BASS FLIES OF A.J. MCCLANE - part 3

 

    From the start of this series, "The Bass Flies Of A. J. McClane" (<<<< link), we have examined the favorite bass flies of one of America's greatest fishing writers and sportsmen: A.J. McClane.
    He spent 40 years as fishing editor for Sports Afield, and wrote what is now a classic, not-to-be missed book on the subject, "The Practical Fly Fisherman," first published in 1953.
    This was a time when fly fishing for bass was generally considered second rate behind trout angling. But Mr. McClane didn't think so - he devoted an entire chapter in this monumental work to the pursuit.
    Many of the patterns he recommends are likely unfamiliar to you. They are what we today would call, "old school," and a good number of them are wet flies, of all things. The majority of you reading this probably weren't born when these were hot, either. But that's okay, |because you can bet the bass haven't seen much of them, either!

    Here in part 3, we will conclude the series by first looking at a rather unque and mostly forgotten type of fly. Then we will move to surface "bugs," and even some dry fly patterns!
    Lastly, with Mr. McClanes help, I will set the record straight about one the most iconic - and misunderstood - streamer patterns in the business.

              ----------- ↭ ---------

Spinner Fly

    First up is a device that is both spinning lure, and fly, combined. It is primarily a near-surface offering, so it fits into this part of the series which deals mostly with surface fishing.

    To say the spinner fly is an oddity today is no understatement; it is mostly unknown, except to a few. 
But it was quite common in McClanes day, going back to just before the turn of the 19th Century. It is also quite effective, so why it is ignored is a mystery.

    And don't let the word, “spinner,” confuse you – it is in every sense of the word, a fly rod pattern.

    This is because casting a lightweight lure, like a spinner, was only really possible with the fly rod in 1953. The bait casting gear of the period was out of the question for this work, and spinning tackle had not taken off yet. Interestingly, it was Mr. McClane himself who was instrumental in making spin fishing popular.

    But, fly-specific spinners were a standard feature when McClane wrote "The Practical Fly Fisherman." My dad had them in his tackle box, too, and they are still around by the name, "Idaho Spinner". The Hildebrandt company continues to make them, as far as I know, following in the footsteps of their original creator, John Hildebrandt himself.

   So, how can you have a spinner and a fly, together?
    Well, purist notions aside, we are talking about a nearly weightless inline spinner, which can be cast with a fly rod.... 

The Idaho Spinner

    As you can see from the picture, the key part of the combo - the spinner -  is essentially a straight wire fixture which carries a spinner blade in front, and a safety pin type clasp at the rear. It is that clasp that allows you to add any fly you want.
    In essence it is a nearly weightless inline spinner, which can be cast with a fly rod. To the spinner's rear section, you ad your own gaudy wet fly design and voila! You have a Spinner Fly.

    McClane reminds us that the reason for the spinner is to both attract game fish with its flash and sound, and to simulate the darting antics of a minnow. "Bass especially," he tells us, "...are fond of such things." 
    However, he is specific as to what flies work best when making up a spinner fly:

    “Only wingless, fat bodied wet patterns with long hackles, tied on straight, ring eye hooks are reliable for this kind of fishing.
    Stiff upright wings, as found on many trout wet flies, cause the lure to twist and turn in the water, and the feathers often get snagged on the spinner blade.
    But a 'hackled' pattern with a fat body is very lifelike and is easily manipulated. Long, flowing hackles and ringed-eye hooks...that's the stuff good spinner flies are made of.”

    In summary, the spinner fly McClane recommends is a palmered hackle wet fly without appendages or wings, tied on a straight eye hook. Think a symmetrical Wooly Worm type pattern with soft, flowing hackles, and you have the idea.
He is also not shy about the colors; he suggests what are almost circus-like decorations...

1. Yellow chenille/yellow palmered hackle/red tail

2. Orange chenille/white palmered hackle/red tail

3. The Woolly Worm, itself (seen also in part two as a recommended bass fly)

    Finally, he says a great many flies will do in this role, as long as they are obnoxiously bright and have these construction features.

Bass Bugs

    At this point, we leave the world of undewater flies and pop up to the surface with floating flies.
    McClane begins here with the pattern style we call, “bass bugs.” He tells us this genre first started with swampers in Missouri and Arkansas. They stuck hooks and feathers in beer bottle corks, well before the 1900's, and a revolution was started.
    From there, the type exploded into a zillion patterns, “... a significant percentage of which are worthless,”as McClane puts it.

    He separates the group into two distinct sorts – soft bodied and hard bodied.

Soft Bodied Hair Bugs

    Here McClane recommends several bass bugs based on deer hair as a material. These were common at the time, since foam and more modern synthetic materials were still off in the future.
    Keep also in mind that at the time, there were few fly tyers compared to today. Certainly few were focused on bass, exclusively. The glut of materials, online shopping, and everyone on social media or Youtube angling for attention (and sales) well,.... that stuff didn't exist in 1953.
    So most of what he talks about were commercial offerings, sold through mail order catalogs, or available from shops and retailers. Suppliers and designs come and go, however, and most of the vintage original makers are long gone.
    With that in mind, I attempt to show an exact version from the period where possible, or something modern, but very near to them.

