Some bass bugs

[Philly]

I've been working on some bass bugs the last month or so. Tying up enough to fit into fly boxes I've been putting together out of clear plastic photo holders and 6 mm white craft foam. The boxes are 5 1/2" x 7 1/2" which will fit either into my chest pack or the larger pockets in my fishing vest. The second and third patterns fit into one box, a bit tight.


Meade's Gutless Frog. A new pattern for me this year. I saw it on another site about a month ago. It's supposed to be weedless. It looks like it can be fished off a sinking line so I did a couple up in crayfish colors. I'll find out in a couple of months when the weather warms up.


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Tony's Froggie. I learned this pattern from Tony Spezio, a local tyer, until he retired and moved to Arkansas to live on the White River. He designed it as a panfish fly and I usually tie it on size 6 2xl for bluegills, rock bass and other sunfish.


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The fly really doesn't have a name. The initial template for the panfish version was the soft foam spider bodies you can buy on line and in fly shops. Usually, tied on a size 6 2 xl hook.



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For lack of a better name I calls this one the Heart Popper. Based on a foam pattern shown to me by Harrison Steeves, instead of the head being glued to the sides of the body, I left them open. I added legs on the ones in the bottom two rows since I took the picture. Has a bit of a Jitterbug action when retrieved with a steady strip.


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Some general information. They're all made out of craft foam. 6 mm for the first three patterns. The first two are strips of the 6 mm foam. The third is an arrowhead shaped piece of 6 mm foam. Tied on 2/0 Ahrex Trout Predator Long hooks. The last batch are tied with a heart shaped piece of 2 mm craft foam. Tied on a size 4 Gamakatsu B10S. Colors are permanent markers. Legs are spinner bait skirt layers, otherwise known as Sili Legs or Crazy Legs.

[rainbowchaser]

There appears to be very little hook clearance on the gutless frogs. Is that an illusion from the camera angle or does the foam compress to allow hook-up?

[Philly]

There appears to be very little hook clearance on the gutless frogs. Is that an illusion from the camera angle or does the foam compress to allow hook-up?

If you look you can see an opening in front of the hook point, the back part of the foam sits just at the top of the hook bend. Theoretically, when a bass hits it will push the foam down. I'll have to wait a couple of months before I can prove that theory.