Complex Twist Sow Bug

Cheech - October, 2019

The Guide for New Fly Shop Employees (1995) has a very in depth chapter about fly recommendations in Utah. To sum it up, if you aren't quite sure what to prescribe an angler who is headed out, recommend a sow bug regardless of the season. Sow bugs are a plentiful food source in a lot of Utah rivers, and the fish love to eat them. Rainbow sows, Ray Charles, Gut Sacks, Local Magic Mojo, etc... Just make sure that they have a sow bug, and they will likely catch fish. It was this logic that made me want to kind of mess with some patterns on jig hooks that would be durable, easy, and quick to tie. See, with sow bugs, you are going to fish them pretty close to the bottom to match where they are in the river, so it's important that they can be a pretty quick tie because you will break some off. This pattern really isn't anything super original. It's basically a variation of the Ray Charles that doesn't have any flashback, and has wire twisted up with the herls to make it more durable. Cheech