Fun with Foam

[Buddy Sanders]

Coach Bob,

My problems with the 'wiggle bug' are what lead me to experiment and come up with version you see here. It's basically the same fly, and it's what I started with at the beginning of the process.

The lead dumbbells are one of the keys that make this bait run correctly. I had trouble keeping the standard tied wiggle bug under the water without stripping like a crazy man. Adding the weight alleviates that problem and lets you work it slower.

Notice that I use a much shorter lip on my version. I had trouble tuning the wiggle bug and keeping it moving in a straight path. The shorter and broader lip tracks truer over a wider range of retrieves. You can tune these baits to run true just by gently twisting the lip. Doesn't take much.

Uncle Jesse,

What you see in the photos are built on 1/0 spinnerbait hooks. The baits run about 5 inches nose to tail. Not what you'd call small, but I'm using them for pike, largemouth and smallmouth. I have tied them much smaller, and they work in any size. They make a great panfish fly, and I have to admit that the largest bass I ever caught on one of these came on a size 10 while I was fishing for bluegills.

On smaller versions of this fly, I tie them similar to how you described. I either use some lead wire behind the hook eye, or slide on a bead, or use bead chain. You just have to play with how much weight you use to get the depth and action you want. The tail on the small ones is usually marabou, as the bluegills seem to like it and it's easy. 2mm foam and small doll eyes work great for flies down to about size 14. I don't have any pictures of the smaller ones, but they work really well on 'gills, and if you trail a small nymph behind it, the action of the fly really makes the nymph come alive.

Another plus to this design is that it's amazingly weedless. The lip kicks it over brush and limbs, and you'll be surprised at how it comes through thick cover.

The wiggle bug platform is a lot of fun to play around with.

Buddy