Texas Fishing Forum

Matt's Bug

Posted By: FreebirdsWB

Matt's Bug - 05/23/03 03:45 AM

I finally tied up a good enough looking bug to share with you all. This fly is a real killer and you would do well to try it.



Orvis sells nymphs hooks size 10 with 2x shank.
Shiny olive thread
Medium Black bead chain
lead wire
Olive marabou (or the webby part of the hackle you use...)
Olive hackle (I prefer grizzly dyed olive)
one strand of pearl flash
bright olive/green Wing n Flash (Orvis sells Angel Hair)

Tie in the eyes half way between the tip of the hook and the eye of the hook clouser style. Tie in lead wire behind the eyes so that the middle of the fly is pretty heavy.

Tie in the marabou tail and the strand of pear flash (doubled, doubled and doubled again for 8 strands).

Tie in hackle *by the tip*!

dub on the Wing n Flash (Angel hair) up, through the eyes. Palmer the hackle up through the eyes and finish.

It helps to Zap a Gap the eyes in place as they tend to roll after about the 40th fish. After about the 50th fish the hackle will pop out at one end of the other... just cut it off and keep fishing. When you're down to just a few strands of the wing n flash left, put the hook back in your box and use it for another bug.

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<IMG SRC=\"http://www.millikans.net/justin/freeonthefly.jpg\">
click!

[This message has been edited by FreebirdsWB (edited 05-22-2003).]

[This message has been edited by FreebirdsWB (edited 05-22-2003).]
Posted By: Doug

Re: Matt's Bug - 05/23/03 06:02 AM

And remember a torn up fly is a beautiful thing! Doug
Posted By: rrhyne56

Re: Matt's Bug - 05/23/03 12:37 PM

yep, that is one good looking fly. COuld be a dragonfly nymph, a baby crawdad, a lot of different underwater goodness.

thanks for sharing that one Freebirds!

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RRhyne56, Flyfishing Warden
rrhyne56@attbi.com
Robins Custom Flies and Leaders
Posted By: Michael B

Re: Matt's Bug - 05/23/03 06:40 PM

I'm not if either Matt Jennings (the bug's creator) nor myself have used half of the bugs we've tied -- we tend to share a lot of them to people we meet.

The original recipe for the bug is:

Hook: sizes 2-18 in 2xl to 4xl (6-12 are most common)

thread: Olive 6/0

Black Bead chain eyes (medium)

Underbody weight: Adhesive lead tape (3/4 the length of the shank cut into a triangle)wrapped on the hook shank forming a tapered body -- with the goal to have a weight balance that leads to a fly you can twitch near horizontally on the retrieve.

Tail: olive marabou (we had success on the South Llano using a white tail)

Dubbing: Chartreuse Lite Brite or EP Sparkle or any similar fine mylar of the similar color.

Hackle: olive palmered over the dubbed body, wrapped a couple extra times behind the eyes in order to push more water.

For the Central Texas Flyfishers' last banquet I made 5 kits to for the bug, and everyone was pleased with them.

We don't know what the bug won't catch in freshwater. It's truly amazing to see the reactions this fly gets from rainbow trout, black basses, and sunfish.

Justin (FreebirdsWB) has been a believer for the past two years.

Hope everyone gets some time to fish this weekeend.

Michael Brown
Central Texas Flyfishers
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