From Bob-Fishing To Bass-Bugging

FROM BOB-FISHING TO BASS-BUGGING

The modern sport of bass-bug fishing descended from a style of long-rod angling which had been developed by Native Americans. Let us revisit, from Cane Poles & Fly Rods, Part 3, the description given by William Bartram of Native American long-rod angling in 1773, called fishing “the bob”:

Two people are in a little canoe, one sitting in the stern to steer, and the other near the bow, having a rod ten or twelve feet in length, to one end of which is tied a string line, about twenty inches in length, to which is fastened three large hooks, back to back. These are fixed very securely, and tied with the white hair of a deer’s tail, shreds of a red garter, and some parti-colored feathers, all which form a tuft or tassel nearly as large as one’s fist, and entirely cover and conceal the hooks; that are called a “bob.” The steersman paddles softly, and proceeds slowly along shore; he now ingeniously swings the bob backwards and forwards, just above the surface and sometimes tips the water with it, when the unfortunate cheated trout (sic; largemouth bass) instantly springs from under the reeds and seizes the exposed prey.

The European settlers were quick to adopt this style of long-rod bass fishing. The method took on various forms and was given a variety of local names, such as "doodlesocking."

Joe Brooks, long-time fishing writer for Outdoor Life magazine and an extraordinary fly-fisherman, described a development called "spat" fishing in his book, "Bass Bug Fishing," published in 1947:

Before the turn of the century, bass bugs were being used in the deep South. Called "spat" fishing, the name came from the sound the lure made as it hit the water. A cane pole eighteen or twenty feet long was used. A crude line of the same length was attached. On the end of the line, sans leader, was a piece of cork. Chicken feathers which covered a large thick hook stuck out behind. It was a makeshift outfit, but it took fish.

The publication of James Henshall's "Book of the Black Bass" in 1881 brought respectability to sport-fishing for American black bass. Beginning with the making of the first modern plug-casting rod in 1885, the use of artificial lures experienced a surge in popularity. At the same time, new split-bamboo rods were developed for trout and salmon fisherman - - but these rods, and the lines and flies generally available for use with them, were expensive and not well suited for bass-fishing. Artificial bass plugs and spoons were heavy in order to pull the line from the reel, running from half an ounce to an ounce in weight, and entered the water with a splash. This left a niche where a style of fly-rod fishing called bass-bugging could grow.

At first, suitable fly rods were not available except to the affluent, and cane poles continued to be used. Bass-bugging grew by fits and starts until 1930 when, according to Joe Brooks, reasonably-priced split bamboo rods suitable for bass-bug fishing came onto the market and the sport took off.

The split-bamboo rods used for early bass-bugging were formidable instruments. In his 1942 book "Fresh-Water Bass," Ray Bergman recommended a 9-1/2 foot rod weighing 5-3/4 ounces and handling HCH line (equivalent to a modern DT-7 line). Joe Brooks recommended ten-foot rods weighing 7 or 8 ounces and throwing the equivalent of 8- and 9-weight lines for largemouth bass and a 9-1/2 foot rod weighing 6 ounces for smallmouths. These were substantial rods; coupled with a seven- or eight-ounce reel, they required that the angler have considerable arm and wrist strength. Modern graphite materials permit shorter and lighter bass rods, in the range of 8 to 9 feet in length and weighing 4 to 5 ounces.

BASS BUGS

Deer-hair flies and bass bugs are made by spinning and/or stacking deer body hair and tying it firmly to The Henshall Bass Lurethe hook, so that the hair flares in all directions. The resulting rough body can be cut into a shape. Some angling historians credit author Emerson Hough of Chicago with inventing the technique, but William Bayard Sturgis reported in "Fly-Tying" (1940) that Hough made no such claim, but said that he had seen such flies while on a fishing trip. There are also reports that Native Americans had made untrimmed hair-bodied lures. An early use of the spun-and-trimmed tying technique was the Henshall Bass Lure, named in honor of James Henshall, which dates to the early 20th century. The Henshall Bass Lure in the illustration (right) was drawn by Sturgis; actual ties of the lure were never that neat.

One early variety of deer-hair bass lure was the "bass bug" - - a literal usage indicating that some type of bug or insect was being imitated. Deer-hair moths were very popular, as were grasshoppers trimmed from deer hair with legs and wings added. Over time, the term "bass bug" became generic and it now describes all manner of lures, many of which imitate nothing.

