Thread: Fly fishing for gills?

Originally Posted by flytyfish

Here's some poppers I make for gills and then tie a dropper off the hook bend such as a bead head nymph. These are easy to make.foam sheets,contact cement, and punches

Nice job on the poppers!

I do a lot of bluegill & bass fishing with my flyrod. I like to tie a small wet fly (an ant or a "bream getter") on a leader attached to the hook of the popper. Its a little tricky to cast with two lures but you get the best of both worlds with a popper and a wet fly. I have caught many doubles on this rig, not to mention a lot of big bass that just arent turned on enough to hit the popper, but when they see that fat bug sinking in the water they sometimes get hungry!

I use a 9 ft. leader, (3 lb tippet) on a 4wgt 7-1/2 ft or a 5wgt 8-1/2 ft rod. Don't need a strike indicator, most of the time the slack line while sinking will shoot out on the take or I can feel the hit with my fly rods - graphite rods. Loomis and Penn International Gold.

For the gills I did really good with gurglers. Beadhead nymphs are great also for bluegills.

Used to do it all the time out on the canoe or at ponds. They seem to like the ugliest looking flies and poppers, maybe because all the pretty looking baits has hooked them a time or two :p

Originally Posted by Supracerxtreme

Used to do it all the time out on the canoe or at ponds. They seem to like the ugliest looking flies and poppers, maybe because all the pretty looking baits has hooked them a time or two :p

Those are some nice gills!

Here two flies that work really well for me:

Myakka Minnow



No. 12 bead-head nymph

Don't worry, Steve. I am sending you two like the ones pictured above.:D

They are Dremel Foam Bugs. The hook is a size 8 Aberdeen. The tail is short marabou. The round head is a foam core plug that is shaped on the Dremel with an emery board. The body is punched out foam discs from a foam sheet. One or two turns of hackle between the body and the head. Add plastic half round eyes. Loctite Super Glue in the Easy Brush bottle locks all the parts in place.

Nymphomie Pusher
Hook: #8 Aberdeen
Tail: Marabou short
Body: About four foam discs from a foam sheet
Hackle Collar: Dry fly (rooster), about two turns
Head: Round shaped foam core plug
Eyes: Black plastic half rounds
Glue: Loctite Super Glue
Body/Head Overcoat: Clear Sally Hansen Hard As Nails or clear epoxy