        

- Messinger Deer Hair Frog

    Mr.McClane admits this is a good casting bug despite its appearance to the contrary. It is made with bucktail legs tied with the angled kink seen in the foto. These are paired with a soft, spongy deer hair body and leering, googly eyes.
    Much is made of the pliant, “chewy' nature of these flies, something we mentioned in the last installment, Bass Flies of A.J. McClane, part 2.
    The idea is that these patterns appeal to the fish because of they are, "toothsome" - they feel like the real thing in the mouth and so the fish hold onto them longer. And when it comes to bass, frog patterns are rightly at the top of the list. 

                     

- Tuttle Devil Bug 
   

    These beasties were large, as flies go, looking rather like giant beetles. The story goes that when Orley Tuttle's wife, Lottie, saw the first ones, she exclaimed, “It looks like the devil!”
    The Devil Bugs were tied with a rounded, cotton twine underbody on the hook shank, over which was pulled a covering of deer hair. This was all bound at the rear of the hook with copper wire. The tips of the deer hair faced to the rear as a tail, with the headcut short and bristly.

    Some of the Devil Bugs had a face like a mouse, and McClane mentions this in particular. 

    Some of today's deer hair mouse patterns might stand-in for this pattern, especially if you tied them with the all-important, bushy deer-hair tail. The Tuttle Devil Bug from McClane's day was also 1-3” long, and rather unique as we can see from the pictures.

P.S. I have since learned that the Devil Bug is still with us, commercially. It is still hand-tied, too, and sold by Eppinger, of all people. Yes, this is the same Eppinger that makes the famous red-and-white Daredevle spoon. You have to contact them directly and ask for it, however, as it is a special order item and isn't cataloged in their regular line-up.

You can reach them at

Eppinger Mfg. Co.

6340 Schaefer

Dearborn, MI 48126

313-582-3205

email: jennifer@dardevle.com

If you want to have a go at tying your own Devil Bug, there's a good tutorial here:

https://raysfly.wordpress.com/2012/07/31/freshwatersweetwater-fly-of-the-month-julyaugust-2012/



           

"The Fence Rider"
By Jack Ellis

- Deer Hair Bugs

    Here we get into the realm of the more familiar, packed deer hair bass bug. These were treated as a group of patterns by McClane, and not a single, commercial model, so I include a picture of Jack Ellis's, "Fence Rider," to illustrate the type.
    These "bugs" were very popular in McClanes time, being made of a readily available, natural material. Many had the front face coated with cellulose varnish to toughen them up.
    He also mentions what we know about them in our time, too: they will absorb water after a while, and you need to have extras to tie on when they turn soggy.
    Once removed from use, let them air dry on your fly patch. After a few hours, they are ready to go again. A light dressing of floatant was also recommended.

    Nothing much seems to have changed with these from his time, to now. In fact, there is a modern resurgence around these vintage bugs. Many modern tyers have rediscovered both their effectiveness and a certain pride in creating what are literally works of art from deer hair.


 Hard Bodied Cork Bass Bugs

- Peckinpaugh Feather Minnows

    Ernest Peckinpaugh of Tennessee is credited with bringing some of the first commercially tied flies to the US market, and the familiar cork “popper” was among his initial offerings. These are recommended by MacClane. 
    But, that style eventually led to the development of what came to be called, 'feather minnows,' and McClane also directs our attention to those as bass flies.
    These are basically a regular popper, but with the body turned around backwards. You can see that in the picture above. The popular name for these today would be a, “slider;” exemplified by such patterns as the “Sneaky Pete.”
    About the only real difference then, from now, is the absence of rubber legs. This material was known in 1953, but it wasn't universally adopted like it is now.

                                      
   

                            Wilder Dilg Feathered Minnow

      

                    Wilder Dilg "Spook," clear plastic version

- Wilder-Dilg Minnows

    This is another that earns a specific mention from MacClane. The Wilder-Dilg line of suruface bugs was inspired by the earlier Peckinpaugh patterns. As you can see, there is very little difference between them.
    The story goes that B.F. Wilder liked the 'Peck' designs so much, he worried he might run out - so he had copies made by Bill Dilg. In time, these flies were marketed under the Wilder-Dilg name.
    They are, again, the same bullet-headed, slider format, with variations in dressings and colors. The Wilder-Dilg line was eventually bought by Heddon and Sons, somewhere around the 1960's.

               
Dry Flies

    During the Spring, its easy for the novice angler to get the idea that bass are easy to catch.
    They're hungry, as they are either prepping to spawn, or have just finished. But, the season soon changes and settles into warmer grooves. Food becomes more varied and abundant, and the fish get more selective, even cautious. This is the time for a change of pace – the DRY FLY.

