The Gartside Gurgler is a well-known fly pattern for bass and saltwater fish. The materials were my selection but the use of rubber legs came from Brett Clarke. Easy to tie, using the “Seven P’s” it should take about ten minutes to tie.

Materials

• Hook – Bait holder bronze size 4 (crush the barb and the bait barbs on top of the hook’s shank).
• Thread – Black wooly nylon.
• Wing – Two pieces of Spotlight foam.
  Coloured piece is adhesive foam and the black bottom is just craft foam.
  Spotlight sells a small pack of all sorts of colours with adhesive backing.
  They are about 3 x 5 card size.
• Tail – Craft foam, this time black but any colour will do.
• Legs – Rubber medium size contrasting colour.
• Body – Medium Krystal chenille.

Tying Instructions

1. Start your thread at the 2/3rds spot. This is where you finish the body and tie in the foam.
2. From hook’s midpoint tie in the craft foam tail back to the start of the hook bend.
   Tail should be one and a half times the length of the shank of the hook.
3. Move the thread forward about three turns.
4. Wrap a rubber leg around the thread and tie in on the side of the hook back to the bend up against the foam.
5. Repeat on the other side.
6. Wrap the thread back three turns and tie in the chenille back to the foam.
   First turn should be up against the foam and then with touching turns wrap the chenille along the hook and tie it off at the start point.
7. Cover the hook to eye with thread.
8. Bring the thread back in front of the body and repeat the tie in method with two more rubber legs.
9. With the thread up against the body fold over the foam, leave a loop, and tie it up against the body. The good thing about the woolly nylon is you can put pressure on the foam, and the thread won’t break or cut the foam.
10. Make a thread dam under the foam so it points up.
11. Use the half hitch tool to finish the fly tightly up against the foam.
12. Cut the foam the same distance from the tie in point and the eye.
13. A couple of drops of UV resin on the tie off point and cure.
14. Trim the back legs just little short of the end of the tail and the front legs just past the body.

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