If you're a novice fly tier, I've got good news for you! One of the easiest flies to tie is also one of the most effective for a wide range of freshwater species. In fact, nearly half the total flies I tie each year are this type. I'm talking microjigs, and in particular, Fluff Butts.
Winter is a time of year when microjigs are most effective on warmwater species due to fewer food options. These flies imitate small baitfish which make up the bulk of available organisms.
In fly fishing, a microjig is any fly that meets both these requirements:
- has a round metal eye integrated into the hook (metallized head), or a metal bead inserted to the front of the hook
- uses a type of hook, or a particular method, to force the fly to swim hook point up.
Microjigs are productive because they can be fished shallow or deep, ride hook up to lessen possible snags, and maintain a somewhat-horizontal orientation even when at rest. That last factor is critical to giving a more natural presentation.
There are many types of microjigs. My favorites are "Fluff Butts". It’s not a specific fly, but a group of flies that have a marabou tail and a chenille body (chenille, vernille, ice chenille, etc.) and tied on a hook with either a 90 or 60 degree bend near the eye.
Although the origin of Fluff Butts are ubiquitous, the term originiated in 1991 when Mark Hester wrote an article in the Red Stick Fly Fishers club newsletter, "The Red Letter". He beseeched fly anglers to accept “Fluff Butts” as flies, and then gave reasons why they are so effective. In 1995, I started the Louisiana Fly Fishing website and later that year, started the RSFF website. At this point, the internet took control and the term "Fluff Butt" spread to all corners of the Earth!
No fish can resist
Fluff Butts are fine imitations of minnows, of which there are over 2,000 species. Since everything eats minnows, everything eats a Fluff Butt. I’ve caught everything from cutthroat trout in Wyoming to white perch in Maine to peacock bass in Florida. On this fly, I’ve caught tons of sunfish, and even bass over 6 pounds!
The marabou tail provides lots of movement. I pool test nearly every fly, and it's amazing how this material can have tiny undulations even when at rest and with no apparent water movement.
In his article, Hester pointed out that Fluff Butts are easy to tie because they're basically a woolybugger without the hackle.
Beadhead ButtsBack in 1991, Fluff Butts were tied on metallized hooks, sold in either 1/80, 1/100, 1/124 ounce sizes, with hook sizes 8 through 12. Beads were just becoming popular in Europe thanks to tier and author Roman Moser - and the success of European competitive anglers with bead flies. An article in 1995 in Fly Fisherman magazine is credited with the rise of bead flies in America.
However a year before the Fly Fisherman article came out, Gary Peterson, a close friend of Hester and fellow member of RSFF, demonstrated a Fluff Butt tied with a bead. His inspiration was an article in a British magazine, Stillwater Trout Angler, which had just published an article on the "Bead Revolution" sweeping Europe.
There was a bead shop just two blocks from my house. I tied up a couple of Butts with a bead on a Mustad 9672 hook. When pool testing, the fly didn't ride hook up as hoped. No problemento... the next one I tied I first put a 60 degree bend in the very upper section of the hook. That's one great thing about Mustad hooks - they can be bended without breaking. Putting a bend did the trick. The fly now had a balanced presentation and the hook rode point up.
Hooks
Nowadays, it's no longer necessary to bend straight hooks. Jig hooks are as common as Dollar General stores. I prefer a barbless 60 degree hook, 2x or 3x long, black finish, Aberdeen style (less tail fouling), and light wire, certainly not heavier than 2x strong. Light wire hooks are important because, if you get snagged deep, with enough pressure sometimes the hook bends enough to release the fly.
There are five hook models I recommend. Primary are: Mustad Heritage J60, Partridge SUJ, Kumoto KJ2322. For a wider gap, I use the Fulling Mill Jig Force 5130 and Saber 5220. The Umpqua U555 is a good economical choice with a 50 pack for about $8.
Hook size is usually 10 and 12 for bluegill, redears, trout, cichlids and true perch, and 8 and 10 for crappie and white bass. For smallmouth and spotted bass, I do go to a size 6 but not any larger.
The choice of beads depends on the hook size, and what color/weight bead you desire. Tungsten seems to be the choice of most for this fly, but I find that brass is better for use under tiny indicators as they don't sink the float.
For many years, tying Fluff Butts using beads on a hook had two advantages over tying them on metal jigheads. First, metallized hooks per unit are typically more expensive than a hook and a bead. Second, any fish caught on flies with metal jigheads were disqualified for entry into the Louisiana State Fly Rod Records (aka, the "Pete Cooper Rule"). Fortunately, that rule no longer exists.
With the advent of Etsy, tiers can now find some very economical options for metallized jigs - as low as 30 cents each. My favorite source is www.illbejigged.com. The owner will even make the jigheads to your specifications (hook size, painted color, black or red or bronze finish, hook type, etc.)
Balanced Fluff Butt
Around 2012, Phil Rowley introduced the Balanced Leech Minnow, an innovation he credited to Jerry McBride of Spokane, Washington. The concept is simple: while a jig hook provides a more horizontal orientation, when at rest, it still sits at a 15 degree or higher angle to the horizon. Ideally if the hook eye was placed closer to the fly’s center of mass, the fly would sit perfectly horizontal.
If you're on one of the major fly tying groups on Facebook, you've likely seen Curtis Kauer's balanced minnows. Curtis loves exploring the many possibilities that balancing technique offers, and based on his posts, it certainly catches fish!
The only change to making a Fluff Butt "balanced" is to add a sequin pin. The bead is inserted onto the pin and the pin is then secured to the hook shank with thread. All other steps remain the same.
Characteristics
I prefer hook sizes 12 for bluegill and redears, sizes 8 and 10 for crappie, and sizes 6 and 8 for spotted, largemouth and smallmouth bass. I use barbless, black finish hooks whenever possible.
Best colors for body/tail are: olive/olive, black/chartreuse, gray/gray (aka, the "Gray Ghost"), and blue/white. Crappie also sometimes like pink on flies. A hardcore crappie angler on my home lake showed me his own tied jigs where he simply added a layer of pink thread behind the head. This seems to work on occasion, especially if excessive rainfall has left the water a bit milky.
I prefer the tail not be much longer than the entire hook. Also, the tail should not be too thick, and with a minimum of feathers with barbules.
Technique
I fish Fluff Butts in two ways. Method one, cast out the fly and let it go deep. Then strip it in slowly (vertical retrieve). Often the strike comes as tension on the line.
Method 2 is when I’m fishing bream beds or crappie near structure. I use a strike indicator set up about 3 feet or more above the Fluff Butt. The goal is to suspend the fly and keep it close to the strike zone as long as possible. Move the indicator about an inch or two every few seconds. This imparts a minor jigging motion to the fly, just enough to make the tail flutter and make the fly seem alive. The indicator also tells when the fish has struck.
As Hester once stated, whether you accept Fluff Butts as flies is your prerogative. But the fish don't care, and they love them. And in the end, that's all what counts!
