The Lizard Gurglar
By Larry Dextraze

I was first introduced to the gurglar style popper a few years ago back east in Boston when I watched a buddy fishing with a popper amongst a number of silverside minnows breaking the surface, which were trying to escape some marauding stripers. I had a hard time distinguishing the minnows from the popper so I immediately thought it was great. Because the popper creates a subtle water spitting action, it mimics breaking baitfish well. It doesn’t really pop unless you really pull hard on the strip. The pattern, first created by Boston fly tier Jack Gartside, has been modified in many ways to create new versions ever since.

I have modified it here not for stripers but for surface fishing largemouth bass, which is a fun, visual way to fly fish. The idea came about after seeing my conventional bass fishing friends using rubber lizard baits in the spring. They mentioned that lizards often swim down onto shallow water bass nests to rob the eggs. I got my first chance to use it in this fashion at Salt Springs Valley Reservoir in Copperopolis, Ca. It worked great there and then later at Kelsey Bass Ranch in Snelling, Ca. Because the fly pattern has a subtle action and drab colors, it’s easy to sneak up on bass and cast to them in really shallow water without scaring them.

The pattern is not big, about 4 inches so it’s easy to cast and doesn’t hit the water hard. The majority of the pattern is a tail made of olive and black ostrich herl with some flash from rainbow angel hair. The herl when wet gives it a great action in the water. The other ingredients are listed below and a photo is included to show its profile from the side and from below.

My favorite time as I mentioned to fish this pattern is when the bass get on their spawning beds. Being territorial at this time of the year, the bass attack it viciously making the scene really fun to watch. In fact the pattern a lot of times draws fish to it. For example, fishing along the bank on foot I routinely cast to water only inches deep and slowly pull the pattern along the bank. Numerous times I will see bass come in from deeper water, throwing a wake, to attack it. That’s surface fly fishing at it finest! Give it a try this spring and you will hopefully be pleasantly surprised.

Ingredients

Hook – TMC 7999 Black Salmon Hook with upturned eye Size 2-4
Thread – Black Kevlar or MonoCore
Body – Black ethafoam body cut in the shape of a thin egg
Flash - one strip of pearl flashabou, rainbow angel hair for tail
Legs – Jay Fair grizzly saddle hackle in olive, burnt orange or black
Tail – 3 to 4 strands of olive and black ostrich herl

Tying Instructions

Tie in the strands of ostrich herl and rainbow angel hair flash just up from the bend of the hook facing away for a tail.
Tie in the thinner section of the oval foam body onto the top of the hook first and throw some half hitches to secure it. Use a strong thread.
Tie in one long strand of pearl flashabou. I use the wide saltwater kind.
Tie in one grizzly saddle hackle. Use the more webby, longer stranded section. Not the tip.
Wrap the hackle up to just behind the eye and tie in.
Take the flashabou that is hanging in the back and twist it into a rope. Then use it to wrap in between the strands of hackle as you go forward.
This will secure the hackle making it tougher to pull out and add flash.
Tie in flashabou where hackle was tied in.
Bring the black foam over the back as in a shell and tie in. Make sure you go out of your way to create a lip of foam facing upward. The upturned hook will help here but by cinching down on the foam hard it will cause the foam to arc up. Throw some half hitches in to secure.
Finally, throw some wraps of thread under foam and around the double shaft of the salmon hook eye to fill in that gap. Whip finish.
Seal exposed thread wraps on top with a flexible cement.

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