When using smaller Gurgle Pops for bluegills (like sizes #12 and #10), I have had some that eventually don’t float as well as I’d like.
I know there’s a number of folks here that love using Gurglers and Gurgle Pops. Have any of you experienced this? If you coat the foam with something to help it maintain its floatation longer…what do you use?
Thanks!
Dave,
I use them in all sizes and have never really experienced that problem. I think it depends on the foam you use and how much you compress it when tying the fly. I also tie my Gurglers a bit differently (imagine that!) I cut a piece of foam that is 2 1/2 times as long as the hook shank. I then hook the foam on by one end and slide it upto the eye of the hook, making a bottom lip on the fly. I then wrap the thread down the hookshank to the bend and add a bit of super glue to the thread base. Then I lay the foam down and capture it at the bend of the hook and tie in some body/leg material such as hackle or eyelash yarn. Then I wrap back up the shank folding the foam over onto the superglue. I wrap my body/legs marterial up the shank, fold over the top part of the foam and lock it in place making a top lip on my Gurgler. This give the fly more floatation and two lips that make a bit more comotion to attact the fish. Just one man’s take on a terrific pattern.
Jim Smith
Dave,
I use ‘craft foam’ for all my Gurglers.
Sometimes, especially in the smaller sizes, the foams flotation can be overcome by water weight that’s absorbed by the other materials (and the open cells that happen when you cut the foam). Many folks use chenilles or yarns for the bodies on these little flies, and if you use feathers or hair for the tails they can also absorb water.
To keep this from happening, I treat all such ties with a permanent waterproofing liquid. Watershed, Camp Dry, Silicone Water Guard (that one is my favorite and is found in the camping section at WalMart), etc.
This keeps all of the other materials from absorbing water and thus the fly floats forever.
Good Luck!
Buddy
In addition to the coatings and treatments, when I tie especially small or especially large gurglers, I’ll double the amount of foam I use. My #10 gurglers have quite a bit of foam stacked up top, so I make sure the hook is well exposed in the rear of the fly, as the bluegills don’t tend to completely eat all that foam, so I want to make sure they’ll still get the hook in their mouth.
Yeah, that’s what I’ve found, too…I have to watch how much foam I stack because the bluegills will have a hard time getting it in their mouths if I make it too thick. I’ve tried to go narrow-but-longer sometimes.
Thanks for you tips, James.
Buddy, that is interesting about the silicone water guard…is that a liquid or a spray? I try to use fairly non-absorbing underbodies and tails now…I often use either a dark-colored mylar chenille underbody, or I’ll just use a polypropylene (z-lon or similar) for both tail and underbody.
I’ve thought MAYBE part of my problem is that I use the medium-sized No-Knot Fas-Snap to attach the flies to my tippet. This allows me to quickly and easily change flies without cutting line and re-tying. Plus, they allow the fly to move fairly naturally. I don’t want to stop using them, they really aren’t THAT heavy…
To keep bulk down on the smaller sizes (10-12) I don’t double the entire foam body but will add a piece up by the head, like the indicator strip on a Chernobyl Ant, as wide as the body, extending back from the tie-in spot maybe 1/8" and cut even with the front lip. I also tend to keep body/tail/legs pretty sparse. If the fly does become too waterlogged, I’ll try a couple false-cats to shake them dry, or just tie another one on. Even if they do sink a little bit, the strike is usually apparent. We’re talking bluegills here; “selective” is not a word I usually associate with them.
Regards,
Scott
thats the way i look at it!
i’ll fish my sponge spiders (similar to gurgle pops) until the foam is almost falling off the hook after hooking about 100+ gills on one fly! the bluegills dont care
Well, you’re right, they’ll still hit it whether it floats or not. 
But sometimes I actually do want the fly to sit nice and high and still on the surface. Sometimes its the ripple created by movement on the surface that gets their attention.
Dave,
The Silicone Water Guard is a spray. I ‘concentrate’ it into a container (I use a 2 ounce airbrush bottle-$.99 at Michaels) to get enough to dip flies into.
You can always add more foam, but I like my little flies to stay little and ‘eatable’ by the fish. Light wire hooks (I prefer aberdeens), sparse materials, and waterproofing keep you from having to bulk up the body. Also, stay away from rubber legs…things are heavy.
Buddy
p.s; Gurglers and their variations are fun to fish, but a foam spider should be illegal to use for 'gills.
modify a sponge spider by adding a tail and all of a sudden its legal to use for gills? thats funny ;)
You can solve the problem by going with a tube version which bring the hook much further back.
You can go a long way towards correcting the problem by simply squeezing the water out between your thumb and forefinger. Almost like new!
perchjerker
Yup.
My issue was that there wasnt enough foam to float the fly even on the first cast. Anyone talking about waterlogged flies could easily squeeze it like this. I do this anyway after a fish takes and ‘drowns’ the fly.
Dave,
Here is a pattern you might want to try. I have been using it for quite some time and it will float all day and it has been a very good producer for me for bluegill, black perch and bass. Just a suggestion and nothing more…
Thanks Warren…did you mean to include a picture or link to a pattern?
Dave,
There was a link to a picture and a step-by-step tying instructions, but, since the system is recovering from a “crash” it is not there. It is in the FOTW archives and the name you need to type in the search window is, “Sam’s One Bug”. I submitted this pattern quite some time ago. It was shown to me by a good friend Sam Blevins, who is now gone and I submitted it in his honor one day when he was on my mind. It has been published in fly tying magazines and is a great pattern and easy to tie. My friend’s son has since joined FAOL when someone told him that his Dad’s pattern was posted. Once the system is back up and running, you may be able to pull up the Fly Tying section located in the menu on the left on the home page and type in Sam’s One Bug in the search window and it should come up. I just tried and got a “pop down” message stated “under construction”, so, we just need to be patient and wait until all the “bugs” are worked out.
Sorry
Thanks, Cold
I assume you had that link on your PC because I still cannot get the Fly Tying archives to open yet. I do appreciate your post and assistance.
Thanks Warren & Cold. I do have some of the foam cylinders…I could try that pattern. I think I might get more bluegill hook-ups if I modify the back end of the foam on that pattern a bit…make is shorter or something.
cold:
I was addressing Fishndave’s issue, not yours.
aged sage