    In the old days, if you could carve initials into a tree with a pocketknife, most any broomstick could be made into a bass plug. Most commercial lures were not much lmore than that.
    Today, things are a bit different. I hesitate to use the word, “educated” with bass, but the modern bass we mostly go for are conditioned to the presence of plugs, plastic worms, crankbaits, spinnerbaits, umbrella rigs....Wow! The've seen it all!
    And if they've lived a few years and haven't yet moved in with their deep water brethren, odds are very good they have been hook-bit, too.
    So if endless casting for numbers, or weights of fish has lost its luster, it may be time for a change-up. And few switcheroos are as fulfilling as fishing a dry fly for bass!

Details
    We should be reminded here that this DRY-FLY-FOR-BASS idea comes to us from 1953, and A.J. McClane, one of the most famous 20th Century American anglers. I just wanted to mention that, again, to make sure we are paying attention.
    Even so, this idea of the dry fly for bass is probably only rarely considered in 2023 by The Wavers of the Fairy Stick, aka, fly anglers.
    I'm well aware that fly fishing for bass has become a big fan-boy pasttime. Sure.
    But, using bonafide dry flies over lurid, whopping big foam and hair creations is pretty far out of the box for most modern "fly bro's."
    And more's the pity. 
    Why a pity? Because it means most are missing out on some great sport angling. Both large- and smallmouth bass are generally willing risers to large, dry-fly insect patterns in the shallows, and this holds true whether on stream or stillwater. 

    However, if you are willing to put down your Gamechangers and craft beer to step this far out of the box, only a couple things are needed to make it happen:

1. Proper type waters: the typical weedy, stump ridden “pond” environment.

2. Timing: certain periods of the year and day.

    The latter point is variable. You cannot know with absolute certainty the exact time to tie on a juicy floating fly. It might be the one to start with, or the one to use when all the other methods fail. Thats the challenge behind this change of pace.

    When going for bass dry flies, there is one glaringly obvious difference to keep in mind – they are tied huge, gargantuan even, compared to their trouty counterparts. 
    For hook sizes, we're talking anything from 2-8, with size 6 a good average.
    McClane also stresses that you tie them bushier for bass.

    At this point,  McClane gives an extreme example of bushy and shaggy in the classic olf pattern, "The Powder Puff."
    There are modern patterns that copy this name in some form, but this is the version first tied and fished by Fred Geist, in 1940. It is nothing but deer hair, spun and packed on a hook in the usual way. BUT, it is NOT trimmed to shape; it is left in that state. The fly is essentially a hairy ping-pong ball.
    A modern pattern called the, "Drunk and Disorderly" copies this method for the head, but adds whopping big tails - cool idea, but not the same.

    Mr. Geist and his creation came to the attention of McClane sometime around 1944, and he has this to say about the Powder Puff.... “Despite its bulky appearance, The Powder Puff has little weight or air resistance. It sits down gently, and 'works' on the water with just a few twitches of the rod tip. Geists' brainchild has a long record of bass killing and belongs in the kit of every fly rod angler.”

    I think that clinches it...we want bigger and bushier dry flies for bass.

    Besides the Powder Puff, Mr. McClane goes on to recommend the following dry flies for bass:

- Bivisibles, both brown and black (work some foam strips into the underbody for a longer float, if you want)

- Big hairwing patterns, exemplified by the Grey and White Wulff. These would be my choice.

- Patterns with close-shaved deer hair bodies, like the white-winged McDougal or Irresistible.m chiunky and hairy

- Pretty much most any dry fly you can make big, chunky, and hairy. I show a Black Gnat as an example.

Black/white Bivisible

 

Gray Wulff / White Wulff





MacDougal




White-Wing Black Gnat

Bass Hackle Fly
    A fly McClane did not recommend, but which I think would fit quite well into this line-up, is one I call a, "bottle brush fly," also known in earlier times as a, “Bass Hackle Fly.”
    I gather they weren't unknown in 1953, as I've seen them in books from the early 20th Century. I've tried them with orange-dyed hackle and caught fish as handy as you'd like.
    This drawing and description is from George Herters book(2), and gives a good start...

Bass Hackle Fly 

Muddler Minnow

    Last but not least we come to McClanes big bad boy - The Muddler Minnnow. No other pattern in his book gets the same  glowing praise as this classic.
    The Muddler Minnow was originated in the mid-1930's By Don Gapen of Anoka, MN. 90 years later, it needs little introduction in fly fishing circles. It has a following around the world, and appears on nearly all Top 10 Flies list you'll find.
    It can be a surface fly, a hopper, a swimmer, a bottom scrubber, and it has beentied tied in a zillion variations.
And thats where the little problem with it starts.

    In McClanes day, the Muddler Minnow was a rather different beast than the thick, bullet-headed model seen today. That variation was a modification from the original, intended to imitate a grasshopper. It appeared only after the fly moved out West in the late 1950's.

    Did you get that? The Muddler Minnow you think you know came late to the party. It isn't the original.

    Lets add it up:

25 years after origination + half a continent away + a different purpose = same name, different fly.

    Flatly put, when “The Practical Fly Fisherman” was published in 1953, McClane was writing about a different Muddler Minnow than we think we know.

