Does anyone bother to tie these critters anymore? I've been rereading some of Lefty's and Whit's books on bass fishing recently and rediscovered
the fact that a Gerbubble Bug with marabou "side skirts" sounds like a great fly. That said, I'm somewhat at a loss as to how to add the marabou
side skirt to the pattern. Does the 'bou stay on the quill/stem the way it would if you tied these with the traditional hackle feathers?
? tying the Gerbubble Bug with marabou.....
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 tuckaloe |
? tying the Gerbubble Bug with marabou..... |
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Posts: 40 05/24/09 17:43:52 Registered Member |
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tuckaloe |
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Posts: 40 05/26/09 15:17:54 Registered Member |
19 views and no comments......I'm not asking my question properly as I'm sure that someone on this site has the experience to answer. I know there are
a few excellent tiers lurking about!
Tradition has the side skirts tied with saddle hackle as such: 
Below is the effect I'm after, using marabou in place of the saddles. Catch is, do you leave the marabou on the feather quill to accomplish this, same as you would a saddle hackle? Or is it done in another fashion? Probably not a very challenging question for someone that knows the answer but I haven't been down this path yet and am unsure as to how to produce these marabou sides on my Gerbubbles.... 
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JeffSod |
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Posts: 760 05/26/09 15:34:55 Registered Member |
Sorry I can't help you with that but am interested in knowing too. |
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waynebh.fiberglassflyro... |
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Posts: 61 03/18/63 12:43:43 |
Hi tuckaloe;
I'm with Jeffsod on this one! I did see a tyer make some up out of balsa this spring, the way he did this was to file a groove in the sides and insert the feather stem into the groove after filling grove with crazy glue. The marabou folded over and created the desired effect. I tried making some up a few years ago when I first started tying with a foam bodied popper. The looked terrible but then again I couldn't tie wirth a dang when I started! The fish really like them and quite quickly destroyed the marabou but I caught lots of fish on them! Wayne |
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tuckaloe |
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Posts: 40 05/27/09 08:10:14 Registered Member |
Found another great pic of a Gerbubble Bug tied by the deceased 10x10 on the stripers.com site(all credit to him!) of a saddle hackled version. This is pretty
webby and looks great.
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JeffSod |
#5 | |||
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Posts: 760 05/27/09 12:31:33 Registered Member |
Yes, 10x10 was a fine fly tyer! |
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B52 bugger |
Gerbubble bugs | #6 | ||
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Posts: 275 05/27/09 15:30:29 Registered Member |
I have made these with cork, balsa,styrafoam and deer body belly hair. In cork, sty. balsa, - take a razor blade or sharp knife. - tie the tip portion of the
hackle at the rear of the hook. dap a little cement, pull hackle forward and into the slit, secure in front, repeat on other side.
Deer hair is a lot easier to do. no need the make a slit, secure tip at rear pull and force hackle into the body of the hair, then sercure in front. I use marabou for the tail with four strands of rubber hackle in the tail also two strands of flashabou, hackles on the sides. Very deadly bug, it was originated around 1920 (cork) by Tom Loving, shown to Joe Brooks, Tom McNally, John Alden Knight. Can you just imagine at this time, no glass or graphite, just the sweetness of bamboo. At the time they made serious long bamboo rods for bass 9 and 9 1/2 ft. Slow action with reserve power. I saw a an 8mm home movie of Joe Brooks casting a 9 1/2ft Orvis Battenkill 8 weight rod with Bill Gallash Popping Bug 3/0 (1962). He cast the whole line. I believe it was Cortland 333 bug taper. Brooks was a fine gentleman and a terrific fly caster and bugger. If you ever get a chance get his books Saltwater Fly Fishing 1950, Bass Bugging 1949, Fly Fishing 1958 I got a little carried away. Bottom line if you feel comfortable using marabou on the side just do it. I some times rely of the hackle to move lily pads slightly and had bass and pickeral come in for the kill usually they give themselves away but their moving of the pads. |
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tuckaloe |
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Posts: 40 05/28/09 06:57:23 Registered Member |
Thanks B52, good stuff. I don't mind you getting carried away at all, rather enjoyed it actually.
So the marabou to use is clearly not blood quills since the marabou must stay on the feather stem if it's to be tied the same as the saddle hackled side version. I've never looked at marabou with the intent of keeping the fibers on the stem, I'll have to dig through my (considerable) stash of colors and see what I see. I assume if you were using two thin layers of foam, cork, balsa, etc to build the body in a sandwich style, you could use the fibers removed from the stem, though it might look like your Gerbubble Bug has hair plugs 
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waynebh.fiberglassflyro... |
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Posts: 61 05/28/09 08:22:38 |
Hi Tuckaloe;
I tried the two layer foam with a single feather in the middle, didn't work to well the glue kind messed up the marabou or the marabou absorbed all the glue and the foam layers wouldn't stick together. It's got me thinking of trying a gurgler type foam fly with marabou inserted between the layers then everything held together with tying thread, might work?? Wayne |
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 Cornmuse |
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Posts: 287 06/02/09 17:21:42 Registered Member |
Use a marabou plume and tie it in by the tip, so the butt end is pulled forward. That keeps the fibers flowing towards the tail. Also, "fold" the
fibers over the stem before pulling the feather up the side of the deer hair body. If you can pack your hair really tight you'll also want to cut a little
groove in the spun hair to provide a place for the stem to settle into the spun body.
The Gerbubble is a great fly - casts easy but looks a lot bigger on the water than it really is. I like them in all black for evening and night fishing and I typically cast a size 4 on a 6wt rod. Joe C "Live each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the
drink, taste the fruit,
- Henry David Thoreau
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tuckaloe |
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Posts: 40 06/03/09 05:01:04 Registered Member |
Joe,
Thanks for the response. That gives me some ideas to work with. LOVE your site, btw. I knew I could get some good feedback on this bug from this crew. |
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Bowfin47 |
Gerbubble instructions by the best hairman in the country! | #11 | ||
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Posts: 4 07/29/09 06:41:07 Registered Member |
TYING HAIRBUGS WITH BILLY MUNN - DVD (including the Gerbubble) I've been attending and tying at FFF
conclaves for over 20 years. At every conclave that Billy Munn has also attended, I have always spent time either sitting next to or across from the "best
deer hair tyer" in the country. If you don't believe me, just look at interviews by Chris Helm, Tim England,
Ed Jaworski or Dave Whitlock or other top hair guys, and you'll see that that they all acknowledge their debt to Billy. You see, his contribution to tying
and teaching hairwork for over 50 years has been recognized by the Federation of Fly Fishers with the awarding of fly tying's most prestigious award,
the Buz Buszek Memorial Award in 1986. You should easily be able to find this DVD
on line or ya' can contact Billy at his home (262 Cuba Rd, Bridgeport, TX 76426). However, I don't know what he charges for shipping.
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JeffSod |
#12 | |||
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Posts: 760 08/06/09 09:10:31 Registered Member |
Thanks for posting that info Bowfin. I certainly would like to have a copy of that dvd.
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