I don’t know if this was ever discussed, but what do you find are the best Gurgle Pop color combinations? What sizes should I tie for smallies? I couldn’t find a link to a thread. If there is one, please excuse this post.
Thanks,
Bruce
Most are sick of me posting this info but I’ll repeat…Gamakatsu #4 Bass stinger hook, I use natural Kip Tail, chart. foam and yellow rubber legs…I DO NOT use sili legs, they tend to stick together on this fly.
B10S is the Gama # they are fairly short shanked and have what I think is the perfact gap…HOOK-UP RATES ARE INCREDIBLE.
Foam can be found at Wal-mart if your local shop doesn’t stock Chart.
Have I mentioned this is about the only fly I use for Smallies?
lastchance,
Check out the Fly of the Week Archives 4th quarter of 2003.
Link?..
I’m sorry if this is repetitive. I have the Gurgle Pop link I was just interested in hearing what colors are your favorites.
Thanks Again,
Bruce
Chartreuse, of course, but I also like black/red, black, black/white, white, purple and orange. I did real well a couple years ago on blue, but haven’t had real good luck on it since.
For bluegill and sometimes bass, I’ve used a yellow foam with red congo hair tail & abdomen tied with red flat waxed nylon on a size 10 dry fly hook. I’ve also tied this with pink foam black congo hair and black flat waxed nylon, again size 10 dry fly hook.
brhoff: is the b10s in size 4 a pretty big hook? When you tie on that hook do you use faom the same width as the hook gap?
I’ve never tied a gurgle pop that large, sounds interesting.
Wayne
lastchance,
Sorry, misread your request. I tie a variety of colors, but yellow and black are my favorite. Sometimes I add a second layer of the main body foam in the contrasting color
Big Bad Wulff, sorry I am not that technical.
brhoff, thanks for adding the link.
Anyway you slice it a great, easy to tie, inexpensive fly that catches fish!!
I have read several scientific studies that concluded fish are colorblind. Others take exactly the opposite position. “If it ain’t chartreuse it ain’t no use.”
Whether they are or not, the key to an attractive bait is CONTRAST.
Black/yellow, white/red, chartreuse and anything contrasting.
brhoff: Just curious, why don’t you use the gamakatsu #10 hook–it’s cheaper?
Hi Lastchance,
The question about Gurgle Pops should be “what is a bad color?” I don’t think there is one. As many have suggested, chartruese is of some use. Yellow, white and black are also excellent colors. Naturals (browns, olivers, grays and tans) also catch fish regularly when something more subdued is called for. My favorite GPs are tied in two colors. I like all white (tail, foam & legs) with a Master Brite dubbed belly of orange or red. Particularly for bass I like all black (tail, foam & legs) with a Master Brite dubbed belly of chartreuse. Incidentally, I never tie GPs without legs. Never ever! Hope this helps. 8T 
I’ve been tying and using gurgle pops for a few years. I found that there is NO WRONG COLOR. What I did find is if the action slows down after catching a few fish on a certain color…change colors. The action will usually pick right up again.
Being that this is a top water pattern, normally used for warmwater fish, I suspect that color is more important to the fisherman than fish!
I imagine all the fish sees is something on the surface a different/contrasting color to the surface and thus it’s something visible on the surface that looks good to eat!
I think the bright colors make it easier for the fisherman to see the fly.
But you have to admit they look cool in bright contrasting colors!
Wayne
I went to the #4 Stinger after a couple of days of losing many fish to blow-ups and lost hook sets.
The wide gap #4 simply works, the hook-up rate is near 100% and oddly enough , even though the hook is fairly big it will catch everything from 1-2" Pumpkinseeds on up to the largest of small and largemouth Bass.
I don’t tie them as wide as the hook gap…maybe 1/2 the gap or even a bit less.
I don’t mind at all what the hooks cost, they work for me and these flies will literally catch hundreds of fish.
Hi Brhoff: I’ll take that under advisement. I figured you had a good reason.
Thanks,
Bruce
best color I have found is tan; vary the color of the under belly and the tail but the best color for the body is tan; just my opinion; somebody else taught me-p-
I use black and yellow. These two colors give me the best visibility under the widest range of conditions. Where I fish, I haven’t noticed much difference in effectiveness of the underbody/tail color
Like most of the others, my favorite colors are black, chartreuse and white, in that order. As far as fish being color blind, I seriously doubt that is true. Very little in nature is done for no particular reason and the wide variety of vivid colors that fish display at different times of the year happen for a very specific reason. There is an excellent book titled “What Fish See” by Colin Kageyama. The author is an ophthalmologist and an avid steelhead fisherman. By studying the cones and rods found in the eye of fish he can determine how much they see in color. The book is a bit on the scientific side (I was a biology major in college so I like that stuff) and it goes into great detail of what colors look like at various depths and water clarity. Well worth the read if you like that kind of reading? or you can just tie what works best for you and have fun fishing.
Jim Smith