Fly of the day! Zug Bug

To continue the 'fly of the day' series, let's look at one of the most-recognized flies of today: the zug bug. This is another of the impressionistic flies (almost all that I fish are as such) so that it does not look like any real bug, but kind of like a lot of them. The popularity and success of this fly has been attributed in part to the liberal use of peacock herl for most of the fly. As natural materials go, peacock herl is as near candy to trout's (or panfish's) eyes as it gets. Its shiny, detailed, iridescent, and just looks like something tasty to them.

Now I have to come a little bit clean on this fly. I cannot remember if I have ever caught anything on it before. But the fact that I may be ostracized by the fly-fishing community for admitting that is, to me, an indicator that it deserves a place in my box and in the 'fly of the day' series. I will try one out tomorrow and report back as to whether my experience with this fly has changed. Who knows, the early season brookies may have an eye for gratuitous herl.

Zug Bug

Hook: #10-#14
Tail: Several strands of peacock herl
Body: Several strands of peacock herl
Ribbing: Silver wire or tinsel
Wing case: Soft hackle used here, just about anything will work.

As far as I know, you can fish this guy like a nymph or an emerger. We will see if I gain any insight on how the Zug Bug fishes tomorrow.