Going Small With Deer Hair Frogs

Something that has been a lot of fun the last two years has been fishing tiny deer hair poppers and sliders on light fly gear.  I have tied deer hair bugs small enough to be castable on a 1wt with no issues.  Are they more work than foam bugs?  Sure, but it's a lot of fun watching them get blown up on by small stream bass and panfish.  I've been a fan of Pat Cohen's Creature bodies, and when I saw the frog legs were now available in tiny sizes, I had to try them.  I sampled two packs each of the 1/2" and 3/4" versions.  The 3/4" size I matched to a size 6 Gamakatsu B10S hook.

Next up, the really small ones.  I used the 1/2" legs on a Gamakatsu B10S in size 10.  This size bug is easily small enough for bluegill and smaller panfish.  Although the bug is tiny, I still stacked the hair in small amounts to keep the colors where I wanted them and keep them dense.  On this version, I blended some black and yellow hair to form the top, solid yellow on the bottom, and orange for the face.

I can't wait for spring when the panfish come shallow to spawn.  These frog popper should receive a good workout, and the size 6's will be excellent for popper/dropper rigs.  Check out Pat's website at http://www.rusuperfly.com/ for his creature lineup, as well as the best deer hair for spinning and stacking you'll find.  The frog legs are great, and I have had some really good success with his hellgramite bodies on a simple fly pattern for smallmouth bass.