1. For starters, The Muddler Minnow in his fly box was tied on quite a long hook.
5, 6, 7XL wouldn't be wrong to create the lanky Muddler Minnow from the period.

2. Next, the "true" Muddler Minnow was tied with sparse dressing.
    Compared to the shaving brush versions popular today, the mix of hair and feathers was pretty thin, and the Gapen Company still ties them that way.

3. What about that famous Muddler head?
    The head and collar on McClanes fly were both formed from the same smallish, coarse clump of deer hair. That thick, slick, multi-layered head we laboriously shave into shape nowadays? It was unheard of.

4. It was not a tidy, well-groomed fly. 
Words like “scruffy,” or “ragged,” come to mind to describe those ancestral Muddlers.

    Just WHAT the Muddler Minnow is supposed to imitate also seems to have gotten 'muddled' since Gapen first tied it on Ontario's Nipigon River.
    If you ask ten modern fly tyers, I'm betting bearly all will say the fly represents... drumroll please ...

A SCULPIN. That has been part of the lore for a long time.

    In case you didn't know, sculpins are ugly, bottom dwelling fish that look kinda like Jabba The Hutt.... with similar personalities.
    But, according to Mr. McClane, Don Gapen intended for his fly to mimic a DARTER MINNOW, which are svelte little fishes in the same general family as perches.

    I know, I know, this flies hard in the face of current thought on the matter, and I'm sure argument will arise on this point. But, if there's one thing I've learned from researching in the old books, it is this:

    Details often change from the early days.

    Word gets passed around, someone repeats what someone else said, and people add their own spin to it. 
It criss-crosses the country, people forget about the original as they come up with variations, and pretty soon the name is there, but the pattern has morphed.  

    This is made worse by the very technology we rely on.
We are accustomed to well-produced fly tying videos and written details that read like instructions for the space shuttle. No detail is left out; little is left to the imagination.
    All that is required is one small slip up, one change from the original, and it is shared around the world before lunch. Pretty soon no one remembers anything about the original.

    Well, it wasn't like that, back in the day.
    It was worse.

    Instructions came from those thing called books... you remember books, right? And in those arcane books, actual instructions were as obscure as UFO sightings in Russia. For the most part, those authors generally assumed you already knew the difference between a bodkin and a dubbing loop.
    Illustrations were usually line drawings, fairly crude, and basic. Photographs, if there were any, were few in number, grainy, and out of focus. Materials and techniques had different names than we know, and were often mentioned only in passing.
    Bottom line is, anyone today that can tie flies from the old books has put in the work to get there.

    
    So it is not hard to see that the transition from the original to what we know today has not been smooth. Put another way, things got "muddled" around from the original.
    But since this is about McClanes chosen bass flies, from HIS place in time, I'm going with the original Muddler Minnow. This means a relatively slim, scruffy, sparsely tied streamer that mimic's a darter minnow.
    Take a look at the accompanying photographs to see what I mean.

What we are trying to imitate is this guy....

darter minnow

Not this guy...

                

sculpin

Which leads us to an original Muddler Minnow, as tied by Don Gapen....

                

Here's one packaged for sale, circa 1960's....

              

And here's what Gapen Fly and Tackle Co. has on their website as of today...                                           

    

Epilogue
    I never thought I'd write an epilgoue to a blog post. But it has been five years since I started, "The Bass Flies Of A.J. McClane,"...this, my bass fly journey.
    Many things have come down the road to side-track me, and if I'm honest with myself, it was an arduous undertaking for  which I was unprepared - I bit off more than I could chew.
But it never stopped bubbling in the back of my mind, nagging at me to be completed.  
    I suppose every writer goes through this, having a folder of half-starts and almost done pieces...or maybe it's just me. Regardless, there is always something to work on.
    However, this particular journey draws to a close.
    It is not completely over, of course, because there are other chapters in McClanes book from which we can draw inspiration. "The Practical Fly Fisherman" remains one of those timeless superlatives to which you can return again and again.
    But for now, I wish to thank you for joining me in this epic, and being here with me at the destination. 

            ------------------------- ↭ -------------------------

Writers should always strive for a job well done... even mediocre ones like me. So if you found value in this article, please like, comment, and share it. 

Would you like to add the catching pattern(s) seen here to your own fly or tackle box? Do you have questions, gripes, or suggestions?
If so, email me at...dahutist@gmail.com

If you appreciate a no-drama, no-hype Facebook group, follow this link and come join us at: 

Palmetto Fly n Fish

Thanks so much for reading, and...

Tight Lines,

Dave Hutton

© All rights reserved, David Hutton/Palmetto Fly N Fish 2023

 References

1. “The Practical Fly Fisherman,” Albert Jules, “A..J.” McClane, 2nd Edition, 1975, Prentice Hall

2, “Professional Fly Tying, Spinning and Tackle Making Manual and Manufacturers Guide,” George L. Herter, 17th Edition, 1968, Herters, Inc.

