Bass Bug question,

[Ol J.W.]

I'm hoping some more talented tyers can help me solve a problem with ataching rubber legs to my bass bugs.Trying to figure 8 around the rubber just doesn't seem to work,anyone have a better way? Or maybe a trick to stop them from spinning out of place?
Tight lines....

[thesankers]

I like to add the legs after the deer hair is spun and clipped to shape.
Whip a 3x tippett loop on the end of a needle. Now you can put an end of the rubber leg through the loop and pull it through the deer hair. A little flexament or softex placed on the near side of the deer hair before pulling the legs through will add security, but just the deer hair holds the leg in place quite well. This is easy and I've never seen the rubber legs to pull out.

[Salmon fisher]

When I tie rubber legs on, I usually do it one side at a time. I just cut a piece of rubber material that is twice the length I want my legs to be. Then I hold the leg parallel to the hook shank and wrap it on in the middle. The legs should flair out a bit. Hope this helps.

[Philster]

Get a thread base on the hook first of all... Don't cover the entire shank, just where you're tying in the legs, unless you're really good at spinning hair. A couple figure 8 wraps, they pull simultaneously on both sides of the leg to stretch out the material under the wraps. Then a couple nice tight wraps. No need to glue it. Flymaster plus is my favorite thread for bugs. slippery enough to spin and pack hair easily, plenty strong.

[Ol J.W.]

Thanks for the ideas.
I gotta say ya'll got quite a good site going here.
Tight lines,............ J.W.

[FT]

I've been doing it similar to the way "thesankers" does it. The only difference is I heated the eye of a large needle with a butane lighter and opened it up so that the rubber legs material fits through it.

I found many years ago (something like 25) that it is a whole lot easier and faster to tie in the tail, spin the body, clip the body, and then put the rubber legs on by sewing them through the clipped deer hair body with the needle. Plus doing it this way means you don't have to worry about cutting any of the rubber legs off when clipping the body.

[Stewart]

I've been doing it similar to the way "thesankers" does it. The only difference is I heated the eye of a large needle with a butane lighter and opened it up so that the rubber legs material fits through it.

I found many years ago (something like 25) that it is a whole lot easier and faster to tie in the tail, spin the body, clip the body, and then put the rubber legs on by sewing them through the clipped deer hair body with the needle. Plus doing it this way means you don't have to worry about cutting any of the rubber legs off when clipping the body.

That's how Dave Whitlock does it, and he's supposed to be the man.

[FT]

Stewart,

That is who I learned it from at a say long tying seminar he held in Great Falls, MT back in 1981 or 1982 and have been doing it that way ever since.

[Doucet]

do any of you guys know where to get good bass fly patterns??