And apparently in all colors. The traditional green weenie was my choice of flies last week, my girlfriend demande...asked for pink weenies. I warned her that I had no guarantees the pink weenie would catch fish, but she wanted to try it so I obliged. She managed 4 bluegills on the pink weenie on her first ever fly fishing outing. Casting was clearly her biggest problem area, this being the second time she has ever tried to cast a fly rod. I gave her my 5wt and I used the 3wt. I caught a bunch of gills, a few stray small crappies, a tiny bass, and some redears. The redears were very feisty and strong.
This spring I tied my first green weenies and they are quickly becoming my go-to fly for bluegill.
Yesterday evening I tried a new white "gurgler" I tied on a #10 - 2x long hook and took a couple BIG bluegills, though. Then I switched to a McGinty (I had put them in the wrong box when I tied them and forgot about them until I put the gurglers in the box) and that was the fly I finished the evening with.
A nice sized bluegill almost every cast, plus a lm bass & a crappie.
This spring I tied my first green weenies and they are quickly becoming my go-to fly for bluegill.
Yesterday evening I tried a new white "gurgler" I tied on a #10 - 2x long hook and took a couple BIG bluegills, though. Then I switched to a McGinty (I had put them in the wrong box when I tied them and forgot about them until I put the gurglers in the box) and that was the fly I finished the evening with.
A nice sized bluegill almost every cast, plus a lm bass & a crappie.
My best gill fly so far this year has been a super simple foam spider tied similar to a Gurgler. I am making them small, tied on a #14 nymph hook. It's basically black foam tied over the back, Gurgler style, with chartreuse chenille under body and a set of long white rubber legs on each side. They are quick to tie, fairly durable, and the bluegills tear them up. I also tie a McGinty variation using ice dub (yellow and black) for the body, the McGinty is a great bluegill pattern.
The green weenie is one of my go-to flies for both panfish and trout when they're not hitting anything else. They're easy to tie and catch a lot of fish. I tie some of them with beadheads too.