Hook:
size 10 - 14 Mustad streamer
Thread: 8 /0 Uni thread (I prefer olive)
Eyes: dumbell or bead chain eyes. (micro with size 14 hook works
well)
Body: contrasting colors of embroidery thread or micro ultra
chenille (yellow and orange, orange and olive, orange and black, etc.)
Tail: Crystal Flash in same colors as embroidery thread
The Weave:
Woven
flies are very insect-like with their segmented and striped bodies.
Their appearance is appealing to both fish and humans. Although the
weaving technique is simple to master, the act of describing it is much
more difficult. I will attempt to make weaving as easy as possible with
my description. A woven body is certainly worth the extra effort, and
once you learn the technique you can turn out the flies very quickly.
The Tussle
Bug involves a simple "granny knot" type weave. To accomplish
this, two contrasting colors of material are tied onto a hook. The weave
starts at the rear of the hook just before the bend. After your two
strands of material are tied in, do a half hitch and cut off the tying
thread. Turn the vise to a position where the hook eye faces you. Let
both strands of material hang down naturally below the hook. Tie a granny
knot with the two strands, MAKING SURE THE DARKER STRAND IS BEHIND THE
LIGHTER ONE WHEN YOU BEGIN THE KNOT. Do not pull the tag ends of the
strands to tighten the knot. Instead, separate the darker strand from
the lighter one with your fingers and put the dark one on top of the
hook shank and the lighter one below the shank. Now, pull the on the
tag ends of the strands and tease the knot as far back on the shank
as possible. Repeat this process, making sure the dark strand is in
the back of the granny knot when you begin, and the dark strand ends
up on top of the hook when you separate the two strands. After a few
of these knots you will see a very nice woven body pattern emerge. When
you are done, and the body is woven to the length you desire, simply
restart your tying thread on the hook shank ahead of your weave, tie
the two woven strands off, trim the ends and do a half hitch to complete
the body. The Tussle Bug is only one of many flies you can tie using
this technique.
Begin by
mashing the barb down on the hook. Place the hook in the vise and wrap
a thread base halfway back to the bend. Wrap thread forward to a point
about the length of the dumbbell eye from the front of the hook. Tie
in eyes using figure eights. Wrap thread back to just before the bend.
Take two strands of crystal flash and double them over 3 times. Tie
this in on top of the hook shank. Wrap thread forward, trim front end
of crystal flash. Trim rear of crystal flash in random lengths with
the longest about ¾ as long as hook shank. Wrap the thread back
to hook bend. Tie in two different colored strands of embroidery thread
about six or seven inches long, and wrap tying thread forward to just
behind dumbbell eyes leaving about an inch of embroidery thread overlapping
the eyes. Fold front of embroidery thread back down the hook shank toward
the bend,about 1/3 of an inch, wrap with tying thread and trim embroidery
thread. This makes your tapered body.
Bring your tying thread forward to just behind eyes. Put a drop of superglue
in front on figure eight wraps where the eyes meet the hook shank. Do
a couple more figure eight wraps over wet glue, and trim tying thread.
Invert the hook in the vise. (The hook rides up on a tussle bug) Begin
weaving the fly body until it reaches the dumbbell eyes. Turn the hook
over in the vise once more. Start your tying thread in front of the
eyes. Hold the two tag ends of woven thread together and twist them
into a "rope" about 3 times. Lay this over the eyes and tie
it down in front. Trim the ends of rope, wrap tying thread to make a
nice Charlie type head, whip finish and head cement.
Tussle
bugs are extremely durable. You will probably lose them before you wear
them out. They catch bream, sacalait, bass, and the occasional catfish.
Fish love this fly and will hit it hard. Work the tussle bug by stripping
it, trying different retrieve speeds. I have had fish inhale it while
it sits on the bottom, and at other times they like it stripped fast.
Tussle bugs can also work well under an indicator.
The tussle
bug can be viewed on laflyfish.com under the fly patterns link at the
top of the page. It is a favorite of mine for bedding bream and crappie.
It can be fished under a medium sized indicator or stripped slowly.
It won the International Peoples Choice Awards this year in the FFF
competition under the bluegill vertical drop category. It was also in
Fly Fish America magazine in the September issue. The tussle bug is
very effective and very durable. I have caught over 100 fish on one
of them and it survived to be used again. It can also be tied with bead
chain eyes or melted mono eyes for a slower drop.
Dirk Burton
More Varations
of the Tussle Bug
Click
on image to enlarge
