Fly Fisherman Throwback: Fly Tier's Bench: Tying the Most Whithair Bug

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Editor's note: Flyfisherman.com will periodically be posting articles written and published before the Internet, from the Fly Fisherman magazine print archives. The wit and wisdom from legendary fly-fishing writers like Ernest Schwiebert, Gary LaFontaine, Lefty Kreh, Robert Traver, Gary Borger, Joan & Lee Wulff, Vince Marinaro, Doug Swisher & Carl Richards, Nick Lyons, and many more deserve a second life. These articles are reprinted here exactly as published in their day and may contain information, philosophies, or language that reveals a different time and age. This should be used for historical purposes only.

This article originally appeared in the January 1976 issue of Fly Fisherman magazine. Click here for a PDF of the print version of "Tying the Most Whithair Bug."

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Words from Whitlock

American fly-tying has come of age. Born of mixed British and 19th century American parentage, it has now reached its majority and has moved to all parts of the American continent, adapting as it went. It has made its own mark, and the world of fly fishing is enjoying a new era of fulfillment as the result of this maturity.

I have watched this evolution take place, and have even attempted to contribute to it where I could. I join the staff of Fly Fisherman Magazine as Conductor of "The Fly-Tier's Bench" with great enthusiasm, since I consider it to be American fly-fishing's most significant and influential publication. We will do our best to keep our readers' fingers on the pulse of American fly-tying as it continues to blend the best of honored traditions with the new tools, materials, theories, techniques and proven patterns–for all fish that will take a fly.

Within the often cramping limitations of space, we will additionally try to cover events of interest in the world of fly-tying meetings, conclaves, contests, awards, shows, exhibits, films and books will be announced as they hove on the scene. It's especially important that the many fly-tying books being published today be reviewed so that fly-tiers of all levels of experience can benefit from the titles most appropriate to their needs and interests.

I do want to emphasize that "The Bench" will include in its scope all fly­fishing areas of the country. We at FFM are quite conscious of the fly-­fishing boom in the "non-trout" areas of America, and we'll increasingly give coverage to patterns and techniques applicable to all fly-rod gamefish–warm-water as well as cold, stillwater and, of course, saltwater.

The beauty of a fly may lie in the eyes of the beholder, but its effectiveness is proved only when it lies in the mouth of the fish. I will try to keep my eye on the ultimate target, making every effort to minimize the frailty of my human judgment as I select material for publication. I ask future contributors to exercise a similar discipline.

Fly-tying is certainly an art form, but a most utilitarian one. The final product of a good fly-tier reflects his or her skill, dedication, personality and love for fly fishing. I hope to emphasize all of these qualities in conducting this department. I have had the unusual good fortune over the past decade or so to have met many of you–there's no finer group of gals, guys and kids around. I'm just so pleased that I'm going to have the chance to meet you all regularly here in "The Fly-Tier's Bench." I hope I serve you well. –Dave Whitlock

Click here for the backstory on The Most Whithair Bug.

Tying the Most Whithair Bug

Building the “The Most Whithair Bug” (TMWB) is not difficult; just a bit complex. Fortunately, I found that most bass have much less of a gourmet's taste for artistic tying than that shown by the red-and­-black-spotted scholars of the Battenkill, Letort or Armstrong Spring Creek. So if your renderings of the TMWB are a bit scraggly, most likely they will still do a job on your most reluctant neighborhood bass.

Materials Used

• HOOK: Mustad 94840 or Herter's 7029R, # 1/0-8.
• TYING THREAD: Nymo size A
• SNAG GUARD: Hard nylon monofilament, .018-.024-inch diameter.
• TAILS: Four rubber legs from rubber skirt of Hula Popper or Hawaiian Wiggler Lure (these skirts are sold at most stores which sell bass tackle), four soft and webby cock or hen hackles (solid color or grizzly), and a tip of turkey "marabou" plume.
• TAIL SKIRT: Two wide, soft cock hackles in which the hackle fibers are 1½ to 2 times the hook gap.
• BODY: Body hair from a prime northern whitetail deer. Elk or antelope can be substituted.
• LEG-WINGS: Large rubber hackle.
• CEMENTS: Thinned Pliobond (or celluoid enamel) and rod varnish.
• SPECIAL: Toms, Sharp curved-blade scissors, razor blade and a ballpoint pen hair-packer.

Before you start, choose a color pattern you like for bass bugging. I'll use black-and-yellow for this one, with a white mouth (because it's easy to see).

Tying Instructions

HOOK AND THREAD: place a # 2 hook carefully in the vise with the point and barb exposed to prevent damage to them. The vise should be tight but not beyond pressure required to hold the hook firmly. Attach black nymo tying thread to the rear quarter of the hook shank.

SNAG GUARD: Use pliers to roughen and flatten the tip of a 4-inch piece of .022-inch; hard nylon monofilament. Now tie the flat end directly to the top of the hook shank, over the wraps immediately in front of the hook's bend. Put a drop of cement on the area. Place the loose end of the monofilament back in the vise's material clip.

RUBBER TAILS: Cut two yellow and two black rubber skirt legs about the same length or a little longer than the hook shank. Attach first the yellow pair, then the black pair to the hook shank sides at the bend. Use only several firm thread wraps.

