Weedless Wiggler

Northern

Northern

Seeking SMB
Forum Supporter
Eager to try this one out!
It's a weedless version of the wiggle bug in bass size so I can chuck it right into lily pads, crawl it around and swim it back.

After a few different designs I settled on a dumbell eye-inverted version with a Texas-rig style hookpoint cover. The heavy eye helps it dive and keeps the wing/back levered up, but it still floats and rises in the water column when not in motion

This is a what a standard one looks like in bass style
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The completed weedless prototype
(Coat is a clear soft uv resin. Chewy like a soft plastic bass bait.)
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Close up of the hook slot (made with a heated bodkin)
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Done tying - easy peasy, whatever you like on the hook shank. This one's faux rabbit - a material I really like.
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Very gentle jaw pressure bends the soft 3mm foam out of the way on a take.
Well, that's the plan, anyway!
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And if you made it all the way down here, here's how it swims:
 
Pink Nighty said:
You could swing that on a sink tip, that wiggle is sculpin gold! Sweet tie!
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Thanks!
Yes, I fish trout sized ones on sinking lines all the time. Good idea though - I don't fish streams much, but you're right, I should tie a few sculpin-looking ones for the Yak!
 
Have you ever tried just tying the first version with the hook riding point up?…or would that get fouled in the pads?…
 
Excellent! It caught my cat’s attention when I played the video. Great idea. Looks like it has a little dyslexic DNA of Jack Gartside’s Gurgler in it. That will be fun to hunt the pads with
 
Vagabond said:
Excellent! It caught my cat’s attention when I played the video. Great idea. Looks like it has a little dyslexic DNA of Jack Gartside’s Gurgler in it. That will be fun to hunt the pads with
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Just to be clear - I didn't invent the wiggle bug! The Tullis Wiggle Bug has been around for a long time.
I've just been experimenting with variations, because it's such an effective pattern for all kinds of species

Also, nostalgia! My favorite spinning lure as a kid was the Lazy Ike - like a Kwikfish/Flatfish here in the PNW
 
I've tried a lot of weedless patterns but it is usually the leader or fly line that hangs up on the vegetation just as much as the fly.

It could be that because I'm using a SuperCat pontoon boat my angle is too shallow and if I was casting from a boat, I might not hang up as much.

Great look'n patterns anyway.
 
I have tried various versions of wiggle bugs in lily pads or other cover, and had very limited success. As people have said, the lip catches on everything. I have done OK with “gutless frog” type of flies, which can be tied with a smooth non-snaggy head, ride hook point up, and can be worked with a walk the dog type of action once they are out of the crap. I still only hook a fraction of the fish that hit the thing, but that is probably mostly me rather than the fly.

I have had a couple of decent days gear fishing with these:

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It’s called a “horny toad”. Fishes hook point up and slides over lily pads with its little feet kicking away. A fly version of that would be worth playing with.
 
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