3. Fly Anglers Online – www.flyanglersonline.com

4. “Black Bass Lore,” Wallace Gallagher, 1937, Van Rees Press

5. http://www.bassfly.com/oldbassfly/peckandbetts/pecksandbetts.htm

6. Google, google, and more google

Fly Of The Month - Marv Taylor Inspired Bluegill Spider

But not THAT bluegill Spider

David Hutton
Pqlmwtto Fly N Fish, Mar 27, 2023

Marv Taylor Inspired Spiders
flies and photo by author

Here is a little floating pattern that may seem familiar..., one which may also confuse you a little in its name..., and which is inspired by a guy named Marv Taylor, who will probably be unfamiliar. 
    Don't worry, I will introduce Mr. Taylor a bit later and clear all this up!
    For now, lets just say that Marv called his fly a "spider," a term used for decades for any number of pattern types. Since he is featured here, and called it that, I will do the same. 

--------------------~~<>~~--------------------

    Look closely at this months pattern and you'll see a floating, foam-bodied fly, segmented front and rear, with a feather hackle in the middle. This formula isn't really new - which is why this type may seem familiar to you.
    Most regular fly fishers will see these and right away think, "ANT…” which is not wrong.

    Several patterns have followed this method of construction, perhaps the best known of the type being Ed Sutrys, "McMurray Ant."

McMurray Ant (2)

Ants and Foam
    The McMurray Ant was created in the 1960's, and used two cylindrical bits of black painted cork on either end of a hook shank to represent the front and back of an ant’s body. Then, several wraps of hackle fill the gap between the two sections. Simple, and pretty much the same idea as our featured pattern.
    The general consensus is that the hackle represents little ant legs. Looking at my flies, the McMurray Ant influence is undeniable.

    Then along came EVA "craft foam" to replace the cork, and another variation of this pattern type emerged.

    Speaking for myself, I like craft foam. 

    It is nearly bulletproof, it is colorfast, and the techniques used to form it into flies are not difficult. Super glue and thread are often all you need to make flies from it, and that is what I use. The foam material itself has become a universal part of everyday life. 
    The foam also takes decoration well, and the sky is the limit to one's imagination with this material.

    But none of that is even remotely close to what fly anglers think of when they see the words, "bluegill" and "spider" in the same sentence.

The OTHER Bluegill Spider
    That word combination, "bluegill" + "spider," inevitably creates some confusion for us. 

This is because they usually evoke images of a different pattern altogether: Terry and Roxanne Wilson’s, "Bully's Bluegill Spider," … a good pattern in its own right, and one that also uses the name, "spider."

Wilsons "Bully's Bluegill Spider" (3)

    The Wilson's 'spider' has an interesting origin story behind it, involving farm pond fishing, and accidentally snagging your fly on the back end of a frightened bull..., "somewhere around his T-bone steaks!” (4)
    A running chase followed the retreating bovine, the fly was lost, and the bull came out the victor.
So it goes with bulls.

    But, the Wilson fly was created to mimic a wriggling, slow sinking cricket. It uses rubber legs, chenille, and a unique butt-first weighting scheme that makes it a subsurface fly - not a floater. It shares a similar timeline with Taylors 'spider,' but it isn't even close in concept.
    It DID become better known, to it's credit. Like I said, it's good, and better marketing made it a staple in the panfishing fly wallet.

    But who was Marv Taylor? And what about HIS spider?

Marv Taylor: The Man
    Marv Taylor was a fisherman, angling writer and newspaper editor in the high-desert American West for years. His stomping grounds were the lakes around Idaho, and that's where he made his mark. He was mostly known as the go-to man for trout, and he had several "how-to" books to help you unravel their secrets for yourself. 
    Marv was also one of the original, in-print proponents of float tubing for the mass market. He authored a book that may very well be the first good look at float tubing for anglers... "Float-Tubing The West."
    Sadly, Mr. Taylor passed away 10 or 15 years ago, so it is no surprise that you've probably never heard of him.

    But when I first started fly fishing and tying flies, I ran across his collected articles on the wonderful, and now languishing internet monolith, "Fly Anglers Online."

     We could do a whole piece by itself on FAOL, as it is called, and the term, "monolith" is no mistake. This site harbors a massive compendium of information, with a collection of work unsurpassed elsewhere. I refer to it weekly for one reason or another. 

    But, sadly, it is falling by the wayside in the age of YouTube googanism, instant phone apps, and text-bite Facebook groups 

    The owner/publisher of FAOL plans to keep it hosted on the internet for the foreseeable future, but she told me, "We aren't adding new content anymore. Traffic has slowed, and interest in journalistic-style sites like FAOL has faded." 

    The internet is a good tool, but never underestimate its power to screw up a good thing.

    But during its heyday, Marv Taylor was a major contributor to FAOL. And fortunately for us, a large number of his articles are archived there. You would do well to check it out. 

    And as luck would have it, one of his pieces is titled, "My Favorite Bluegill Fly," and in it, Marv describes a proven floating surface pattern for bluegill.