Another variety of bass lure using deer hair was the "feather minnow." Feather minnows drawn by William Bayard SturgisThis creation was intended to give the impression of a wounded minnow in distress on the surface of the water. Long hackles imitated the body of the minnow; the deer-hair head provided bouyancy. The feather minnow lure was rested, then given a couple of sharp jerks to create a commotion, then rested again. Feather minnows were an immediate success and the basic design continues to account for many bass bugs made today.

Peck's Popping BugThe deer-hair feather minnow was soon followed the development of cork-bodied bass bugs, originated by Ernest H. Peckinpaugh of Chattanooga, Tennessee, prior to World War I. The legend of Peckinpaugh's invention was recounted by Robert Page Lincoln in 1952:

To E. H. Peckinpaugh, of Chattanooga, Tennessee, belongs the honor of having invented the cork-bodied bass bug. . . . According to Peckinpaugh he had accidentally dropped a cork bottle stopper on the stream which he was fishing and as it floated away with the current he was suddenly struck with the idea of making a floating bass bug out of cork. As a result he ran the stem of a hook through a cork . . . . Instead of feathers he used a pinch or two of bucktail hair, tying in the thatch at the head of the fly as it were. While this initial lure was quite crude, Peckinpaugh was amazed at the fish that it took . . . . All this took place in the year 1907.

The truth is less prosaic - - Peckinpaugh was eager to invent his own Ernest H. Peckinpaughbass bugs, which he initially tied himself and traded for fishing equipment to satisfy his bass-bugging habit.  Corks had been used in the 19th century for crude bass lures; Peckinpaugh's genius was in developing better designs. The cork-bodied lures proved to be very popular, if only because they didn't become waterlogged, as did the hair-bodied bugs. In 1920, Peckinpaugh founded E. H. Peckinpaugh & Company, and his cork-bodied "feather minnow" was a hit, as was his original "Peck's Popping Bug," a concave-faced concoction with hair and feather "wings" tied on top of the cork body. But Peckinpaugh's most enduring creation was the Special Popping Minnow, a cross between the two, which eventually outstripped the remainder of Peckinpaugh's bass-bug catalog.

Peck's Special Popping Minnows

One of my fly-fishing mentors was a news photographer, Neal Clark, who enjoyed bass-bugging in Back Bay and the North Landing River, both located in what is now the city of Virginia Beach. Clark swore by the "Peck's Popper," the popular term for the Peckinpaugh Special Popping Minnow. Fishing in the creeks and sloughs of Back Bay was often a close-range affair, requiring accurate casts and a bass bug which didn't "travel" on the retrieve. Like the old feather minnows, "Peck's Popper" had long hackles, giving the impression of a morsel large enough to interest a bass; but owing to the dished-out face of the lure, when it was "popped" with a short jerk of the rod tip, it did not travel far before coming to rest again.

Joe MessingerThe growing popularity of bass-bugging in the 1930s led to many new bug designs. Half of the joy of bass-bugging, it seems, is having a few hundred choices available to cast. One enduring design was a bucktail-legged deer-hair frog originated by Backcountry tier Joe Messinger of Morgantown, West Virginia. The Messinger Buckhair Buckhair FrogFrog has spawned a number of imititations; varieties are still commercially available and it is a favorite of bass-bug tyers. Messinger's innovation was to omit the forelegs of the frog and to focus the action in the rear legs, made of bucktail, which were shaped with thread windings and varnish so that the lure had a kicking action when retrieved.

Messinger Bucktail PopperMessinger also tied a bucktail-and-deer-hair popping bug which was quite effective. I have seen references to the Messinger Bucktail Popper which unfortunately confuse it with the Buckhair Frog. The popper had a simple tail, not legs as the frog had, and the deer-hair body was clipped to make a concave face. The method of retrieving the two lures is quite different - - a series of short, smooth pulls for the Buckhair Frog, but a pop-and-rest technique for the Bucktail Popper.  Joe Messinger is also the originator of the "Irresistible," which gained renown as a fast-water trout fly.

Gerbubble Bug, tied by Bill Gallasch, Richmond, Virginia

One of Joe Brooks' favorite lures was the "Gerbubble Bug," designed in 1932 by Tom Loving of Baltimore, Maryland. Made of cork or balsa Gerbubble Bug Illustration From Bass Bug Fishingwood, the Gerbubble Bug has a flat, rectangular face and side-hackles, giving it a unique appearance and action in the water. This is a difficult lure to make in the original pattern and has been modified in recent years so that the body is made of clipped deer hair. I was fortunate to obtain some original Gerbubble Bugs from Joe Brooks' favorite bug tyer, Bill Gallasch of Richmond, Virginia, in the early 1970s. They cast like an anvil but they are strike-provoking bass bugs.

