The
Gill Bug
David Hutton, Palmetto Fly N Fish
Mar 8 2021Simple flies.
I like simple flies.
Just saying it aloud - “simple flies” - is appealing.
And when I say, "simple," I mean three materials or less, excluding thread and hook.
No complicated engineering, no laundry list of materials, and no difficult tying gymnastics...that is simple. And that's what we have here today - a simple but very effective pattern for bass and panfish: THE GILL BUG.
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Gill Bugs Galore
Origin of pattern
This pattern was the brainchild of Detroit rod builder, taxidermist and inventor, Paul Young.
If you were around in the 80's, you'll probably remember a pop musician of the same name, with a few hits back then. Well ...
Sorry - not THAT Paul Young
He built some of the finest fly rods ever, and was among the best of the post-WWII rod crafters...
His gear and his book, "Making and Using the Fly and Leader," still bring high prices whenever they come up for sale.
And he had “firsts”...
- He was the first to take the short, slim fly rod into the mainstream.
- He was the first to promote Mustad's famous barbless hooks, and he invented the famed Strawman Nymph, among others.
- Remember those collapsible, plastic drinking cups? The Trik-Kup? Paul Young invented them, too.
But Mr. Young was also a keen angler and fly tyer.
Our featured pattern, the Gill Bug, is one of his patterns, albeit a lesser known one. It was created to overcome the main drawback of most bass flies in general:
It's understandable that trout anglers, or panfishermen, might not want to invest in an outfit just for this heavy fishing.
Fortunately for us, Mr. Young gave us the Gill Bug to deal with that. It is lightweight, not overly air resistant, and it floats on the water very well. Best of all, it appeals to bass when they want a surface pattern.
It was also popular in the not-too-distant past, from what I can learn of it.
Chauncey Lively wrote glowingly of it in the 60's. That's pretty big, in itself. It had a loyal following in the Northeast, and has been adapted to every size hook imaginable.
It has caught bass, trout, pike, and panfish of all kinds.
Your great grand-dad may have known of it.
Even so, like so many good, older flies, it has disappeared from the modern fly box... An internet search of the pattern turns up nothing.
So, dear friends, we are here today to usher in a Gill Bug revival, albeit a small one.
Gimme an, “AMEN,” and lets get into it!
What It Is And The Materials
The Gill Bug can loosely be called a moth-type pattern. This idea, a big moth or butterfly as artificial lure started in the late 1800's, and was common through much of the 20th century.
It's logical, I suppose, if a bit fanciful to the modern fly angler.
To be honest, the idea hasn't survived too well here in the 21st century. A few older patterns bow to the concept....
There's the old Neversink Skater.
The White Deer Hair Moth, and The Spruce Moth come to mind, too.
And now and then, someone hits on something similar to the Gill Bug... although they never quite get there.
But, the "moth fly," or at least the concept, is mostly unloved and just lingers in the corners of fly fishing. Fortunately, bass don't know or care about all that. To them, it just looks like something good to eat, and it appeals to our imaginations.
In the end, both are good enough.
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The Tools and Materials Tools
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For materials, the original Gill Bug uses only
chenille and a clump of deer hair.
Can it be simpler than that?!
But
don't be fooled - under that label of, “simple,” is a bit of
magic that may not be obvious. The magic is hair taken from a deer... good ol' deer hair.
I don't know what it is, but there is just something almost bewitching about deer hair in a fly pattern. Fish just seem to fall for it, like you or I might fall off a log. If I see deer hair in a fly, I'm automatically confident with it.
Another feature of the deer hair wing on the Gill Bug is its dihedral spread. It is angular, in a “v-shape,” and spreads up and back, above the body and hook.
Dihedral is the same aerodynamic principle that helps model aircraft fly right side up, and in the Gill Bug, it allows the thing to land on the water in the proper orientation
Wing dihedral
Gill Bug Dihedral
The deer hair in the Gill Bug can be coarse, and this actually works best in the larger sizes. To get an idea of the quantity of deer hair used, you want enough deer hair to pinch solidly between thumb and the first two fingers, for a #4 hook.
For thread, you want something strong to bind the deer hair to the hook - I suggest something along the lines of 6/0, 210 Denier, etc. A little cement during construction can't go wrong, either.
Hook sizes for bass are in the #6-#4 range, and they should be relatively light, but long enough to give you a decent body length. I like an Aberdeen, but anything along these lines is good. Just not too heavy; the Gill Bug is intended to be worked as a surface pattern.
The
chenille is your choice. I left it out of the materials foto above, because I immediately started looking for alternatives.
But the original pattern from Mr. Young used two
strands of chenille in alternating bands - black and orange.
I've
also seen reference to them in black and white.
Other good colors
are white with natural deer hair, and yellow body/black
hair.
Variations, Sizes
You can, of course, tie the Gill Bug in sizes more in
keeping with its name sake...bluegill sized, in other words. It makes
a dandy panfish bug.
For smaller fish like bluegill, hook sizes
#6-#12 would be right. For these, finer deer hair is called for,
simply to maintain proper proportions overall.
An interesting
variation is to tie the your Gill Bugs inverted, with the hook point
up. This way, when it comes gliding down on that V-wing, it will land
with the hook point out of the water. This is good for fishing in lily pads,
where you can gently walk the Gill Bug across the top of the lily
pads, until open water is reached.
Upside Down - gotta work on that head
Probably the coolest adaptation I've found for the Gill Bug is to make the body out of foam.
The original chenille had to be well greased with fly floatant and will become water logged, eventually. But not EVA craft foam!
The foam can be applied as wound-on strips, or my favorite, as a disc, folded around the shank, taco-fashion. This method came from Harrison Steeves III. You can see a couple II did with these foam discs in the opening foto; a dot of super glue holds them together.
Fishing
notes
The time honored way to fish a “moth fly” is to
skitter, or skate it across the waters surface.
You either grease
them and the leader well, or use foam and a greased leader, so
everything floats high on the water. Then, pick up the rod tip,
like you're going to start a back cast, and once it starts moving –
you twitch the bug across the surface in a waking, skipping kind of
retrieve.
Waggling your wrist at the same time can make the
fly dance a little on the surface, another way to make it work its
magic. The big scoop-shaped head is there to help the fly scoot up out of the water a little better.
Both of these techniques work best without having too
much line out..., if it is too long, the line drags the fly and reduces the control you
might have over the Gill Bug.
But after a little experimentation, you'll get the hang of it, and you're in for tons of fun..., and the bass should find it irresistible.
Regardless
of whether you use chenille or foam for the body, don't skimp on the
floatant. You want the fly barely in the surface film, to pull off
these antics.
Of course you can also just fish the Gill Bug
like a regular surface fly, without all the gyrations. It is a good surface fly, just a quiet mover, and will work just
fine to get the fish's attention..., and the magic deer hair will lure them in for the take.
Do you want to add the catching flies seen here to your own fly or tackle box? Do you have questions, compliments, or suggestions?
If so, email me at...dahutist@gmail.com
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