Marv Taylor's Favorite Bluegill Fly

Foto courtesy of FAOL (1)

    Marv was best known for his expertise on trout. However, like many trout nuts, he also enjoyed fly fishing for panfish. According to Marv, he was trying to tie some foam, "bluegill spiders" somewhere in the late 1960's, and was fumbling with the rubber legs at the fly tying vise. 
    There are probably half a dozen fly types that go by the common name, "spiders," and I wont try to discuss every type that uses that name.
    Instead, what you need to know is that in Marv’s day, sponge foam flies with rubber legs were commonly known as, "sponge spiders," "sponge rubber spiders," or just "spiders," for short.
    This explains the confusion with names we have worked through to this point.

    It seems Marv was trying to craft some 'sponge spiders', using large, pre-formed foam ant bodies. However, the rubber hackle was giving him fits, so he had a, “brilliant idea," as he put it: 

    Toss the rubber legs aside and use hackle feathers, instead. 

    Dressing the waist portion of the ant bodies with wraps of saddle hackle turned out great, and Marv says he loved the look. Maybe it was inspired by the McMurray Ant, I don't know.
    

    By his own account, the fly was a serendipitous winner, and he stayed with it. In the early 1980's he ran a small fly shop in Boise, and his lucky chance bluegill fly turned out to be one of his best sellers.
    The rest is history, as they say.

 Details
     Being inspired by Marv and his writing for FAOL, I used his hackling idea to tie my own version of a panfish "spider." 
    
One of the highlights of these flies is that they can be recycled several times. Today we use craft foam for the body, and this is almost impossible to tear up. So when the hackle wears out or gets chewed off, just replace it, clean up the thing and go back to the business of fishing!

    I have never had one last long enough to re-hackle it; they are usually eaten by trees or weeds before then. 😁

    But I've never had one come apart, either.
    And to the fly's credit, both bluegill and bass agree that the fly is a winner. 

The Body
    I use foam for these flies, as one should, but not fancy, pre-made bodies. My workaround is to tie in a narrow, crafted piece of 2 or 3mm foam to the middle of the hook shank - I use thread and super glue for this. It is not going anywhere!
    Then, I cut it to the length I want, and shape it with scissors and a controlled flame. A few snips here and there, hold the flame close to round and smooth the foam's edges, and voila! A body is formed.
    Each body is meticulously created this way before moving on. 
   
    The one construction "trick" that tends to give people problems is using thread tension to form the foam into a thin waist section. This is important as it is where the hackle will be wound on. But this can be a little challenging to get it just right.

    You'll also notice that I don't tie down the head at the eye. In this way, it is more like the McMurray Ant.
    This means fewer thread wraps to cause trouble. More importantly, the foam lifts up under thread tension, which raises the head to give a little gurgler-like popping action in the water.

    In my experience, bluegill and other warm water fishes are not fussy about the shape. I've fished them without doing any shaping at all, just a chunk of foam, and they still take the fly. But I want them to look good, so I apply the handwork to shape them.
    The blue one follows the method I already outlined, and comes out kind of stout and blocky. The grey ones are small geometric shapes, and I add some pinpoint paint dots so they look "buggy."  No need to squint to see them as something a fish might want to eat - they look "alive."

The Hackle
    Once the body is firmly affixed to the hook and embellished, I tie in a small hackle at the center and wind on 3-5 full wraps. Then it is tied off and the waste is snipped away.
    For hackle I reach for good saddle hackle, or soft hackle, with fibers that are just a little over-size for the hook. If wanted, the very best genetic dry-fly hackle can be used, but it doesn't have the same "movement" as these others. 

    Hook sizes from 6-12 are about right, and I mostly go with 6, 8, and 10 for our South Carolina bluegill - "Dixie Trout," I call 'em.

Simple Wins
    These are not fancy "spiders." They are intended to be effective as much as artful. They look pretty darned cool, and fish like them. But this is not a $75 vintage salmon fly.
    On the other hand, if you appreciate a fly that has less to go wrong, these are for you. They follow the, "3 Materials Or Less" concept touted by C. Boyd Pfeiffer, another man who knew what he doing.

    I have discussed Mr. Pfeiffer and this idea of material simplicity before, and you can catch that here: 

Simple Flies - How Simple Can You Go?

Marv Taylor Inspired Spiders

Hook: Size 8-10 lightweight hook

Thread: Black (or matching color)

Body: EVA craft foam as a floating body; most any color will do - grey, green, orange, yellow, black, white, etc.

Hackle: Saddle hackle, four or five wraps.

For a tidier appearance, match colors (thread, body, hackle). The fish don't seem to care, but it looks nice. 

Variations on the Theme

    Marv Taylor was one of those fishing guys that I lean towards because he knew what he was doing, AND, he strikes a chord within. If I could meet and buy him lunch, my life would seem a little better - I just know it would. 

    Knowing that Marv is gone also makes life seem a little sadder. We are lucky, for now, because we can still read his words at FAOL, and learn from them. And we can pay tribute to Marv Taylor, one of the unheralded men that came before us.
    These things are almost as good as having him with us.

