Fountains of Youth – Classic trout flies that have withstood the test of time … flies that remain “forever young”
by Rusty Dunn
The popularity of many fly-tying materials changes with time. New materials appear in the market, are popular for a few years or maybe even a few decades, but eventually fade from use, being replaced by newer (usually better) materials. The old materials disappear into obscurity, only to be encountered later as amusing oddities. Try to find flies today tied of hog’s wool, sea swallow, stoat tail, kapok, hedgehog belly, wren tail, or monkey fur. It won’t be easy. Each of these materials had its fifteen minutes of fame, but they are now oddball relics found mostly in antique fly boxes and long-forgotten angling books. On the other hand, some tying materials have graced our hooks for centuries. They are the furs, feathers, fibers, and flash whose ability to fool trout has never been surpassed. Such materials that have survived the most demanding test of all … the test of time.
Peacock herl is one such exceptional material, and for good reason. It glitters, glistens, and sparkles in the sun. It is translucent and beautifully iridescent, shifting colors from emerald green to olive to bronze as lighting conditions change. The soft feather barbules quiver in the currents, imitating downy external gills of many juvenile aquatic insects. Peacock herl is quite magical when drifted before trout. They simply love it, and peacock herl has maintained a place of prominence in fly-tyers’ bag of tricks for over 500 years.
Use of peacock herl in artificial flies dates to the very beginnings of recorded fly angling. Dame Juliana Berners, Prioress of Sopwell, authored the very first book of fishing with artificial flies. Her essay A Treatise of Fishing with an Angle (1496) described materials of twelve artificial flies, two of which, the Black Leaper and the Shell Fly, are believed to have been caddis imitations. Both have underbodies of wool that are “lapped about with the herle of ye pecock tayle”.
Peacock herls are barbs of the beautiful and shockingly long tail feathers of male peafowl. Peacock was firmly established as a favorite tying material by the era of Walton & Cotton (The Complete Angler, 1676) and has remained so ever since. The most famous of all peacock-bodied flies is probably Tom Bosworth’s Coachman wet fly of the early 1800s. Descendants of the Coachman, such as the Pass Lake Special, Royal Wulff, and Royal Trude, remain popular today.
The Zug Bug is a peacock-bodied nymph designed by Cliff Zug of West Lawn, PA in the 1930s to imitate free-living and cased caddis larvae. It imitates many other juvenile insects also and is an excellent prospecting fly for darkly colored mayfly, stonefly, caddisfly, and damselfly nymphs. The Zug Bug originated in New York’s Catskill Mountains and spread nationally due, in part, to author Arnold Gingrich (The Well Tempered Angler (1965); The Joys of Trout (1973)), who raved about its effectiveness. Even today, Orvis describes the Zug Bug as “easily one of the top 10 nymph fly patterns of all time”. The Zug Bug is quite similar to a vintage pattern of the Pacific Northwest named the “Kemp Bug”, and some anglers believe the Zug Bug descended from the Kemp Bug as a variant. History of the Kemp Bug and its origins, however, are poorly documented, and a direct relationship between the two is unconfirmed.
A Zug Bug marries peacock herl to soft brown hen hackle, yielding a combination of color and material that is perhaps the most effective in all of fly design. Brown is the most common color of juvenile aquatic insects, while peacock adds green-olive translucency, sparkle, and quivering movements. How many great flies have you known that incorporate peacock and brown? The list is long, including such notables as the many Coachman variations, Pheasant Tail Nymph, Prince Nymph, Renegade, Peacock Caddis, Brown Beetle, and others.
Fish a Zug Bug deeply with any wet-fly method that you like … dead-drifted downstream, swung across stream, stripped as a streamer, twitched, lifted through the water column, in tandem with a second nymph, etc. The power of peacock is strong, and you can’t go wrong showing peacock and brown to a trout.
