Gartside Gurgler

[MarkD]

I am looking for any info that any one can give me on the Gartside Gurgler fly. I know it's a pattern that a Boston cab driver devised and tied in his cab during downtimes. I also have been told that it is a great striper fly.

Any feedback would be a step in the right direction.


Thanks

[rel]

<FONT color=black face="Times New Roman,Times" size=2>MarkD- It is a good striper fly. Pattern is: Mustad 34011 1 or 1/0. Tie the tail(anything you want bucktail, hackle, marabou) with some flash over the point of the hook or slightly forward of that point. Cut a piece of closed cell foam(sheet form) 1/2" to 3/4" wide by 3" long and wrap it to the shank of the hook from the eye to the beginning of the tail by spiral wrapping the thread- you want about 5-6 segments. The excess should be overhanging the tail. At the tie in point of the tail and the last segment of the foam tie in a webby saddle hackle by the butt and wrap it to the eye and tie off. Now pull the overhanging foam forward&nbsp; and tie in at the eye, stretching it forward alittle. Tie it off but don't cut the thread yet. Trim the excess over the eye to form a lip that sticks up slightly. You may have to make some wraps under the lip to achieve this. Use of the fly on the water will tell you how much of an angle the lip needs to be at. Also when you tie in the flash for the tail you can leave some excess to pull over the back of the foam and tie off with the foam at the eye of the hook. That's it. One suggestion though- don't try fishing this fly if the terns are on sandeels because the terns will carry it off. Its happened to me several times once hooking the tern. Also if you want to make the fly a slider just clip the lip closer to the eye of the hook. For the gurgler the lip should be about 1/2" long.&nbsp; rel</FONT>

[TomDunlap]

another variation is to tie it with estaz(ice chenille,wrapped around the shank of the hook, under the foam. no hackle needed, but everything else the same
Tom

[bwoods]

Tom: I like this pattern because it casts easier than most poppers and can kick up alot of water for its size. I recently visited Eldridge Bros in Maine where I noticed they have a large collection of them-many tied on hooks bigger than 1/0. I think it's a good silverside imitation when tied in black and twitched back at night slowly. Good luck. Barry

[spook]

Hi Tom,
Try the gurgler on smallmouth in insect green.