Deer hair bugs for bass

[bmaher287]

Hey guys, this year I want to start fishing, as well as tying deer hair bugs. Does anybody have any patterns they really like or have any tips or suggestions? Also, anybody know of a good website for buying fly tying and fly fishing items? Thanks for any help.

[Steven]

Go to TheWeeklyFly.com and scroll through. There are videos of top tiers creating poppers and divers. CharliesFlyBox.com has good step-by-steps. Chris Helms has a couple of good beginning DVDs in the Hooked on Fly Fishing series.

There are a gazillion good places to by stuff on the net. Orvis, Dan Bailey's, The Fly Shop, Blue Ribbon Flies, Stone River Outfitters, Chris Helmds Chicago Fly Fishing Outfitters, Feathercraft, Dette Flies, Bears Den, Feather Emporium, Madison River Fishing Co.....are all places I've bought from in the past (I'm forgetting some).

Tips on deer hair bugs: Use gel spun thread. Clean out the under fur.

[rainbowchaser]

http://www.flyanglersonline.com/flyt...ate/part34.php

check out this for some good free instructions on spinning hair. Make sure you use a suitable hook for enough clearance to allow hooking.

[tjulian]

This weekend I caught largemouth bass and bluegill both on an X caddis. It is easy to tie. You can find it on YouTube.

I have bought supplies from bass pro and cabelas.

[Alberto]

Your best source for techniques are the Chris Helms DVD's (that is how I learned). He also sells lots of materials for deer hair bugs. I find the deer hair I get from him is of the best quality (Disclaimer- I have so much deer hair I have not purchased any in the last 4 years so I'm not sure if Whitetail Flyting Supplies is still open for business).

Another good source is the book Bass Bug Basics by John Likakis.

As for patterns, I like to use sliders and pencil poppers, one of my favorite patterns is this one:

Popper.JPG

Pretty straightforward tie. The hair is antelope (pronghorn). I love it for bass bugs except for the fact that the tips of the hair are almost always all broken, making it so you can't use it for collars but works well for everything else.

Alberto

[cheech]

I know this isn't what you are asking, but it might be a good idea to research some good foam popper patterns as well. They are much more simple to tie, and they might be a bit more tailored to a new tyer. Research the gurgler pattern. It's deadly.

[malevo]

The whitetail fly tying supplies store is in business. However, Chris Helm has sold the store to Mike Richardson in Geneva, IL. see the link http://whitetailflytieing.com/
I do agree with Alberto that Chris DVDs are awesome way to learn deer hair spinning. I also have the opportunity to take a 6h class with Chris a couple years ago. Man, that was a blast and really helped me to improve my tying with deer hair.
M

[Alberto]

Has anybody ever tried using Bombers? I tied a few for this season:

Bomber.jpg

Alberto

[DBenner]

Alberto, The Atlantic Salmon would surely munch on that one up here on the Miramichi!!!!! and that popper is sweet as well, nicely tied.