Quote Originally Posted by Buddy Sanders View Post
Allen,


With typical bass fly gear, you can seldom throw a fly that will be 'too big'.

Buddy
That's for sure. It's not unusual for local anglers to catch 1.5 to 2lb bass with ten inch long swimbaits that imitate the trout that are stocked in local lakes in the winter.

The largest gurglers I tie for freshwater are tied on a size 4/0 Mustad 3407 hook and they overall fly length is 6 inches. The foam body and lip are a about 1.75 inches an the rest is tail. Bass eat their prey by flaring their gills and expelling water via the gills, creating a suction that draws in the prey. Even a one pound bass can eat these six inch long 4/0 hook gurglers as the tail just collapses and the body fits in that big mouth with plenty of room to spare. I cast these larger patterns with a 10 wt line on an 8 wt rod or using my Sage Smallmouth rod with the matching line. I tie gurglers in smaller sizes down to a size 1 3407 hook. If I go even smaller I will use a hook designed for plastic worms or something like the Mustad 3366 or Tiemco 8089. Bass wont always eat the big patterns so I carry gurglers in different sizes ranging from about 2 to 6 inches long.