It just doesn't look right

[Kevin22]

Need some help on a bluegill nymph jig I am working on.

First, I need to lose the black head. Should I go with a brown or try and mix powder to get close to the body color? Or go the opposite and use a floro orange/pink color for visibility?
Second, I switched the tail up a bit and went for a contrasting color squirrel tail instead of the typical pheasant or turkey tail so I could visually see it better in the water. Do you think it looks alright being orange, or should I use gray squirrel instead?
Should I add any wings or legs or just leave it as is?
Tinsel body wrap or leave it "natural"?

I'm not trying to match any specific insect, just trying to make it look buggy so I can drop it into a bluegill bed and have him take it in. Fishing public high pressured waters, the nymph looking flies always worked great for me.. so I figured why not try a small jig head (1/100) and have it fall a little faster.

Yeah I guess I could just tie up a hare's ear nymph on a jighead.. but that would be too easy!

[BuckeyeKdog]

I dont have a problem with the black head, I would try a bit less tail though. I have been studying jig color combos for over a year and one theme that carries thru in a lot of jig patterns is match tail color to head color so for your combo above a yellow or brown or white with brown specs head may be more apealling.

I tie a BG jig similar to yours except I use an olive head with chartreuse/black eyes. Pearl crystal chenille body and natural squirrel tail tail

BTW put a white/black or silver/black eye on that head and it may change your thought completely

[STUMP HUNTER]

The jig is looking right you just need to use less dubbing or use a wire rib to pull down the dubbing. Here is a pic where I use the wire and one with less dubbing. Both of these have a hackle collar, one from a hen cape and the other from a saddle but you don't have to add the collar.

[Kevin22]

Tried my hand at your design there. What do you think?

[STUMP HUNTER]

I think you are on your way. Nothing can replace time at the tying bench, nice work.

[skeetbum]

You're on the right track with guys more experienced than I am. Look into pro-tec's pumpkin brown if you're looking for a different kinda brown. I use it a lot doing bluegill imitations and it works great when bluegill are raiding beds. Those protecting or feeding on small 'gill really hit em hard. You're doing nice work.

[Fatman]

Kevin

For working with dubbing make yourself some of these using velcro, just put them on popsicle sticks - use both sides and it works great for fluffing out dubbing.

[warmouth]

There is a reason some fly patterns are well known. Putting them on a jighead can make them even better.

Been doing this with trout for years, and I'm not going to stop now.

Anything that you can do on a nymph hook, you can do on a micro jig hook. I use #10 and #12 1/80 and 1/100 oz jig hooks a lot for trout and creek fishing bluegills. 1/64 oz works well too. Bluegill don't mind a fairly big nymph.

[jigolo]

Here is how I tie hears ear nymphs I start with hears mask like in these pictures. I always wrap up and over the hook so not to confuse myself when tying. I also use a lock wrap to add thread by wrapping forward three wraps then 5 back over those three this locks it off the lock warp don’t have to be 3 then 5 they can be 6 then 8 by the way.

If you look were the scissors are pointing is the area where I get the tail from for the hears ear nymph aprox right up against the ears .


I tie it in tips pointing back like so.

Then I tie in the tinsel ribbing


Next I clip some mask fibers from the back between the ears that looks like this and I clip threw it and mix it with my index finger against my palm kind of like what a coffee grind would do if you put it in it.


Next I offer up a very small amount to the thread like in pic there may only be 3-5 hair in it. This makes a dubbing rope this way and packs it tight like in the nest pictures.

[jigolo]

Here is what the dubbing rope looks like on the thread I always twist it one way and go up and over the hook when wrapping always this way you don’t get confused when you lose track of where you are.



I warp the thread forward tapering the body forward.


The n I wrap the tinsel forward tie spiraling forward then tie it off then tie off on this jig … that is basically what it looks like finished.