Henshall's Bass Bug

[cencalfly 0]

Here is the prototype for a bass bug I'm tying for Robert M's Pre 61 Classic Bass Bug Swap. It is based on the pattern found in William Sturgis's book Fly Tying. If I could get some input from you guys it would be greatly appreciated. Spinning deer hair or bass bugs is really not something I do regularly. Last time I spun in any quantity was over 15 years ago.

 

First thing i notice is to make the band thickness more even :dunno:

 

The recipe from Sturgis's "Fly Tying" is:

Tail: Four yellow neck hackles or saddle hackles, 1 1/2" inches long. These are arranged so that, when viewed from above, two of them curve to the left and two to the right.

Body: Approximately 5/8" in diameter. It is formed of four alternate bands of yellow and black deer hair. The band adjacent to the tail is purposely trimmed roughly, in order to leave whiskers extending out to the rear, around the tail feathers.

Wings: Yellow, untrimmed bucktail, tied spent. Each wing should be about 1 1/2" long.

 

The book calls for a 1/0 TDE hook. This one is tied on a #2 TMC 8089

My prototype

 

Sketch from the book

 

Picture of similar fly from book

[salty fly 0]

Hey cencalfly,

 

Thats a great bug.The spun deer hair body is nice,the fish dont give a poo-poo about the band being a little uneven,Looks good to me.I am over here on the central coast of cali. on Santa margraita lake, Mr. grumpy good ole bucket mouth would love a big bite in that.A few years back the lake record at 12.5 lbs was with a fly like that(fly rods rule)anyway great tie.

Keep on chuckin'

Bryan a.k.a. 'salty fly'

[Stippled Popper 0]

Except for the wings in your tie being a bit less full than in the drawing and book example image, yours appears spot-on to me.

[Polarbear78 0]

What is your trick to get the deer hair so tightly packed? I have the hair packer tool... and no matter how hard and how many times I try to fit more bunches of hair, they don't come out that tight. Mine aren't loose...but I know they should and can be tighter.

[smalliestalker 0]

nice work man...old bass bugs are a good time to make and fish....

[Kirk Dietrich 0]

Looks great to me too. Glad I got in to that swap.

 

Kirk

[smokinprice 0]

Very cool

[cencalfly 0]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. When I tied this I was unsure what to even look for. It's good to know that I'm on the right track.

 

Salty - I know Santa Margarita Lake. Grew up and started a family in that area. I grew up what was then the boonies by Lake Nacimiento and San Antonio. All my kids were born at SLO General, I worked construction in SLO, Atascadero, Templeton, and Paso for many years. We moved from Cambria almost 20 years ago.

 

Stippled- I see what you're saying on the wings. They'll get beefed up a bit.

 

PB78- No hair packer used. I would use my thumb and forefinger to push it up against the previous bunch. I kept spinning hair on it and when it appeared there was no room I spun on another bunch. At the point of tie-in for the wings I forced the hair back on the shank and ran a thread base from the hook eye back to the hair to lock it in to stop it from creeping forward.

[kelkay 0]

Sweeeet. I love old bass bugs.

[MowestFlyfisher 0]

I love the old bass bugs if you want to get really particular on this fly the only thing that really stands out to me is the tail feathers are a little shorter compared to the pics other than that it looks awesome.

[ben bell 0]

i read somewhere that henshall also tied his fly with bucktail hair not just feathers..

[SILKHDH 0]

Awesome. I dig the old stuff. I have old reels, rods, silk line and the such. I even break one out every once and a while. Silkworm gut leaders, horse hair leaders. It's fun to catch fish with the classic equipment. I'd like to see more of the old bass flies on here.

[vicente 0]

What is your trick to get the deer hair so tightly packed? I have the hair packer tool... and no matter how hard and how many times I try to fit more bunches of hair, they don't come out that tight. Mine aren't loose...but I know they should and can be tighter.

Locking the hair in its key pack it tight lock it in with a half hitch pack it a little more.

[mikechell 0]

LOL ... another of those ancient threads revived.

 

That is a neat looking deer hair bug, though!

[ben bell 0]

mike that,s the bug that started it all, over a hundred years ago. i was lucky enough to be mentored by friends who tied and fished this bug and only this bug...it still works extremly well.