bully spider

[Rex Robinson]

Here is my variation on a very popular pattern, the bream bully or bully spider.  I like to weave the body , angle the legs back slightly, and make a head with black crystal chenille. It is a fly that has great action on the fall and retrieve.  It's a great producer and one of my favorite patterns.  Anyone else a fan of the bream bully?

[dick tabbert]

Nice looking bullies Rex. I made a few but don't do sinking flies yet I have hardly got my regular spiders down yet. I'm still in the heavy wind knot stag.

[Rex Robinson]

Dick, I've been chasing blue gills with a fly rod for 30yrs and can still get knots in my leader a boyscout would be envious of.  I carry a spool of 4lb fluorocarbon and have to retie regularly, just figure its part of the game.  Endeavor to persevere!

[dick tabbert]

If there were a king at making wind knots I'm sure I would be at the top there somewhere.

[[e-mail]]

Thanks for bringing up the fluorocarbon.  I need to get me some and start using it on all my bottom fishing and dropper - popper riggings. Do you always use four pounds?

[Tim Roberts]

Nice looking flys Rex.  The swept back legs definitely resemble wings.  I'm envious of your tying skills. I like to flyfish with  1/100th oz jig heads mainly because they dont get hung up as easily and the sink rate is not as fast.  I'm trying to tie a mylar minnow pattern on the jig but havent perfected it yet.

 

[Lee]

 Nice looking ties Rex, do the swept back wings give it a fluttering action as it falls?

 I have to admit I have a topwater addiction, Love Seeing the strikes even though when I do tie on a subsurface fly it seems to get more and better fish. Normaly when I go under it's a Olive or Chartreuse Woolybugger with a lil crystal flash and some legs tied on, it's a solid producer for me.

 I have some Bream Bullys in my box I really should get them out and give them a fair shake.

[Chris Barclay]

I really like that!  Very buggy looking.

[[e-mail]]

I just finnished (about four months ago) reading about this fly.  I have tied it and work it in tandem with a popper or a guggler and have had (to me) great success fishing chiclids here in South Florida.  Just yesternight I got a nice momma on her nest but lost it.  I have not seen them tied with the patterns you have.  To my eye they are appealing; what about the fish in South Florida?  Where are you fishing?

[Rex Robinson]

I'm fishing these in northeast Alabama in small reservoirs that have a lot of grassy shorelines.  This color pattern is my top producer.  Don't know if it's because of the Catawba worm look or just because of the color contrast, but fished parallel to the grass line they work.  4lb fluorocarbon is what I use mostly as it handles most everything I tangle with.  It makes me play the bigger fish, knowing I've got a light leader and I like that this stuff is practically invisible when in the water.

[Mark Stine]

Those are cool did you weave em from chenille? Here are a couple more takes on the bully from my box and a woven fly I made yesterday meant to try it out today but never got past the chernobyl ant and the grass shrimp.

[Rex Robinson]

Mark, I use ultra chenille in the micro size.  It's the perfect size for weaving as the other sizes give, in my opinion, to fat of a body when weaved.

[Greg McWilliams]

The Weave looks great especially in those colors!!!!!  I am a fan of the BULLY when it comes to tieing it but have had little success with it!!!!!!!!  The guy who developed the BULLY is a member of  BBG, Terry Wilson!!!!!!! He developed it to imitate a cricket that had fallen in to the water!!! I sat down with him a couple of years ago and watched him tie it!!!! Mostly to see what I was doing wrong!!!!! But still have no success with but lot the Pattern!!!!!!

LOVE YOUR VERSION OF THE FLY!!!!!