Bully’s Bluegill Spider

Fishing from the Jackson Mayfly is not a challenge but an adventure. Some days I just take the Mayfly out for just a standard fishing trip with a spinning rod or a bait caster for either a saltwater species or a freshwater species. When I decide the adventure will be fly fishing; I will attempt to try my hand at tying flies for the species that I’m going to tackle.

My first adventure fishing with a fly on the Mayfly has been fishing for bream. So I decided that I would learn to tie the Bully’s Bluegill Spider. This fly is designed to be a subsurface fly; the Bully’s Bluegill Spider is weighted more heavily toward the bend of the hook and falls vertically through the water column. The rubber legs wiggle underwater, creating a lifelike action bluegill simply can’t resist. 

This fly is really easy to tie and the bream just love to hit them. To tie the Bully’s Bluegill Spider the materials that are required are:

Hook: Standard dry fly hook, size 8 – 12

Thread: Danville’s 6/0 monocord; color to match the body

Underbody: .020 lead free wire

Body: Medium chenille

Wings: Two pieces of medium, round rubber hackles

Head: Tapered double whip finish

Step 1: Debarb hook, clamp in vise, and start thread 2 hook eye lengths behind hook eye. Wrap to just above hook point.

Step 2: Cut a 2” long piece of round lead .0.20-025” dia., place at front edge of thread base and tie down to rear of thread base.

Step 3: Take five tight turns of lead free wire around rear of thread base and then tie tag end of wire on top of hook shank.

Step 4: Wrap thread back and forth over lead wraps to anchor. Select a 3-4” section of medium chenille, remove1/4” of fuzz from one end, and attach the bare end to rear of hook shank at end of lead wrap.

Step 5: Using tight turns, wrap chenille to front edge of lead and tie down securely. Trim off excess chenille.

Step 6: Select two long strands of medium round rubber hackles. I prefer loop the rubber strands awhile tying in. Center rubber legs and tie in against the front turn of lead using several thread wraps.

Step 7: With rubber legs anchored securely, grasp the tips and loops of the rubber legs and pull up and back from hook eye. Make several secure thread wraps over both halves of legs to anchor them against the single lead wrap at front of hook. This will cause legs to stand almost vertical to the hook shank.

Step 8: Tie off head and whip finish. Lastly trim the legs by laying them back toward the curve of the hook and cut the legs just past the curvature of the hook for uniform length.

My favorite pan fishing fly rod is a TFO 3 wt at 7’ 6” with a Redington Zero 2.3 fly reel.  I like to fish this fly by casting it towards various types of structure on Goose Creek Reservoir as these structures might hold some nice size bream. These structures could be docks, fallen trees, lily pads, points and sunken trees. These types of areas will have a tendency to hold bream. Water depth will range from less than a foot to 6 feet. After the cast I will let the fly fall through the water column. 

In most situations when the fly is falling and the rubber legs are doing their thing if there are any bream in that location they will pick up the fly and you will have a battle on your hands. If the panfish did not pick the fly up at this time retrieve the fly with short jerks and occasional put some pauses fixed in. This could result in a reactionary bite.

Now let’s talk about the Kayak Mayfly and the fly fishing experience. I have used the Mayfly allot in the saltwater and freshwater environments. This trip for bream had been my first opportunity to fly fish from the kayak. While standing and casting the 3 wt I did not experience any line management issue on the kayak. When paddling from one area to another the little pad on the foot rest for anchoring your fly line is a novel idea. When I attempted to fly fish from the Big Rig or the Coosa and during the paddling process the water would always take my line out of the kayak. By securing the fly line with the slotted pad on the mayfly’s footrest the line is not dragged into the water while paddling. 

The last feature that I love about the Mayfly are the built in fly rod holders. Starting at the bow of the Mayfly are built in rod tip protectors and at the tank well are two recessed areas with bungee cords to secure the fly rod and reel when transporting or if you desire a couple of fly rods on the water.

In my opinion the Jackson Mayfly is ultimately the best designed kayak for fly fishing. If you have not yet tested this kayak I encourage you to contact your Jackson Kayak dealer for a demo paddle and fly casting experience. You too will fall in love with the Mayfly.