Bass Flies/Poppers

Bass surface flies (also called deer hair bass bugs) and poppers encompass a wide range of size, colors, shapes and design components. Bass surface flies often have a generous use of spun deer hair heads/bodies and long hackle tails. There are a number of specialty hooks with extra wide gapes to compensate for the often large bodies if these patterns. Practical hooks to look at for this application include: Tiemco # TMC8089, Daiichi # 2722 and Mustad # 37187

On the other side of the coin for Poppers we have pre-shaped foam bodies to use that come in a wide range of shapes and sizes. These bodies are often made of high density hard white foam with pre cut slots for hook placement. This new generation of hard foam no longer requires the use of a humped shank hook like Mustad hook # 33907 or Mustad Signature hook # CK74S-SS.

Both Bass Poppers and Deer Hair Bass Bugs use a variety of plastic eyes to enhance their appearance. Eyes can be found in many different styles including; Prismatic or Holographic stick on, Molded 3-D plastic, Plastic Doll eyes with floating pupils or just painted on. Eyes really add a lot to a pattern cosmetically but more importantly they give the bass a target to look for attacking.

Bass Popper with Legs (Frog Color Scheme) Pattern Recipe:
Hook- TMC8089, Thread- Black 3/0, Weedguard- Clear monofilament, Tail- Dyed white, yellow and green saddle hackles tied one each together split, Body- Wapsi foam painted yellow and green with black spots, Legs- Four round white rubber legs on each side tied midpoint of body, Collar- Two each white, yellow and green dyed hackles wrapped as collar tied back, Eyes- Painted Yellow with black pupil.

Bass Popper without Legs (Red/White Color Scheme) Pattern Recipe: Hook- TMC8089, Thread- Black 3/0, Weedguard- Clear monofilament, Tail- Dyed red, white and black saddle hackles tied one each together split, Body- Wapsi foam painted white and red with black center band, Collar- Two each red, white, and black dyed hackles wrapped as collar tied back, Eyes- Painted white with black pupil.

Crystal Damsel Dragon (Blue Color Scheme) Pattern Recipe: Hook- TMC8089, Thread- Fluorescent green single strand nylon floss, Underbody- Closed cell foam, Abdomen-Blue bottom and black top elk rump with single strand of wide pearlescent Mylar on each side, Weedguard- 20 lb Mason hard nylon, Legs- Blue spotted rubber legs three on each side tied X style and short, Wings- Pearl Krystal Flash tied as two sets of wings with black stripes, Eyes Amber and black prismatic. Pattern Designer- Dave Whitlock

Dancing Frog (Frog Color Scheme) Pattern Recipe: Hook-TMC8089, Thread- Fluorescent Green single strand nylon floss, Weedguard- 20 lb Mason Hard Nylon, Tail- Nine each strands yellow and fluorescent yellow rubber legs, Body - Spun and trimmed to shape dyed bright green and dark green deer hair over yellow deer hair belly with olive spots of black centers, Eyes- Orange and black molded 3-D.

Deerhair Bass Bug (Fruit Cocktail Color Scheme) Pattern Recipe: Hook-TMC8089, Thread- Red 3/0, Weedguard- 20 lb Mason Hard Nylon, Tail- Orange, yellow and green dyed hackle intermixed with orange Krystal Flash and Fluorescent orange, yellow and green rubber legs Nine each strands yellow and fluorescent yellow rubber legs, Body - Spun and trimmed to shape dyed bright green and dark green deer hair over yellow deer hair belly with olive spots of black centers, Eyes- Orange and black molded 3-D.

Deerhair Mouse Pattern Recipe: Hook-TMC8089, Thread- Black 3/0, Tail- Cut brown felt tied to be 3" long from bend, Weedguard- 20 lb Mason Hard Nylon, Body Natural deer hair spun and trimmed to shape, Whiskers- Black moose hair strands, Eyes- Painted brown dots.

