The jurgler prototype, a weedless up-side-down bass bug

[JerryInLodi]

I tested my jurgler and it is REALLY weedless. I dragged it through some of the grossest stuff I've ever cast into without even a whisp of weed on it after a dozen casts. It rides up over weed and mat and just slides effortlessly along.

Not only that, it's practically weightless, and casts really easily. Something not all poppers do.

I'm not the greatest tier and I'm hoping that some LMB guy will take a look, try this and maybe even make it better. It only takes a few minutes to tie so if you don't like it you haven't lost much in time.

Here's a picture of it in the water. It's bigger than it looks, after all, it IS on a 4/0 hook.

http://www.deltastripers.com/images/jurg6.jpg

And here's a link to a down and dirty page of tying instructions. Sorry, I had a picture of the bottom of the fly but it was too blurry to publish.

http://www.deltastripers.com/jurgler.htm

I guess they call this open sourcing in the computer industry!

[Hairstacker]

Jerry, are you kidding, I think it looks GREAT! It LOOKS like a topwater bass bug but, more importantly, it fishes where most bugs fear to go. Great job!

I wonder if it might end up being necessary to shorten the length of the bucktail a tad in order to improve hook-up percentages. (Although I love the way it looks just as it is. . . .) Guess we'll need to wait for some bass to tell us, which hopefully won't be too long now. Can't wait to hear the results, as I've been very interested in hook-up-styled bugs as well for the very same reasons.

[Adam Grace]

That's an interesting fly.

[Bob Young]

Your bug should work just great! It combines the advantages of the gurgler and the KD frog. Frankly, i have trouble casting some of the good looking top water creations but the jurgler looks as if even I can handle it. I'm off to the garage to give it a try.

[sculpin]

Hey Jerry your fly seems to have all the ingredients of a great fly. The number one ingredient is it looks easy to tie.

Mark

[Darian]

Jerry,.... Innovative use of common materials. 8) Great design. Looks like you'll have to stand behind your console to tie one of those on.... :lol: :lol: :lol: I'm thinkin' I better tie up some of those, myself. :D :D

[SullyTM]

Capt. Jerry...A nice variation on the gurgler. Do you heat the hook before bending it?

Thanks for the step-by-step.

Later...

[Lee Haskin]

Hi Jerry,

Very nice looking bug, however.....

.....This design has been around for a while, and although it is somewhat weedless, my experience with this design has been very poor. :(
As with your design, it is difficult to keep the foam away from the gape, and this is extremely important for LMB's. I think you will find that hooking fish will be difficult, due to the closed gape.

If you are using very soft foam it might compress enough, to get a good hook-up.

Let us know how it works for you.

$.02
Lee

[Darian]

Jerry,.... Is the model of Eagle Claw hook used similar to a Mustad 34011 :?: :?: It does look like a longer shanked hook. :? After taking another look at the tying instructions, I see what Lee H. means about the potential for obstructing the gap. The hook point is almost in line with the initial bend in the shank.

Well, only fishing will prove whether it will be a problem. Hope it works out as good as it looks.... 8) 8)

[Sturmer White]

Hey Jerry
I will tye up a few so we can help you with your study. I am sure they will catch plenty of bass. I know gurglers are hard to beat,but your fly should work well.
It is fun playing around with this stuff.

[JerryInLodi]

First Lee, the foam ends about 1/4 inch before the hook tip and since it's soft foam compresses very easily, much easier than a mono hook guard. I don't think the foam will cause a hooking problem. The ice chenille underneath really takes up no volume so the foam and chenille do not really block the gape of the hook. As tied, there's lots of space between the shank and hook tip to get a hookup. If the foam was hard foam I think it would be a real problem though.

Darian, the bend in the hook was really arbitrary and I just tried to match the KD Mouse. I think the fly could be tied with a lot less bend and still work. The only time I can get the fly to land improperly is when I throw it into my Koi pond by hand. When actually cast at the end of a fly rod I've yet to have it land wrong. The hook by the way is a EC 253. The amount of bend is obviously something to play with.

NEW: Darian, I tied another, this time bending the hook only half way, leaving half of the gape exposed. It made no difference, the fly turned over just as well and again without fail.