        

--------------------~~<>~~--------------------

   

Writers should always strive for a job well done... even mediocre ones like me. So if you found value in this article, please like, comment, and share it. 

Would you like to add the catching pattern(s) seen here to your own fly or tackle box? Do you have questions, gripes, or suggestions?
If so, email me at...dahutist@gmail.com

If you appreciate a no-drama, no-hype Facebook group, follow this link and come join us at: 

Palmetto Fly n Fish

Thanks so much for reading, and...

Tight Lines,

Dave Hutton

© All rights reserved, David Hutton/Palmetto Fly N Fish 2023

References

1. https://www.flyanglersonline.com/features/lakes/part31.php

2. https://www.johnkreft.com/mcmurray-ant/

3. https://breambugs.com/product/bully-39-s-bluegill-spider-chartreuse/

4. Terry and Roxanne Wilson, "Bluegill Fly Fishing and Flies," 1999 Fred Amato Publcations

 

 The Toad Machine - A Prelude 

March 18, 2023
David Hutton

The Toad Machine

FILE: Wayback Machine

SUBJ: “The Gheenoe That Isn’t”

    I have been calling this beast, “The Notta Gheenoe… “ since I got it from my BIL, James Burleson, aka, “Butch.”

    I think I fished out of it once or twice with him, decades ago, in Florida, and he had it for all the years to follow. He called it a ‘ganoe,’ and I figured he was using the generic name for any canoe-like boat of this type, with a flat transom.

    Jim and I parted ways in life, as sometimes happens, and it sat out in the weather for many years, forgotten and left to fend for itself. I asked him about it some years back, though, and he said something like, “I ain’t gonna use it - you can have it if you can get it out of the weeds.”

    The top of the rear seat was ripped apart, the tires and bearings were shot, and the trailer winch mount was broken off at the base. Oh yeah, the trailer wiring was crap, and the fenders partly rotted, too.

    But I hauled it home, like a proud father, and got all those issues sorted - look close and you can see the repaired rear seat. Today, it ain’t like new, but all is functional and I am grateful for it.     In the opening picture, I show a “glamour shot” from its maiden voyage after repair and refit. I thought it deserved some love, so I gave it a camo job with spray paint to doll it up for the reveal.     But above all, there is that name - "The Toad Machine." Names A'Plenty

    If you’re a regular member at Palmetto Fly n Fish, you will have seen my articles about the many modifications and changes I've made to the Toad Machine.     There is link at the end of this prelude where you can start reading those articles, if you are interested in modifing small boats.

    But first, lets get into that many names behinds this baby. "Toad Machine"     This name has turned a few heads at the boat ramp, and you could say it is pretty unusual - just like the boat itself.     One woman approcahed me, after I had tied up at the dock... "Toad Machine? Whats that - is it a name, or..." "Yes, ma'am, that's right. The Toad Machine." "Well, I never saw or heard anything like that." "No, and I suppose she's one fo kind in these parts." "I declare - the Toad Machine..."

    As far as I know, Jim named it, “The Toad Machine." and out of respect for him, I didn’t change the name - and never will.

Not only is it superstitious bad luck to just up change a boats name, but it really is a great name. "Ganoe"     But, as long as I’ve had it, I didn’t know what it was, other than he off-handedly referred to it as a ‘ganoe.’

It resembles the famous Florida Gheenoe boats, however, so I just called it, “The Notta Gheenoe.”

‘Ganoe’….. “Geehnoe”….. “Notta Gheenoe!”

Well… There arent many Facebook groups for "weird ganoe boats that are kinda like a Gheenoe..." so I joined a legit Gheenoe group, anyway, and tagged along with my Notta Gheenoe.

Little did I know the truth - until today

"Ga-Noe"     There, thanks to a member on the Facebook Gheenoe group, I learned that it has an ACTUAL trade name!

    It seems this guy’s uncle owned the company that made it, and my BIL had the right name all along. As far as I can tell, this boats' name inspired the generic name, ‘ganoe,’ now used describe all boats of this type that came after it.

   So, without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, I present to you…

1981 “Ga-Noe” (formerly The Notta Gheenoe)

Mfr: Happy Traveler Marine, Tifton, GA

16', 10 hp rated, 500 lb capacity

Thanks go out to Mr. Rob Connell of the FB Gheenoe group for his awesome responses and help.

------------<~~>------------

Writers should always strive for a job well done... even mediocre ones like me. So if you found value in this article, please like, comment, and share it. 

Would you like to add the catching pattern(s) seen here to your own fly or tackle box? Do you have questions, gripes, or suggestions?
If so, email me at...dahutist@gmail.com

If you appreciate a no-drama, no-hype Facebook group, follow this link and come join us at: 

Palmetto Fly n Fish

Thanks so much for reading, and...

Tight Lines,

Dave Hutton

© All rights reserved, David Hutton/Palmetto Fly N Fish 2023

Toad Machine Tales - Maiden Voyage

April 12, 2018, update 2023

The Toad Machine

     After years of disuse, and life among the weeds, The Toad Machine has again taken to the waves!

