Disclaimer: This fly has not been field tested so I lay no claims to its durability or effectiveness. On the other hand, if it catches fish, I gladly welcome all credit.
Even though I have not been tying for that long, I still have an inordinate amount of material stuffed into any nook and cranny of my hunting room. Accompanying my wife to the craft store has been my undoing as I go straight to the foam, beads, and feathers and as a result I have gobs of different colors of foam and feathers. I have essentially put myself on hold from buying any more tying products unless they are the essentials. I have never been able to bring myself to buy the little foam bodies for bass poppers and have always looked for a way to use some other item around the house. In my wanderings on line I saw foam being used in quite a few different ways and borrowed a couple of ideas and came up with the following fly. It incorporates quite a bit of the odds and ends on the tying table hence the name “Ben’s Cleanup Fly.”
Enjoy. Let me know how it works for you and any thoughts you have on it.
Looks “fishy” enough to me – like the story behind the name.
Thanks. I look forward to seeing if it works. I do not bass fish too much, but every time I’m standing on the bank I’m wishing I had some kind of popper. Hopefully this will fit the bill. Thanks again.
Ben
Nice work! Thanks for the quick turn around. This looks do-able for me, I’ll shoot you images when I get time to tie a few up. Our off-season begins Oct 1st….
Very cool. Let me know how they work.
Ben
I might have to give that a try!
Hey Ben,
I just tied up a couple of these to test them out. Pretty sweet,and simple flies. I used bucktail for the tail, and added superglue to the hook, and the foam after I secure it to the hook. It really keeps the foam from wanting to spin as I tie in the legs. Looks like it will have a lot of action on the water, and I have personally witnessed the pop this fly produces. Can’t wait to get it onto the water this spring!
Glad you like them Kirk. Let me know how they fish for you. Take care and good luck.
Ben
I have tied up a few of these in white/blue and green/yellow and they have worked really well. They have held up to some pretty good beatings and worked on bass, trout and even on some saltwater fish! Thanks for putting this up its an awesome pattern!
Thanks Jake. Glad they’re doing the trick for you. Take care.
Ben