Copyright 2024, Rusty Dunn
Zug Bug
|
Hook:
|
1X-long nymph, #4 – #16
|
|
Thread:
|
Black, 6/0 (#4-10) or 8/0 (#12-16)
|
|
Tail:
|
Tips of peacock sword feather barbs
|
|
Rib:
|
French oval tinsel, silver or gold
|
|
Body:
|
Several strands of peacock herl, twisted together with a strand of olive tying thread to form a chenille
|
|
Wing:
|
Wood duck flank feather, bound at the stem and trimmed between one-third and one-half of body length
|
|
Hackle:
|
Soft furnace or brown hen tied as a collar
|
Zug Bug
Leave a Comment
Last Updated: December 3, 2024 by Drew Kasel
by Rusty Dunn
The popularity of many fly-tying materials changes with time. New materials appear in the market, are popular for a few years or maybe even a few decades, but eventually fade from use, being replaced by newer (usually better) materials. The old materials disappear into obscurity, only to be encountered later as amusing oddities. Try to find flies today tied of hog’s wool, sea swallow, stoat tail, kapok, hedgehog belly, wren tail, or monkey fur. It won’t be easy. Each of these materials had its fifteen minutes of fame, but they are now oddball relics found mostly in antique fly boxes and long-forgotten angling books. On the other hand, some tying materials have graced our hooks for centuries. They are the furs, feathers, fibers, and flash whose ability to fool trout has never been surpassed. Such materials that have survived the most demanding test of all … the test of time.
Peacock herl is one such exceptional material, and for good reason. It glitters, glistens, and sparkles in the sun. It is translucent and beautifully iridescent, shifting colors from emerald green to olive to bronze as lighting conditions change. The soft feather barbules quiver in the currents, imitating downy external gills of many juvenile aquatic insects. Peacock herl is quite magical when drifted before trout. They simply love it, and peacock herl has maintained a place of prominence in fly-tyers’ bag of tricks for over 500 years.
Use of peacock herl in artificial flies dates to the very beginnings of recorded fly angling. Dame Juliana Berners, Prioress of Sopwell, authored the very first book of fishing with artificial flies. Her essay A Treatise of Fishing with an Angle (1496) described materials of twelve artificial flies, two of which, the Black Leaper and the Shell Fly, are believed to have been caddis imitations. Both have underbodies of wool that are “lapped about with the herle of ye pecock tayle”.
Peacock herls are barbs of the beautiful and shockingly long tail feathers of male peafowl. Peacock was firmly established as a favorite tying material by the era of Walton & Cotton (The Complete Angler, 1676) and has remained so ever since. The most famous of all peacock-bodied flies is probably Tom Bosworth’s Coachman wet fly of the early 1800s. Descendants of the Coachman, such as the Pass Lake Special, Royal Wulff, and Royal Trude, remain popular today.
The Zug Bug is a peacock-bodied nymph designed by Cliff Zug of West Lawn, PA in the 1930s to imitate free-living and cased caddis larvae. It imitates many other juvenile insects also and is an excellent prospecting fly for darkly colored mayfly, stonefly, caddisfly, and damselfly nymphs. The Zug Bug originated in New York’s Catskill Mountains and spread nationally due, in part, to author Arnold Gingrich (The Well Tempered Angler (1965); The Joys of Trout (1973)), who raved about its effectiveness. Even today, Orvis describes the Zug Bug as “easily one of the top 10 nymph fly patterns of all time”. The Zug Bug is quite similar to a vintage pattern of the Pacific Northwest named the “Kemp Bug”, and some anglers believe the Zug Bug descended from the Kemp Bug as a variant. History of the Kemp Bug and its origins, however, are poorly documented, and a direct relationship between the two is unconfirmed.
A Zug Bug marries peacock herl to soft brown hen hackle, yielding a combination of color and material that is perhaps the most effective in all of fly design. Brown is the most common color of juvenile aquatic insects, while peacock adds green-olive translucency, sparkle, and quivering movements. How many great flies have you known that incorporate peacock and brown? The list is long, including such notables as the many Coachman variations, Pheasant Tail Nymph, Prince Nymph, Renegade, Peacock Caddis, Brown Beetle, and others.
Fish a Zug Bug deeply with any wet-fly method that you like … dead-drifted downstream, swung across stream, stripped as a streamer, twitched, lifted through the water column, in tandem with a second nymph, etc. The power of peacock is strong, and you can’t go wrong showing peacock and brown to a trout.
Copyright 2024, Rusty Dunn
Zug Bug
Hook:
1X-long nymph, #4 – #16
Thread:
Black, 6/0 (#4-10) or 8/0 (#12-16)
Tail:
Tips of peacock sword feather barbs
Rib:
French oval tinsel, silver or gold
Body:
Several strands of peacock herl, twisted together with a strand of olive tying thread to form a chenille
Wing:
Wood duck flank feather, bound at the stem and trimmed between one-third and one-half of body length
Hackle:
Soft furnace or brown hen tied as a collar
Share this:
Category: Fly Tying, Rusty Dunn Fountains of Youth
Recent Posts
Categories