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