Little Green Bug!

This morning the fishing was slow; no matter what fly I tried fish would follow to the boat but not bite. In desperation I tied on a small popper.  Cork body, rubber legs and some chartreuse feathers; that was the ticket! Not every fish took but enough to make it interesting and many more flashed by while taking a look. They are small enough to be easy to cast on my Orvis 6 weight rods and very visible in almost any conditions.

After loading the boat and heading back to the office I thought about how long I have used those flies and the number of stories I have about using them. I was introduced to them almost thirty years ago by one of my first fly fishing clients. An old man at that time he used them to catch a number of large bass with me on several trips always casting seated in the front of my canoe.

My best story with those poppers is with that client on one of my favorite brook trout streams we had fished all morning without so much as a flash under a fly. Right before it was time to go he asked if he could try his reliable popper. I agreed and reluctantly tied one on the end of his line not expecting much.  To my surprise he caught several brook trout before I insisted that we return to his waiting wife even though we were both having an excellent time.

When things get slow I reach for a little green bug.