Anyone using these? I’ve been messing with them for the past year and have to say that they seem to produce very well. I don’t hear much about them so I was curious if anyone else finds them effective…
they sure do look good. Reminds me of the old Lazy Ike that I fished as a child.
I am curious, do they seem to hold up well performance-wise? I have wondered if they held up well as far as the angle of the lip and such as that?
And do you find it necessary to cut that angle on the leading edge? I was wondering if one could get away with the square edge, if it would fish the same?
Are you fishing for bass or trout or other?
Thats my twenty questions 
Thanks for sharing
The durability is excellent, that foam is tough stuff. I don’t personally cut them myself, rather I buy the foam precut.
I’ve had my best success with them on smallmouth, though I’ve had some trout success as well. These things really wiggle, you can feel the rod tip “buzz” if you strip them in fast enough. It really is the fly rodders answer to the Rapala.
Another neat thing is that the lip allows you fish them through some brushy areas as it catches the brush or grass, flips the fly up and over and away from the snag.
THe only problem I have with these flies is that they dive as you strip them. Which is good, as when you pause they float to the surface. But when you go to lift the flyline for another cast, the bug dives and creates a bit of resistance on the way out of the water.
Believe me, that’s a minor critisism. I haven’t really targeted largemouth or pike iwth them yet, but I will. Smallies just seem to love em…
LigonierA1
Well I will have to give them a try, you have sold me
You mentioned buying the foam preformed? Pray tell where?
That’s a really interesting fly…also reminded me of the lazy Ike like Robin mentioned. Seems it would work on any warm water fish that eats minnows or other small fish…or even as a crawdad imitation.
Is it a lure or is it a fly? IMHO who cares if it catches fish?
This one looks like a fly rod Flatfish which I have used and will use again. That diving at the pickup is an old Flatfish trait. A heavier rod helps. The older wooden Flatfish are not as well balanced as the later plastic ones. So they will flip over and plane to the surface on a hard pull. That helps on the pickup.
The fly rod models are still being made in sizes F2 through F7, 1" through 2.25."
eBay is a good source for the wooden ones. By 1960 Helin had made 20 million of them in wood and plastic. So there are enough out there that you do not have to pay the typical $$$ that goes with antique lures.
Fly rod lures are very interesting. I will post more about them.
Funny you should mention that:
I’ve mentioned it already, but if you strip these fast enough in shallow water, these scurry right across the bottom in a VERY crawdad like fashion.
On the other hand, if you just give it a gentle strip, it swims down and forward a bit, the floats to the surface, looking like something alive but struggling. Takes are often when it’s just sitting on top, so it’s somewhat like fishing a popper. I fish them this way alot as it’s alot of work in stripping flyline to keep it moving quickly.
In river/creek situations, the down and across presentation is pretty easy as the swing keeps that thing moving and swerving like crazy.
Bear, I agree that the “is it a lure or a fly” issue definitely comes into play with this one. Like yourself, I don’t really care either way. My own feeling is that this is as close to being a fly as we’ll get with this amount of action. Even if it were 100% fly, there’s probably a certain small percentage of flyfishers that wouldn’t use them as it’s so blatantly lure like in it’s action. If that makes any sense.
Thanks for the scoop on the Flatfish!
I have a bit of egg on my face! Did not see any of the references to Edgewater and their Wiggle Bug bodies.
Now I am trying to find out where to obtain a supply of these, I have not seen them in any fly shops in these parts (and sure don’t know why. If ever there was a “made for Texas” pattern this is it!)
Here’s a little more info I found on Mike Hogue’s site:
Well, I have seen that Cabelas carries Wiggle Bugs and have found sources for Edgewater popper bodies but have not found anyone who carries the Wiggle Bug bodies yet.