Both Lee and Darian. I have NEVER been impressed with the hooking power of bend backs but it seems the logical thing to do to make this fly work. I agree with both of you, the less bend back necessary, the better.

Hairstacker. since you are THE PRO tier in this group, I know you can make it better! There are flies and then there is art. Mike's flies are truly art!

Sturmer, my patron, my mentor! If this fly can be improved to be half as effective as your bluegill, it will revolutionize top water bass fishing.

Sculpin, don't get too excited. This is NOT a wake fly for steelhead! ;-)

I played a little with the fly last night. I tied thread about 2/3 down the buck tail on both sides, segmenting the "legs" and then hit the joint with a drop of crazy glue. The buck tail really took on the look of a pair of frog's legs. In addition, once saturated fully, the rear of the fly dropped down in the water until it hung on the foam at about 45 degrees in the water. It really looked like a resting frog. once stripped, it came right up to the surface as a frog does when swimming.

Obviously what the fly needs next is some field testing. As they say, it's a tough job but someone has to do it!

open sourcing... I thought it would be fun to have a group develop a fly or flies. The guy proposing the original design gets to name it but individual tiers would get credit on the tying page for the mods and improvements. I could put a section on my website for open source flies with all the details. Building web pages is kind of a hobby for me so unless overwhelmed, no big deal.

[Hairstacker]

Hairstacker. since you are THE PRO tier in this group

Jerry, I truly appreciate the very nice comment but I would be full of it if I didn't heartily object -- Lee is actually the only real PRO in this discussion that I'm aware of and, having seen flies tied by the rest of this group, I would consider myself just another tyer. Thanks again for the kind thought though. :D

[JerryInLodi]

Lee, if Hairstacker qualifies himself as "only another tier" in this discussion and yeilds to your prowess, I'm in heady company indeed. I feel like a paint by number guy in a gallery of French impressionists!

[Bluegrass Bill]

Hey Jerry,

Like most of the others, I like the looks of this fly a lot :) . I will definitely tie some up and look forward to trying some. I am definitely getting itchy to get out there.

Bill

[Lee Haskin]

Hey Guys,

This board is loaded with very talented fly tyers.
There have been some excellent ideas, and innovations presented here, and I certainly don't want to discourage anyone from tying, testing or changing any design. My tying mentor always cautioned me that, "every pattern can be improved upon in some way".

The creative aspect of our sport is very personal, and there are really no bad ideas-only ideas that might need to be modified. If we post fly designs here I would hope we would be open to some form of critical analysis.

FYI:
When I am working on a new pattern, I have a list of very tough criteria that drive every design. This keeps me from being swept away by a "good looking" bug or fly.
My list looks like this: the fly must swim right, doesn't foul or spin when cast, cast well on a rod no bigger than an 8 wt., interest fish, hook and hold fish, is tied as simply as possible with readily available material, is durable, and last but not least-appeals to the eye. For me, no fly or bug is a winner until is passes all of these criteria! (i.e. If I am going to tie tarpon flies I, or someone, had better be fishing the design for tarpon BEFORE I proclaim the design a success!)

On my bench I have many cups full of idea-flies and bugs that remind me how few ideas really make the cut. No matter how cool it looks, if it fails one of my criteria, I must be willing to walk away from the design, or at a minimum, change the design. The last thing I need is to let my ego defend a bad design.

Sorry for the long post.

$.02
Lee

[Darian]

Lee,... That's about as good a summary of what every fly tier should have at their desk as any I've seen. 8) 8) 8) If I'd approached fly tying with those criteria in mind, I probably would've saved a lot of hooks, materials and money over the years.... :lol: :lol:

[Jay Murakoshi]

Darian,

Your flies should be arriving today or tomorrow

Jay

[Hairstacker]

My list looks like this: the fly must swim right, doesn't foul or spin when cast, cast well on a rod no bigger than an 8 wt., interest fish, hook and hold fish, is tied as simply as possible with readily available material, is durable, and last but not least-appeals to the eye.

Darian, I totally agree -- I think I'm going to glue Lee's list to my fly tying station! 8) :lol: