Bleeding Banana gurgler

Bleeding Banana Gurgler
by Mike Hurd a.k.a. Mike

Materials

Hook: Mustad 37187 sz 2 (any bass bug hook or long shank streamer hook in panfish sizes)

Tail: Yellow Marabou, 6-8 strands multi-colored Krystal Flash (bucktail, zonkerstrip, synthetic hair, your favorite flash material)

Body: 1/8” closed cell foam

Legs: Yellow striped saddle hackle

Gill/Throat: Red bucktail

Tying Instructions

Cover hook shank w/ thread, ending at bend. Tie in tail material. Tie half of flash material on each side of tail (3-4 strands per side).

Cut strip of foam ½” wide. Lay foam on top of hook shank with one end 3-4 eye widths behind hook eye and other end extending back over hook bend. Bind foam at base of tail

Strip one side of saddle hackle and tie in at tail by the tip. Coat hook shank with super glue and spiral thread forward, binding foam to hook shank, take several wraps at end of foam. Spiral hackle forward over thread wraps, tie off and clip. Fold foam straight forward and bind down behind eye. Trim foam to form lip

Tie in a few strands of red bucktail on underside of hook, behind eye to form throat/gills. Tie off thread behind eye, under foam, whip finish and cement thread and lip if desired. Adjust size and shape of lip to change action of the fly, building up a larger head with thread will cause foam to stand higher off the hookshank.

How to Fish

I fish the Bleeding Banana Gurgler like any other topwater fly. I use a mixture of twitches, pauses, pops, short and long strips until the fish tell me what they want.

The gurgler is a little more subtle than a popper and a little less subtle than a slider. You can fold the lip up or down to create more or less of a disturbance on the surface.