    I managed to get the thing down the boat ramp and into the water without mishap this morning; a feat in itself.

I am probably the worst boat ramp backer-upper in the country, something no Southerner is pleased to admit.     

But I cannot lie - to get this figured out, it is going to take some persistence.     But The Toad Machine was worth it.

    

    This boat, "The Toad Machine," was made in 1981, by Happy Traveler Marine, out of Tifton, Georgia. It is 16 feet long, and was marketed under the trade name, "Ga-Noe." It has been decades since these were made, but it eventually donated its name to what has become the generic description for all similar vessels down to this day - "ganoe."     It is essentially a flat bottomed canoe, with a transom stern. It swings surprisingly well on the paddle, but it tracks like a sheet of plywood. Seriously, it’s not going to win any contests for human-powered speed; you must stay on that paddle.     And like any canoe, the wind is its nemesis. By that I mean, a breeze will sail the nose into any quarter you want - as long as you want to go down wind.

    But those are its two main design vices, and neither were unexpected. An anchor and a drift sock can cure some those drifting problems.

    However, this vessel needs some power. It is 16 feet of strong-built fiberglass, and a paddle is really not quite enough “motive force,” if you are by yourself. For stealth and backwater trekking, an electric trolling motor is what the doctor ordered.

    In the pics, you’ll see a big, black, boxy contrivance up front - that’s a battery box. It is filled with a 100 amp hour battery. The battery is big, though, so clear the tall box, the front swivel seat is mounted on 3 1/2” above the battery on a spacer.

    I brought the power cell along on this trip for the weight, to see how it affected the handling. It helped some to keep the nose down, and I couldn’t tell it was even there. The Ol’ Toad Machine has a quarter ton weight rating, so yeah, a trolling motor is in the future.

    (A 7-8 hp gas motor would also be a significant boost, and it’s built to take up to 10 hp. So anyone that has one of these just laying around, gimme a call 😊).

    On the plus side of the ledger, we find The Toad Machine possessed of these good qualities....

1. Room to spare.

    It’s not cramped at all, at least not by kayak or canoe standards.

    The Toad Machine possesses an open floor plan. I’ve come from kayaks in the last few years, and no matter how nice they are, they always leave me feeling cramped.

I like some elbow room and it’s here.     To maintain that walk-around feel, I’ve made a few gear stowage bags for the gunwales from plastic pool material...they help to keep the deck un-cluttered. I’ll be making two more.

2. Easy to move around in.

    That’s not something you’ll ever say about a kayak, or even a canoe. You can literally move from the front to back of the Toad Machine without much worry, as long as you stay low. Doing a little jig isnt not out of the question.

3. Low to the water.

    Because it has a flat bottom, there isnt much in the water below the gunwales. And since the sides are low, these two aid in both stealthy approaches and easy handling; you don’t need a 6’ long paddle. Reaching over for unhooking fish or untangling snagged flies is a breeze, too.

    It is NOT a big water boat as it sits, on the other hand, for these very reasons. Perhaps underway at rated power, the hull shape and length* might allow it to skim right along the waves (hint, hint 😉😉). * after looking at it for awhile, I realized why the hull shape is familiar - it is VERY much like a viking long ship. It is close enough to my eye that the designer may have used that venerable craft as a model! And we all know how well those vessels handled big water...          But the low approach and shallow draft has serious backwater advantages. This thing draws about 3-4”, even with my chunky butt on board. I like it back there in boonies, too, so this works in my favor.

4. Front seat handling

    This was an unexpected bonus; I find I can sit on the front pedestal seat and single-hand the boat!

    The stern lifts a bit when you shift the weight this way, and it tends to yaw around the bow. But forward progress is still good, although directional stability gets a bit squidgy.     But it’s still cool to do it.

5. Stability

    All this is made possible because the Toad Machine has initial stability to spare. I was surprised at how easy it is to stand, cast, and paddle, after just a little trial and error.

    There is almost no tip or roll, and a push pole looks like a good idea, at this point. Heck, a 6' paddle just MIGHT be useful, after all. I don’t intend to try standing on the gunwale, although I suspect it could be done.

    But first, I have to get used to backing down a boat ramp. Tomorrow is another day, and if you want to see how I worked that out - plus see the modifications and changes to date - check out the full series, “Toad Machine Tales.” (link below…)

Toad Machine Tales, episode 1

    Writers should always strive for a job well done... even mediocre ones like me. So if you found value in this article, please like, comment, and share it. 

Would you like to add the catching pattern(s) seen here to your own fly or tackle box? Do you have questions, gripes, or suggestions?
If so, email me at...dahutist@gmail.com

If you appreciate a no-drama, no-hype Facebook group, follow this link and come join us at: 

Palmetto Fly n Fish

Thanks so much for reading, and...

Tight Lines,

Dave Hutton

© All rights reserved, David Hutton/Palmetto Fly N Fish 2018, 2023