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Amazing Bottle Brush
Last season I was both surprised and impressed at how the fish reacted to what I call "bottle brush flies."
The idea started with "Hewitt Skaters" and the classic, "Bivisibles."
These old-school flies are nothing but two hackles wrapped on the hook, back to back.
To that basic idea, I've added a twist and used only one black hackle, with a thin strip of brown craft foam as an underbody.
Without the foam, the fly will sink after 30 seconds or so. A little floatant helps them stay up. Once they do sink, the fish seem to accept them as a wet fly, so you get a "two-fer" out of the deal.
Using the foam underbody, these stay on the surface indefinitely or sink exceedingly slow (depending on the hook weight.)
Either way, these bottle brush flies seem to appeal to bluegill especially. I've had bass go for them, but those are the exception.
These are super easy to tie and I've done them in white and orange. These lighter colors are a little easier to see than the black.
The foam body makes this fly work as a surface probing tool... and omitting the foam let's it double as a subsurface fly (It takes a little patience to use this foam-less version, waiting for it to shift from surface to sinking fly).
They don't look like much, and danged if I know what the fish think they are. Edward Ringwood Hewitt, the creator of the two-feather 'Skater' fashioned them to resemble butterflies, of all things.
But whatever they look like, these bottle brushes do work.
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Comment
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Comment by Mark Sleeper on November 19, 2014 at 11:16am
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David sometimes simple is better, I have a few flies that are tied with a hook and one material that are killers
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Comment by David, aka, "McScruff" on November 19, 2014 at 9:51am
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Mark, thanks.
I know it doesn't look like much - hardly an involved tie. An accomplished tyer like you might find it kinda boring.
But when it floats through the air and lights near cover, the fish rush it.
The first time it was grabbed after submerging, I was also surprised.
Try a few come Spring, once the fish are again feeding shallow. Start small and make them bigger as the water warms.
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Thanks John. I found the Hewitt "Skater" in a book, and I liked it for its simplicity. I was doubly impressed when I found the fish liked it.
It does work best on calm waters, but with the added foam underbody, it will stay afloat traversing fast water.
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nice fly
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Comment by John Sheehan on November 19, 2014 at 7:47am
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David you mentioned Hewitt .Yup , Edward Ringwood Hewitt .Here's a blog I did on him. I know you've seen it before : http://bigbluegill.com/profiles/blogs/edward-ringwood-hewitt Nice to see you working from the ideas of a local/national/international fishing l legend .I am minutes from the mansion he spent summers in for years .I fish the brook that runs past his old Manor home as well as the pond in front of the house .Sally's Pond and Ringwood Brook . Good work and post pal!
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Comment by carl hendrix on November 18, 2014 at 10:25pm
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GOOD IDEA DAVID!
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