I needed a small top water fly that I could use in the estuaries on the smaller Kingies that we find from time to time feeding on the water surface early mornings. This is what I arrived at after watching other fly tiers tying gurglers in different ways. Also learnt quickly that I needed to keep the tail on the shorten side as this was the preferred spot to hit the fly. Had some great times fishing this little guy watching the kingies go for it and at times having had 4+ fish fighting as who was getting the spoils.
So, to tie the Baby Gurgler you will need the following. Please remember that this is only a guide as to how I am doing it and there are plenty other materials you can use to make this fly.
For a start you going to need the following.
Photo 1
Gamakatsu SL12s #2
Super UV flash
Flashabo
2mm Foam cut into 12mm and 10mm wide strips
Mirror Image in white
Tying cotton, you going to need 50D just be careful that you don’t pull to hard and cut thru the foam when securing.
White Ostrich hurl
Super glue- both the thin and gel formulas.
Photos 2/3
Start by tying in your UV flash and flashabo, use one strand of each and fold double as this is long enough to cover the tail. I do it this way to keep the flashy bits at the bottom of the fly as this is the part the fish look at from below. Now secure a small bit of your mirror image on the top of the hook.
Take the 10mm strip of foam and secure this on top of the hook keeping some space op at the hook eye for later. Make sure that you have secured it evenly on both sides of the shank. Don’t tie down the foam past the bend of the hook as this will cause your tail to point down. Once you done with the 10mm strip of foam ty down the wider 12mm piece on top of the 10mm piece but here you need to concentrate on keeping this strip even on both sides. Once this is done take a couple pieces of the ostrich hurl and secure on top of the foam to the back of the bend. I used 4 or 5 pieces of hurl. This will all depend on how long the pieces are. Twist them together and wind up the shank covering the foam and secure just before the hook eye.
Photo 4/5
Now take your 12mm foam strip and bend it over the shank towards the hook eye and secure behind the hook eye. You can pull this as tight as you like before securing to make your desired shape. When securing the foam be careful as to not secure to close to the hook eye as this will obstruct the hole and make it difficult to secure your line later when you want to fish the fly. Take note when securing the foam to fold it on the section overlapping. This will help in forming a cup on the face of the fly later. Once this is done secure the 10mm foam over the first 12mm strip. Again, make very sure that you keep it evenly over the first strip. Just give it two or three winds around the foam and unwind again. This will leave an impression in the foam where you have wound the cotton on. Now put some gel super glue between the two pieces of foam but only on the back and not past the tying point. The gel glue takes a bit longer to cure /dry so you have time to work with it. Once you have the foam secured you can ty off the cotton and add a dab of UV glue to the thread.
Photo 6
Once this is all done you can add a bit of super glue to the two overlapping pieces of foam. Don’t add too much glue. Push the two pieces together to cure but at the same time try and keep them folded a bit so they can hold their cupped shape. When glue is cured you can trim all the access foam of to get your desired cup size. Then add a bit of glue on top of the fly where you secured the foam behind the hook eye. Push the face/cup backwards until glue is dry.
Trim face to shape and trim all the sharp edges of at the same time. Once this is done lightly burn with the cool part of a flame from a lighter. Be careful of overdoing this as the foam can burn very quickly and leave black marks. The burning will smooth out all the sharp edges and at the same time make the cup a bit harder
All that’s left to do is for you to fish it.
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