Hair Bug, by The Orvis Company

Speaking of strike-provoking:  over time, the Henshall type bass bug was simplified and modified to produce the Hair Bug.  The bucktail wings of the Hair Bug are set back and contained in the body, and are tied at an angle so that they rest above the water without coming into contact with it.  Hair Bugs account for some explosive strikes, particularly when dropped with a "splat" along reedy waterlines where red-winged blackbirds nest.  The old illustrations of bass jumping out of the water after butterflies or dragonlies are fanciful; in thousands of hours on the water, never once have I witnessed a bass feeding in this manner.  However, I will affirm that a bass hitting a Hair Bug will sometimes clear the water on the strike, having witnessed that phenomenon several times, including a 4-1/2 pound largemouth that I caught and released on the condition that he go forth and multiply.

Skipping Bug, tied by Bill Gallasch

Another significant bass bug is Joe Brooks' "Skipping Bug."  Also a development from the 1930s, the Brooks Skipping Bug is made of balsa wood, which is lighter than cork or plastic, and the face of the lure is angled forward so that it can be skipped over the water.  It also works as a popper.  The original design has a tail made of bucktail hair which is inserted into a hole in the back of the body, rather than being tied to the hook in the usual fashion.  According to legend, the Brooks pattern was preceded by similar bugs made by cutting a standard cigar-shaped cork bobber in half at an angle, then using the pre-drilled hole to insert the hook and the tail.  I suspect that the original was devised by a cane-pole bream fisherman who hit on a way to catch that accursed variety of largemouth which insists on making a splashy hit on one's bobber from time to time.  Whatever the source of Brooks' inspiration, the Skipping Bug casts well and brings up the bass.

Quill Minnow

One last word on bass bugs (so many bass bugs, so little time!) - - the Quill Minnow is an unusual lure which is very effective in fast water for smallmouths and river largemouths.  The Quill Minnow is tedious to make, thus few were made commercially and it is a rare find.  The word "quill" refers to the hollow base section of a goose or turkey flight-feather quill which is used to make the body of the lure, with the head being made of cork; a hook is either inserted through the quill, or tied on underneath.  The cork face can be sanded at various angles, so that the lure will pop, or skip, or even dive.  It makes a great wounded-minnow lure when cast across-current and retrieved in short jerks as it floats downstream.

Because the bass don't always co-operate, I usually take bream tackle and bugs with me when I go warmwater fly-fishing.  Bream aren't as showy as bass taking topwater lures, but bream-bugging sure beats fuming and cursing uncooperative bass.  Many bream bugs are smaller versions of bass bugs - - the smaller size of Peck's Special Popping Minnow is very effective.  Others, like the rubber-legged foam spiders, were developed for bream.  My all-time favorite topwater bream bug, however, is the Castor Creek, which I discovered in Tom Nixon's 1968 book, "Fly Tying and Fly Fishing For Bass and Panfish."  The Castor Creek is a simple tie - - a few hackle fibers for a tail, a cigar-shaped body of clipped deer hair on a size 10 or 12 hook, and a palmered hackle rib - - and you can tie them by the dozens.  If one gets soggy, either you can fish it wet, where it is particularly attractive to shellcrackers, or tie on a dry one.  Many summer days fishing the Castor Creek for bream, I have quit simply because my arm was getting sore.

References:

Bergman, Ray, FRESH-WATER BASS (Knopf 1942)

Brooks, Joe, BASS BUG FISHING (Barnes 1947)

Brooks, Joe, COMPLETE BOOK OF FLY FISHING (Outdoor Life 1958)

Lincoln, Robert Page, BLACK BASS FISHING - THEORY AND PRACTICE (Stackpole 1952)

Nixon, Tom, FLY TYING AND FLY FISHING FOR BASS AND PANFISH (Barnes 1968)

Sturgis, William Bayard, FLY-TYING (Charles Scribner's Sons 1940)

Links:

Bass Bug Journal

Bob Petti's Bass Bugs

Warmwater Fly-Tyer

Sources:

Murray's Fly Shop - - Messinger Buckhair Frogs, Shenandoah Poppers, and more

L. L. Bean - - poppers, Whitlock's Mousrat

The Orvis Company - - Skipping Bugs, bass bugs, poppers