MARABOU TAILS: Cut the tip of a black marabou feather to about the same length as the rubber tails. Tie on shank directly above rubber tails.

HACKLE TAILS: Select pairs of black and yellow hackle. First tie one yellow hackle to each side of the shank just ahead of the rubber and marabou tail parts. Length should be three­quarters of the hook shank. Now add the black pair over yellow pair. Length should be twice that of the yellow. This bug tail is most effective if the hackles flare to the right and left of the hook shank. Hackle so positioned gives a kick and flutter when the bug is twitched. Add a drop of cement to the tail tie-down area.

BUG SKIRT: Advance tying thread to the exposed hook shank and tie on two black hackles with the bright sides toward you to produce a wet­fly-style hackle skirt when each is wrapped around the shank. Wrap hackle and trim excess tips.

BODY: Cut from a piece of dyed-black deer body hair, a bunch about the thickness of an ordinary pencil. Trim off the tips with scissors so the hair bunch is about ¾ to 1-inch long.

Place the hair over the rear of the exposed hook shank, holding it with the thumb, first and second fingers of one hand. Make one or two thread wraps firmly around the shank and the middle of the hair bundle. The third wrap should be considerably tighter, causing the hair to kink and immediately flare.

Release hair with the fourth wrap allowing it to spin evenly with the thread torque around the hook shank. Take two or three more tight wraps in the same plane, then advance the thread to directly in front of the hair bunch. Push the hair hard back against the hackle skirt with your thumb and two fingers or a hair packing tool. Wrap the thread hard against the front of the hair.

Add a small drop of cement to the final wraps and hair base. If the deer hair you have seems hard to flare without thread popping, you can dampen it with steam or water to vastly improve flaring ease.

LEG-WINGS: Cut a 3-inch section of black rubber hackle and tie it around the hook shank with a simple overhand knot. Slide it back to the hair base and wrap the thread over the knot to secure it. Leg-wings should be set at right angles to the hook shank.

BODY: Now tie in two bunches of yellow deer hair to form a thick and even yellow body band. Pack the deer hair evenly and densely by using a hard pushing and twisting pressure with the packer or fingers. This assures a durable, long-floating bug. Add another set of leg-wings after first yellow bunch.

BODY: Now tie in black hair in two bunches with leg-wings between them. The shank should be bare for about 1/5 of its length behind the eye at this point.

FACE: Tie in a thick bunch of white deer hair. Half-hitch the thread at the hook eye twice and remove the bug from the vise. Do not cut thread.

BODY: With a razor blade, shave the bug's belly even, flat and as close to the shank as possible. Take care not to cut the leg-wings or thread wraps. Now shape the head with the curved­blade scissors.

LEG-WINGS: If the leg-wings are accidently cut off, sew a new pair through the bug with a thin needle threaded with a single strand of rubber hackle.

SNAG GUARD: Bend the nylon strand beneath hook and pass the loose end through the hook eye. Return the bug to vise. Make two or three thread wraps to hold the nylon. Measure the formed loop so that it extends below the hook point by about one half of the hook's gap. Wrap down the strand behind hook's eye and whip finish.

CEMENTING AND FINISHING: Coat the face and belly directly in line with the hook shank with rod varnish. I use a small paint brush for this purpose. Set the bug on its back in a well­ventilated area for fast drying. Varnishing soaks the hair bases well and dries to a durable, flexible bond. After the varnish is dried, complete any final body or leg-wing trimming. Mask the tails and skirt and then spray the body with Scotchgard or a good, non-oily dry fly solution.

By trimming the bug's head in different ways, several distinct surface actions can be achieved. The natural buoyancy of deer hair will keep the bug floating low in the water. For a higher float, rub the head with Mucilin paste. Mucilin also prevents excess water from remaining in the hair and adding to the casting weight. Use elk body hair for very large bugs, especially for pike and saltwater use as it is considerably tougher. Caribou and antelope work best for highest flotation and sizes below # 8. These two hairs make somewhat lighter bugs per given hook size compared to deer or elk but both are very tender and wear faster.

A straight hook eye helps keep the bug's head above the surface on pops and pick-ups. A turned-down eye causes the bug to duck its head or dive when popped or pulled. Both styles are excellent in certain circumstances. For the most snag-free performance, I pull the nylon loop in front of hook bend, doubling the stiffness of the loop. This loop allows the bug to venture freely in and out of the best cover areas. It also helps to prevent accidental hooking of the ambitious bluegill punks and other panfish that often crowd good bass cover.

The Most Whithairbug fishes best for me low and very slow. I've found it works best when cast into prime cover and allowed to sit as long as one's patience, or a big bass, can stand it. Gentle twitches or soft pops are my second choice, with erratic swimming retrieves a third choice.

My favorite color patterns are black-and-yellow, all black, brown­yellow and black-green-and-yellow, all yellow, chartreuse-and-black, black-and-blue, and purple-and­black. Leg-wings are best in dark shades. White is most popular with anglers but fish see them poorly from below.

Hairbugs are complicated to tie at first but they are well worth the time and trouble you spend mastering the technique. They are more durable than the hard head, faster to make and very reasonable to make compared to buying commercial ones, if you can find them. But the greatest thing about them is their pleasing way on light tackle–they please bass and please you.

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