9 must-have summer bass flies—including some real bangers you’ve probably never heard of

MURDICH MINNOW

I love the contrast between this fly’s gawky, tacky appearance and how well it fishes. If a robot, possessing only a vague understanding of fish and fishing, tried to construct a streamer fly out of junk laying around a space station, it might look like the Murdich Minnow. On closer inspection, though, every element has a purpose. Supported by the bucktail, the long tail shimmies and shines. The collar keeps the tinsel in place, while also lending a subtle swimming action, like the front face of a lipless crankbait. The result is a minnow imitation that’s cheap and easy to tie, easy to cast, easy to fish and virtually indestructible.

The Murdich is fairly buoyant, but unlike most streamers, it doesn’t seem to perform quite right on a sinking line. But it’s a go-to in lakes and rivers when you want a sleek, shallow-running fly to dart around structure or over weeds, or swing-drift across current. It will also have more action if you tie it on with a loop knot. I have seen the Murdich in various colours, but it’s hard to improve on the white-and-silver space-robot motif, tinted with a touch of black, blue or green.

• Hook: Standard streamer or wide-gap, size 4 to 2/0
• Tail: Bucktail, 2x longer than hook, topped by 10 to 20 strands of Flashabou, 3x longer than hook
• Collar: Ice Fur, EP Fibers or similar, topped with a matching clump of Flashabou
• Head: Large Cactus Chenille or similar
• Tint (optional): Waterproof marker
• Eyes: 3-D

POPPER

With a blunt or concave face that makes a little splash when it’s tugged, this venerable topwater fly has been fooling fish—and delighting anglers—for more than a century. In quiet water, poppers work best when fished slowly, with long pauses between strips. This lets the feather and rubber appendages float seductively, which often seals the deal. Largemouth are especially notorious for staring at poppers from short range, and for many seconds before finally engulfing them. Many fly anglers are surprised to learn this fly is also deadly in rivers, where a drift-pop retrieve can provoke slashing hits.

Traditional poppers are made of deer hair, but pre-shaped foam or cork bodies fish just as well, and they’re easy to work with. Just make sure the entire body is positioned forward of the hook point. Many poppers are incorrectly made with the body too far back, blocking the point and preventing hook-ups. Weedguards are optional, but I always bring a few weedless ones for throwing into lily pads and grass. Honestly, every part of this fly other than the body and tail is optional. It’s basically a platform you can experiment with, creating sleeker or bushier versions as needed.

• Hook: Wide-gap, 2XL to 4XL, sizes 4 to 2/0
• Tail: 2 to 6 saddle hackles
• Collar: A few wraps of saddle hackle
• Body: Foam, cork or spun deer hair
• Legs: Rubber strands
• Eye: 3-D, googly or prism tape
• Weedguard (optional): 20-pound mono