A properly tied deer-hair bass bug is one of the most satisfying accomplishments in fly tying. (Charlie Craven photo)
June 15, 2022
By Charlie Craven
Hair-body bass bugs are a complete mystery to most fly tiers. We are all enamored with a tightly packed, beautifully trimmed hair bug, but unlike most trout flies, it often takes more than a casual glance to figure out the tying process.
What I’ll show here is a rather generic hair popper. Once you master this basic design you can modify the elements to create your own variations.
I use 20-pound-test Mason Hard monofilament for weedguards on all my bass bugs. This stiff mono is just the right diameter to fend off sticks and weeds, yet collapses when the bass takes the fly.
Tails on flies like this can be Super Floss, feathers, Zonker strips, Flashabou or any...
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