One of the patterns I designed for DFW creeks that has been a go-to fly for me is what I call the Texas Bug. I tie it in olive and black/peacock, but other colors (orange, chartreuse) would probably be very productive as well. This fly is an all-around attractor pattern, and catches pretty much everything that’s big enough to eat it. Tie one on when nothing else is working, or heck, tie one on first – it works great!
My goal was to create a slow-sinking fly for shallower water that was really buggy and imitated different food sources. It has features of a Woolly Bugger, a crawfish, a leech, and a large dragonfly nymph. This fly works like a charm when fishing near the bottom in shallower water. The bead chain eyes help this fly to sink slowly and ride hook up in the water, which reduces snags on the bottom, and the dubbing brush body along with the marabou tail really give it a super buggy look that seems to make fish hungry.
Photo by Greg DeMars
(click for larger image and more detail)
For the black version, I custom blend my dubbing to make more of a peacock coloring by including a few fluorescent green and pink fibers in with the black. I don’t know if that blend catches more fish, but I think it looks cool.
Hook: TMC 5262 streamer hook, sizes 4–8
Thread: Black or olive, 140 denier
Eyes: Black bead chain, sized to hook
Tail: Black or olive marabou (match thread color)
Flash: 4-8 flash fibers
Antennae: Black or olive hackle feather tips (match thread color)
Body: Black or olive dubbing in densely packed dubbing loop
Step 1: Start thread, secure bead chain eyes just behind hook eye with figure-8 wraps
Step 2: Wrap thread backwards to just past hook point, tie in marabou tail
Step 3: Advance thread to hook point, tie in flash fibers, then hackle tips on either side of the hook
Step 4: Create a dubbing loop approximately 4-5 hook shanks long, pack with dubbing and twist into rope
Step 5: Advance thread to eyes, wrap dubbing rope forward to eyes and secure with thread, trim excess dubbing loop
Step 6: Whip finish, head cement, brush out dubbing body to enhance buggy look
Photo by Greg DeMars
(click for larger image)
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