I thought some of you might like to see how I've been tying the Upside Down Frog (UDF) I've been using lately. I've heard some complaints that others are having trouble finding a pattern that stays hook point up even after it gets good and waterlogged. I thought this tutorial might clear up some issues they were having.

The discussion that lead to how I tie this pattern today is here. The bug I based this on was Kevin Doran's KDR Rat. Anything good that comes of all this is credit to him and anything bad is something I messed up. My apologies to him for mangling his fine creation.

Materials:
-Spinner bait skirt
-Grey chenille
-0.30 lead wire
-Deer body hair in green, yellow, and cream
-White 210 Thread
-Gamakatsu (HAI!) B10S hook in size 2

Secure the hook in the vise with the point down. Lay down a thread base to a bit behind the barb on the hookshank. Tie in a bundle of the skirt material in line with the hook point. The skirt should be just a bit longer than the hook itself. It's very important that you tie in the skirt so that it lays above the hook as we currently have it in the vise. That way, when the frog is in the water, the weight of the skirt as it dangles in a most tantalizing manner will help it stay hook point up.


Wrap a length of the lead wire slightly shorter than the hook around the hookshank just in front of and around the skirt material.


Tie in the chenille just in front of the lead wire and make a few thread wraps to secure the chenille on top of where the skirt is tied in at the back of the frog. Advance your thread to nearly the hook eye.


Tightly wrap the chenille forward and secure it just behind the hook eye, being careful to leave room for finishing the frog later.


Rotate the frog in the vise so that the hook point is now on top of the shank. Take a few thread wraps towards the back of the hook so that your bobbin is opposite the hook shank.


Get a bundle of the deer hair that is relatively small, about 1/3 of the diameter of a pencil is what I used here. Lay it on top of and parallel to the hook shank. Make three loose wraps of thread around the deer hair.


While holding the deer hair in place on top of the hook shank, carefully pull the thread tight to flare it. We're not trying to spin it, but instead to stack it in place.


Advance the thread towards the hook eye a bit and tie in another bundle of deer hair of about the same size. Hold it in place and flare it just like the last.


Here is a front view to illustrate how we want the deer hair to be on top of the hook shank.


To be continued...

We've got room for two more bundles of deer hair. Make these a bit thicker than the last. About 2/3 of a pencil in thickness seems about right.


Wait. Where did the thread and bobbin go? I pulled a bit too hard flaring the deer hair and ended up breaking the thread. I don't recommend following my tying that closely. Here we are. Back on track.


Here is another front view so you can see how the hook shank is well below where the deer hair starts. This will also help keep the hook point up.


Whip finish the frog, cut the thread, and give the whip finish a good coating of head cement (or Sally's Hard as Nails if you're a cheapskate like me). The thick rubber band helps keep the deer hair out of my way when I whip finish. It's yet another great reason to eat asparagus: free fly tying tools in every bunch.


Now look at the picture above and draw an imaginary line from the hook eye to just above the hook point. That's where we will be trimming. You don't have to use this diver shape, but I like the way it swims in the water. I'm sure a more traditional flat faced popper would work well too.





A few passes with the safety razor blade yields us this little jewel.


To finish the UDF, I like to carefully push the deer hair down with my finger in front of the hook to make sure that there is enough clearance for a good hook set. There was not in this case, so I did a bit of trimming in front of the hook point.


Here's the finished product with a good view of that sharp hook hiding in the deer hair.


You can add eyes or other legs as you see fit, but this version has been working well for me. I'd like to add eyes, but I'm a bit afraid they might act as a snag point.

The only times I've actually gotten this fly hung up was when my fly line got wrapped around the stem of lily pads and I got in too big of a hurry trying to extract it.

Well there it is. I hope it catches you some good fish!

Cool Dusty, nice tutorial!

Thanks, Austin. That's the first one I've done, but I'll definitely do another or two.

Do you see what I'm saying about how the deer hair is sitting well above the hook shank? I think that might be where your problems with it flipping over are starting.

Here are a couple more I tied up over the last day or so, including a bream sized version.

I think stacking well above the hook, along with the weight of the skirt might just be the ticket to your success at this. I spun my hair and trimmed it close on the non hook point side and used feathers for a tail. Thanks for the tutorial! Back to the bench as soon as I get some deer hair in better colors.

I thought that might be part of the issue, JA. I actually started to take some pictures of how I was stacking the hair and holding it for you and just decided to go ahead and do the whole tutorial instead. So you see, it's all your fault.

I look forward to seeing what you come up with after the neighbors' deer start going missing.

You need some moisturizer.

I...uhh...thanks?

Can't you just be happy that there was no two cycle engine oil, grease, or blood evident on them?

Well, at least you fingernails appear to be clean...

Oh yeah nice tutorial. How is it that you have garnered so much free time? With all the fishing and tying you been doin' me thinks the spouse is outta town?!

You think this what he does when his spouse is out of town? Are you kiddin me???

Sad I know, but yes...yes it is!

Thanks, SC. I had some use it or lose it vacation time that had to be taken by June 1st.



Actually, SC is right. My beautiful wife has red hair and her very own Springfield Mil Spec 1911 in 45 ACP. She can shoot a smiley face in a silhouette target at 10 paces. On the rare occasion that she is out of town and I'm here, I do what is on the list that she leaves. When those things are accomplished, I then go fishing or do some tying...maybe.

Back mostly on topic: JackMack and I fished Lake Athens today and we spent a couple of hours fishing these frogs. The bass weren't much in the mood today, but JM did get one good hit. I caught a bitty bass on the red, yellow, and white version above. Not once did I see any of the frogs we were using turn over.

How are you managing to fish in this ridiculous wind?

and I'm jealous of the wife's 1911. I've been trying to decide which make of 1911 I want.