The Panfish Devil Bug

April 2, 2021 Panfish On The Fly

The Devil Bug is an old school pattern that works as good today as it did back then.

I was first introduced to this pattern through a musty old pamphlet entitled How to Catch a Fish with O. C. Tuttle's Devil Bugs. I found the molding 22-page booklet in a box of donated fly tying materials that I was sorting for my local Trout Unlimited chapter. I took the yellowing pages home with me and read them cover to cover. Inside were drawings and descriptions of scores of devil bugs tied to catch everything from bluegills to tarpon.

Fly Tying Friday - The Cooper Bug

March 19, 2021 Panfish On The Fly

Will the real Cooper Bug please stand up!

Since the Cooper Bug turned out to be such an effective fly in both cold and warm water I decided to learn a little more about it. When I researched the pattern, I discovered a fly of the same name and a very different design. As it turns out, there was a fly called the Cooper Bug that predates the version I was tying. Interestingly enough it had its roots planted in warmwater, not a trout stream.