dinner. What could possibly go wrong?

Your wife could come home from working all day outside the home to find tiny pieces (and not so tiny ones) of deer hair all over her beautiful dining room table?










...but honey, look at these Devil Bugs...ain't they purdy?

I did it! wings and all. on the 1st 11th try