Any links folks?
thanks
I’ve tied these for years, and thanks to FAOL have found foam door hangers at Joanne Fabrics that are just the right depth. Easy to tie. Tie in a tail (optional), then create a Wooly Bugger. Cut your foam, then use a razor blade to shape the lip. Punch a hole with the bobkin and push through the hook eye. Then tie it down at the rear. A drop of super glue will keep the foam from twisting on you. These are very effective for LMB, and even large gills will attack them. I use a size 2 3366 hook. Yellow is a great color, but so is black. You can order those expensive kits but it’s just as easy to spend a buck on a foam doorhanger and make as many as you want. I have tied a bunch lately for a swap I’m hosting here. JGW
JGW,
Could I ask that you provide a link of some sort to these foam door hangers? If it’s a problem or you don’t have time, I’ll understand and continue to search them out but I’m coming up empty via Google. Or maybe I’m just not recognizing what I’m looking at? Dunno. I could use a little spoon feeding on this one as I’m definitely interested!
So how do you fish them for LMB? Whatever it takes, or is there a retreive/technique that seems particularly effective?
And as requested, here’s a place that’s got em:
http://www.tightlinesflyshop.com/
And as I mentioned earlier, Larry Tullis can be contacted directly, he’s pretty easy to work with and very willing to help a guy out. I think Feather Craft carries them as well.
Remember the door hangers at hotel rooms? With the little hole in them for placing over the knob? Well the craft stores have those things in foam, and they’re, what 3/16th, thick. I don’t know the mil width. They’re very inexpensive, if I remember, probably less than a buck. I’ve made about 100 wiggle bugs out of one. But I’m pretty darned cheap. Wiggle Bugs were pretty hot about ten years ago, and I believe the old Warm Water Fly Fishing had a story in one of its first issues. When I was in Boston for a meeting I found one, a crawfish style, at the old fly shop they have since moved to the Hall. The kits were awfully expensive, and you get only a couple of bugs out of them. I started using them in my fly tying classes. But it’s a concept fly. There are as many ways of tying it as there are ideas. I explained my method above, which is a simple way of tying them. A key is making sure your razor blade is fresh and very sharp, and you make an angled slice. What, 30 percent. Very much like the angle on a Lazy Ike. Fish it just like your would a Lazy Ike or Flat Fish. Strip. Stop. Let it float to the top. Strip. Stop. Let it float to the top. In my experience many of the takes come just as you pull it under water. Fish the edge, parallel with the weeds. One of the cool things is that they come over lillypads if you ease them over rather than get masculine about it. That lip pulls the hook up and over the stuff. One of my first students just stopped tying anything else for topwater bass. I hadn’t tied one for a long time but did so earlier in the summer and have just had a blast rediscoving the effectiveness. They’re really easy to tie, or make (if you’re a purist!) JGW
JGW,
Is this the culprit that I’m after at Michaels? Do they come in various colors? I have the blues of heading to Michaels, I always end up with 100 items I wasn’t shopping for but rarely the actual item I went in for, heh.
I picked up a couple of those at Wally World last night during my grocery run.
I need some focus…so it’s apparent that Wally World and Michaels have these… but where in these huge stores does one look for them? rrhyne, you found em in the groceries?
That’s the baby. Cut 'em right and you can get a couple of bugs out of the loop, too. Much cheaper than the kit, right? They come in many different colors. My question is what in the world would you use them for normally? You gonna stick a message on them or something. Instructions on tying them are up above. Have fun at the vise, then go have yourself a good time. JGW
ps. some people embed split shot in the sides to get them down for the crawdad lookalike.
LigonierA1
Well, no. Between you and me I was sent for groceries but snuck over to the fly tying section (AKA sewing and crafts department) where I found them. I was actually headed in to pick up some more leader furling thread and saw them on the way in and snagged a couple at .69 a piece.
JGW
My little boy has one that he made at school. Decorate it up per one’s own specs and decorate one’s door for no good reason! 
Thanks all, I think I’ve got a good grasp on where to find these things. Man o man the price looks right compared to buying the kits as I’ve been doing…