Fruit Cocktail Bass Popper

[Phil Lilley]

Fruit Cocktail Bass Popper

Recipe:

Hook: Standard bass popper style hook (size 2-60

Shag guard: Hard Mason monofilament (size 0.25 pound test)

Thread: Danville Fly master plus (white or color to match body)

Tail: Select marabou, Krystal flash (white or color to match body), sili legs med. ( fl.green,fl. orange, fl. yellow

Skirt: Saltwater / Rooster grizzly neck ( yellow or color to match body)

Legs: Sili legs med. (fl.yellow, fl. Orange)

Body: Deer hair / belly only ( yellow, fl. green, black, red, fl. orange

Eyes: 7.5 mm solid plastic eyes (fl. green)

Tying Instructions

Step 1. First thing to do is get your thread started on the middle of the hook shank.

Step 2. Ok, I know you can’t really see how this weed guard is tied in, but you can see where I started the mono. The purpose for this is to have a wider base for you to tie on and I think it builds a better fly. Although you can spin the hair on a single wire hook, you can also do this way as well. It is a little tougher to get the hair to go around, but still can be done. We will talk about that as we build this fly. Now back to the weed guard, you can see that when I tied in the mono it is facing towards the eye of the hook. When you secure the mono as you wind up with your thread making sure your tying the mono on one side of the hook shank. You will fold it to the other side tying the mono down all the way to the middle of the bend in the hook. (Make sure you don’t fold it right in front of the eye or you won’t have any room to tie the thread off) We call this crowding the eye and it’s no fun to build a completed fly and no room for a thread head. If you don’t tie down far enough you will notice when fishing this the weed guard will slip over to one side not really staying center with the hook point which isn’t serving it’s purpose. Just remember that when measuring the weed guard to right length when tying it down at the eye that you judge it right.

Note: Look at the finish fly and you can see where I have sized mine accordingly to the hook size. Also when you are tying this down make sure your thread wraps are side by side when tying down the mono.

Step 3. Now grab around 15 to 20 strands of krystal flash and tie them in. When doing this I like to separate them evenly and tie them on each side of the hook shank. Not right on top of the hook shank. I don’t cut them yet until I tie in the sili legs so I can cut all of together.

Step 4. Now tie in you sili legs the same way you did the krystal flash.

Step 5. When selecting marabou, the select marabou is some of the longest out of all the marabou you can use as far as tying in marabou tails. I like this because it’s longer and there is no stem in the middle like other marabou that could make the tail ride funny in the water because you tried to substitute with regular marabou. If you look at select marabou you will notice it to be longer on the sides of the stem. I peel down on one side of the stem getting what I think is the right amount for my tail. This part is up to you as far as what you want your tail to look like. Also, you’re ready to cut your flash and rubber legs to your desired length. I like to cut it right past the marabou.

Step 6. Now select two feathers from each side of the neck and tie two together on each side of the hook shank. You should have a foundation to tie on from tying in all the stuff off the (tail) back. I try to make the legs about an inch past the marabou tail.

Step 7. Now we want this color to be different from the legs so I’m using a yellow grizzly for my collar. I always like the softer feather for my collar so I select my feather from the top of the neck looking for the longer and softer stuff. You want it to have a palmered look. When tying this in, make sure your tying it where the hackle goes from big to small. (Not from the tips) Also tie the feather on the shiny side.

I wrap the whole feather until I can’t grab it anymore with my hands and the tie it off and cut the excess.

Step 8. As you can see I skipped a few steps. This part you will have the most trouble learning and there’s no easy way to tell you how to do this except practice. Although this is the easiest way to learn how to make deer hair bodies first you will still find it hard at the beginning. When tying your first step of deer hair you will want to make the tips even to make a nice collar. Also make sure you comb the hair before putting it in your hair stacker. When tying this in you want to make sure you tie in the middle of the hair when spinning it around the hook shank. There is a rule when spinning hair. Your first wrap will be loose then the next wrap is tighter and the last wrap should be tightest. Just make sure the hair spins all the way around the hook shank and it’s even. You will repeat this step with yellow and green.

Note: You can advance your thread up a little when tying in your next color. Also make sure you don’t grab any of the hair from the previous hair you tied in. The reason why is if it grabs that hair it will be hard to get the new hair to make a full turn around the hook shank.

Step 9. Now this is where you want to tie in your sili legs. All you do is tie an over hand knot and slide it on the shank. Slide it back to the hair and tighten the knot. Before tying in your next bunch of hair you can make a few thread wraps over the knot. Advance the thread up a little and tie in your next clump of deer hair.

Step 10. Repeat the same steps spinning black, red and orange. Just remember if you want the hair to be wider or smaller it’s determined

by the amount of hair you cut off the hide and tie in. The less you use the smaller the line is you see on the body etc.

Step 11 Before tying off the weed guard you will want to make one solid cut with a razor blade on the under side of the hook. Now slide your weed guard through the eye, bend it over, and tie your mono down. Trim the excess mono off and cut your fly to shape.

Step 12 Cut your fly to shape and glue your eyes on.

Note: One thing I like to do to keep this fly really popping through the water is add some flex seal at the front of the hair (just a layer). It will make more noise going through the water.

Step 13 Here is the finish product. I guarantee you will find this to be one of your favorite patterns for fishing top water for bass. Something about the colors keep them coming back for more. I have found most of the bass I catch on top is at dusk. I love to throw these on top of boats sitting in the stall and let them fall off. I can’t tell you how many bass I’ve caught doing this. Have fun with it and good luck!!

[Kansas Fly Fisher]

Good lookin popper. I'll have to give it a try in some of these Kansas farm ponds. I'll let ya know how it works out.

John

[Danoinark]

Here is the fruit cocktail made with foam. My good buddy Illinoian Jack Plotts, who is a foam expert and mentor decided he could do the same with foam. I can't wait to try these out. Dano