Diving Minnow (Perch Color Scheme) Pattern Recipe: Hook-TMC811S, Thread- Red single strand nylon floss, Weedguard- 20 lb Mason Hard Nylon, Body- Gold diamond braid, Underwing- Light olive grizzly hackle with red and gold Flashabou, Overwing- Golden olive marabou with green Flashabou, Topping- Peacock hurl, Collar- Spun and trimmed to shape dyed olive deer hair sides and bottom with black on top, Head- Spun and trimmed to shape dyed olive deer hair.

Messinger's Frog (Frog Color Scheme) Pattern Recipe: Hook-TMC8089, Thread- White 3/0, Weedguard- 20 lb Mason Hard Nylon, Rump- Green and yellow deer hair spun and trimmed to shape, Legs- Green and yellow bucktail wrapped at joints with feet facing outboard, Body - Spun and trimmed to shape dyed black and green stacked over white and yellow deer hair belly, Eyes- Amber and black molded 3-D.

Mouserat (Natural Color Scheme) Pattern Recipe: Hook-TMC8089, Thread-White 30 back, Black 3/0 front, Tail- Cut to shape tan chamois tied to be 2" long from bend, Weedguard- 20 lb Mason Hard Nylon, Body Natural deer hair spun and trimmed to shape, Ears- Cut to shape tan chamois, Whiskers- Black moose hair strands, Eyes- Painted brown dots. Pattern Designer- Dave Whitlock

Pencil Popper (Frog Color Scheme) Pattern Recipe: Hook- TMC811S, Tail- Marabou feathers white bottom with green and yellow top, Body- Foam pencil popper body painted with white belly, yellow sides and green top with black dots, Weedguard- Two strands of 20 lb Mason Hard Nylon set angling down and out from belly, Eyes- Stick on doll eyes yellow with black pupils.

Spent Damsel-Dragon (Blue Color Scheme) Pattern Recipe: Hook- TMC8089, Thread- White single strand nylon floss, Weedguard- 20 lb Mason hard nylon, Ribbing- Blue Kevlar thread, Underbody- Evazote foam, Body- Dyed dark blue bucktail top with light blue bucktail underneath tied reverse bullet head style. Wings-Dyed medium blue and natural gray/brown Deerhair, Eyes- Colored plastic eye with floating black pupil.
Pattern Designer- Dave Whitlock


Tiger Popper (Chartreuse Color Scheme) Pattern Recipe: Hook-TMC811S, Thread- Black single strand nylon floss, Weedguard- 20 lb Mason Hard Nylon, Tail- Chartreuse marabou mixed with pearl Krystal Flash and two splayed chartreuse grizzly hackles, Collar Wound black hackle tied in sparse collar, Body - Spun and trimmed to shape dyed chartreuse deer hair with three black deer hair rings evenly spaced apart, Eyes- White plastic eye with floating black pupil.

Umpqua Swimming Frog (Yellow Belly Color Scheme) Pattern Recipe: Hook-TMC8089, Thread- Fluorescent Orange single strand nylon floss, Weedguard- 20 lb Mason Hard Nylon, Tail- Orange grizzly, yellow grizzly, olive grizzly and orange hackles mixed sparsely with pearl Krystal Flash, Collar- Orange hackle overlaid with black, chartreuse and bright green dyed deer hair, Head- Spun and trimmed to shape dyed bright green, chartreuse and black alternating bands of deer hair, Eyes- White plastic eye with floating black pupil. 

Whistler- Flashtail (Pink-White Color Scheme) Pattern Recipe: Hook- Mustad 34185S Jig Hook, Thread- White single strand flat floss, Eyes- Painted yellow with black pupil lead barbell, Tail- White and pink bucktail with multi-colored Krystal Flash and a long extension of Silver and Pearl Flashabou, Body- Wrapped red chenille, Hackle- White wrapped as tall heavy collar. Pattern designer: Dan Blanton