9 must-have summer bass flies (including some beauties you’ve probably never heard of)

TEQUEELY

The TeQueely is both futuristic and a throwback. It looks like something that fell out of a busted circuit board, but it also reminds me of gaudy, old-timey “attractor” flies created before the match-the-hatch ethos took over fly fishing. It also raises the question: How much can you change a Woolly Bugger before it needs a new name? The answer, it seems, is when it has rubber legs, a shiny copper body and a clashing two-tone tail. The TeQueely obviously doesn’t resemble anything in nature, yet the combination of the colour, flash and movement make it look alive and extremely edible to bass (and, again, to big trout) all over North America.

You can swim it like a streamer, swing it like a wet fly or drift it like a nymph. I also like it on a double-fly rig, trailing 18 inches behind a topwater. It’s also easy and inexpensive to tie. This is one of those quirky flies that you tie, then often let languish in your fly box because it’s just too goofy looking. But have a little faith, and you’ll discover it’s just as exciting to fish as it is to look at.

• Hook: 2Xl streamer, sizes 2 to 6
• Weight: Gold or copper bead
• Tail: Marabou, layered yellow-black-yellow
• Body: Shiny copper chenille
• Legs: Rubber strands