I was convinced by a co-worker today to forgo all the work I had to do and take him fishing. The result was a block buster of a bass day and even if they didn't get that big, the amount of fish we caught in two hours was amazing.
The fly this guy had in his mouth was a simple little black rabbit strip streamer I tied up only a few moments before I tossed it in the water. It worked just as good as the prototype rabbit strip I caught a ton of bass with last year. This version was tied with a bright orange head as apposed to the original red head but I doubt the fish had any complaints.
After having fun with the rabbit strip I found an old friend buried in the depths of my fly box. It was the Scrapyard Plug and I decided it was time to give this fly some action. On the first cast it hooked up and then the hits just kept on coming. Before I knew it I had landed a good two dozen bass with the Scrapyard Plug. I even threw in a few large sunfish that hit the plug like a frying pan over the head. It performed just like it had last spring and it got me thinking about how this wonderful fly came to be.
After reading a very old fly fishing book of the art of crafting flies for Black Bass I soon found myself in the garage experimenting with an old wooden dowel. The diagram above was exactly how I put about a dozen of these plugs together.
Pretty it is not but effective it is. I believe the key to this wooden dowel bug is that it does not float. I had constructed this fly with the idea of making it a small popper. What it turned out to be was an under water bug that is the most effective when you twitch it towards you or along the shore in a variety of short tugs. The plug dips, dives, and twitches like a struggling piece of bait. The bright red spray paint I used to coat the fly was only the icing on the cake. I have tried blue and green but the bass just seem to love the red. The proof is in the pudding and nothings better to prove that a simple home made Scrapyard Plug can actually work than to show it in a fishes mouth.
Long live redneck ingenuity.
4 comments:
It also helps to have the right tools when you're working with wood. I suggest all you guys out there, if you're going to make plugs like this, go out and buy a bunch of wood working tools. That should make your partners happy. Just kidding guys.........
Just goes to show that simplicity is really important when it comes to fly tying for warmwater fish. Thanks for sharing both patterns. I could see why the plug would be so effective on Bluegill and Bass.
Do you like these more than bombers?
Mark, the right excuse to buy tools is key. She gets cloths and I get tools.
Mel. - it absolutely us effective. They love it!
Kevin - I guess I do. I've caught fish with both but the dowel plug sure seems more effective. That being said, I just bought some more bomber foam.
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