Favorite Topwater Bug

[Hairstacker]

Hi all! Well, let's get this thing going! What is your favorite topwater bass bug for bass? This is mine, a red/white Tap's Bug. #2 Orvis 8810 Bass Bug hook, Orvis white G thread, tail made out of white bucktail, and a red and white spun/stacked deer hair body. I fished exclusively with this fly for topwater in the Delta last year and just had a blast! I remember on one occasion, a bass flew straight up out of the water about a foot from my fly, looped at the top of its jump in the air, and came straight down, headfirst on top of my bug. I couldn't help but grin ear to ear on that one. And I had thought those things only happened on Outdoor Life magazine covers, ha.

[Darian]

Hi Mike,...... My favorite floating Bass Bug is still the green sponge bodied, white legged spider. The Bass version is segmented twice with the legs tied into each segment. The length of this version is approximately 1 1/4". Fish this bug around reeds, sunken branches or overhangs. This bug floats for a limited time; then soaks and sinks, slightly (wallows) but it doesn't fish well sunken or in open water.

This spider is easy to cast and retrieve and works better on Smallmouth than largemouth.... Can't wait for warm weather.....

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

This is picture is from the K & K Fly Fisher's web site:





http://www.kkflyfisher.com/index.html

We tied these Sponge Spiders in green and in black many years ago.

I see they are available from Umpqua now.

[Darian]

Bill,..... My green sponge spider doesn't have eyes. Your pattern looks buggy and has a symetry that I really like. Have you ever tried it in black

[gryhackl]

Hairstacker
I suppose my all time favorite bass bug are any of the hair body bugs
like your Taps Bug in the photo. Almost any color combo seems to work at one time or another. Natural, frog green and yellow is always great.
The cork poppers float better, longer and sometimes make a louder "plop" as they land on the water surface which sometimes can seem to make bass strike out of irritation. I too have had bass come completely out of the water and come down on the fly several times. The experience always leaves me shaking. There's nothing better!

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Black hair bugs and black poppers are pretty popular among the old bass guys I questioned over the years.

[gryhackl]

Bill
Black is a GREAT hairbug color! At the ponds up in Auburn we would see these big, black dragon fly creatures that the bass would go bonkers for in May and June. They looked like buggy C-130's and were best imitated with hairbugs. I have seen bass chase these guys right out of the water and up on to the shore trying to catch one. Black is also the "go to" color for night or low light conditions.

[David Lee]

Ahhhh , the old "sneaky Pete' ... Got a bunch of big green critters on these !! David