Tying Rubber Legged Flies

Keith's Darn Ant

Two-Legged Girdle Bug

Rubber legs can excite fish into striking because the wiggling motion can suggest the lively movements of many underwater inhabitants that swim erratically or try to escape a predator. This material can be tied in to represent tails, antennae, legs and other body parts. On a dry fly you can tie the lets directly to the hook or into cork, rubber and other spongy materials to make excellent floaters. Girdle Bugs, Bitch Creeks and terrestrial patterns make up a large percentage of rubber-legged patterns. Black and white are commonly used colors, but red, orange, yellow, brown and even pink can be enticing. They can suggest many surface insects including caddisflies, salmonflies and dragonflies. 

Casting to cruising and feeding fish can be rewarding if you place the fly ahead of the fish but not in its direct path. Then, as it approaches give the fly a few short twitches and be ready because the strike will be like a bass slamming a surface plug. The Girdle Bug that you are going to tie next can have two or more sets of legs. 

GIRDLE BUG

Materials:

Thread:  3/0 black monocord 

Hook:  No. 9672, sizes 10-6 

Tail/legs:  White rubber 

Body:  Black chenille 

Step 1. To tie in the rubber tail, fold a two inch section of while rubber and tie in at the hook bend. Cut it in half and attach the black chenille.

Step 2. Wrap the chenille forward 1/3 and tie off. Place the rubber section equidistant from the hook shank and wrap over with a few X-wraps keeping them in a horizontal position.

Step 3. Wrap the chenille forward another third and secure it again. Add another rubber section as previously described.

Step 4. Advance the chenille the last third of the shank and tie it off. Cut the legs to even them up, but even if they are slightly off it doesn’t matter to fish.