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Buggs

1K views 3 replies 3 participants last post by  Scott Hobbs 
#1 ·
Well, not exactly fly fishing, but fly tying, even though it's not really a fly.

A guy down in Florida, Heath Hippel, founded a fishing company. His idea, build premium flats jigs (which are mainstays for fishing in Florida) then dress them up like you would a fly. They are meant to be fished on spin gear, not a fly rod. He sells both finished jigs and the materials to build your own. The components are first rate with very strong hooks and one of the finest painted finishes I've ever seen. (And no, I'm not affiliated in any way.) You can visit his website which contains all kinds of details on how he started the company and how to use his products.

Anyway, my favorite of his creations is the "Beastie Bug." It's a crab imitation tied with double bunny strips as claws and a body of your choosing-- usually some kind of chenille or crystal chenille with or without rubber legs. Those bunny legs come alive in the water, and I can attest that they work very well. I'd also bet that they'd be a great smallie or LMB bait in smaller sizes. Here's a selection I tied over the past week or so. Redfish, beware!

 

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#2 ·
After tying up a bunch of foam crease flies, adding rattles and coloring them up and clearcoating the mess out of them, I had to ask my guide nephew " when is a fly a lure?"....his reply was "I suppose it boils down to if you tied it yourself!".
Nice flies. 😁 Those wide flat heads look like sculpin helmets.
 
#3 ·
I had the same thoughts last night gluing pre-fabbed foam crab bodies onto my flies. I guess with the expansion of fly fishing into the salt that the new definition of "fly" is anything you can reasonably cast with a fly rod. Those Buggs jigs definitely are not. They are designed to be fished with a spinning rod, and though some folks do use the smaller sizes with fly rods, you might as well call a Roostertail or a Jitterbug "flies." Those flats jigs have been standard equipment in Florida for decades, but for some reason they aren't widely used up here. Down there, they are sold as bucktails or just plain to be fished with a plastic trailer or with a piece of bait (usually a shrimp tail). They are deadly effective.
 
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