Panfish Gurgler

[McFlyLures 0]

This small top water gurgler is a fly that has caught me lots of fish over the last few trips. There are a lot of little frogs that are hopping all over the place, and they are light colored. I had a yellow version of this and caught so many fish it was insane! Bass, Sunfish, even some rio cichlids on my last trip. So here is a video of me tying a couple of these for my next trip. I can't wait to get these out on the water, and catch some more of these really fun fish! I used a 3wt to cast this, and it casted very easily. They are like poppers, but much more wind resistant. I suggest giving gurglers a try if you plan on fishing any small ponds, or rivers with sunfish or bass in them.
 

 

[niveker 0]

Great pattern, McFly, the first bass/foam pattern I tied (I think).  I love tying and fishing his hopper and sparrow patterns, relatively simple patterns using  basic materials.  I never met him, but he seems to have been quite the character.  

[Philly 0]

Nice video.  I took an FFI Zoom fly tying class a month or so titled "Fun With Foam" and the Gartside's Gurgler  was one of the patterns.    The Gurgler's been on hiatus from my warm water box for a year.  I think I'll add it back for next year.  I tie mine pretty much the same way you do.  Just a variation of material, and a larger hook.  I use size 6 or 8 nymph hooks, straight eye.   Marabou for the tail and pearl/ice chenille for the under body.  The previous ones I tied I didn't use legs.  I'll add them to the new batch.  See if it improves the number of strikes I get.

niveker, I did get a chance to meet him at the New Jersey Fly Tying Symposium a few years ago.  He definitely was a character.

[McFlyLures 0]

hey guys, thank you both, glad you liked the video.  I unfortunately did not ever meet him.  And I being younger than a lot of the guys on here don’t know all these back stories of the original tiers of classic patterns.  I know flies, just don’t always know all the info of the individuals who originally tied them.  A while back when I first started this video thing, I would say a thing or two about the original tiers of each fly, that usually I found online, or heads down the grapevine.   Sometimes this info would be wrong since it’s not first hand knowledge.  So I stopped.  Hope that doesn’t offend anyone.  I in no way want to disrespect the original tiers by not mentioning them, but I also don’t want to disrespect them by giving wrong info either.   

[niveker 0]

No worries, McFly, you do a great job.  As a history buff, I sometimes enjoy digging up a bit of history on some of the flies I tie.  

[McFlyLures 0]

2 hours ago, niveker said:

No worries, McFly, you do a great job.  As a history buff, I sometimes enjoy digging up a bit of history on some of the flies I tie.  

My worst subject in school was history.  But I aced all my math stuff...  haha!   

[tidewaterfly 0]

Nice looking fly! Better looking than some small versions that I've done. I'm very fond of Gurglers too! 

McFlylures, Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain is credited to have said this: “It is better for a man to remain silent and appear a fool, then to open his mouth and remove all doubt.”

It's a shame, that in this age of technology, there is often a lot of misinformation spread around, so I applaud your desire to both credit the originator of flies that you present in your video's and to make sure the information is correct! 

I also never did real well with history back in school, but do enjoy the history of this sport and of flies & those who devised them! I agree with you that it's a better practice to not say something you may regret later, when not sure about the accuracy of the information! 👍

[McFlyLures 0]

2 hours ago, tidewaterfly said:

Nice looking fly! Better looking than some small versions that I've done. I'm very fond of Gurglers too! 

McFlylures, Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain is credited to have said this: “It is better for a man to remain silent and appear a fool, then to open his mouth and remove all doubt.”

It's a shame, that in this age of technology, there is often a lot of misinformation spread around, so I applaud your desire to both credit the originator of flies that you present in your video's and to make sure the information is correct! 

I also never did real well with history back in school, but do enjoy the history of this sport and of flies & those who devised them! I agree with you that it's a better practice to not say something you may regret later, when not sure about the accuracy of the information! 👍

Thanks man!  I appreciate it.