What are your favorite flies with erratic movement on the retrieve? I’m looking for some larger flies with really good side to side movement with each strip. So far feather changers have been the best I’ve used for this but wanting to see what else is out there.
Target fish is big freshwater stripers so it must be a bigger fly typically tied on heavy hooks.
I would think something articulated maybe. But Idk.. Intrested to see what comes up. I’d love to be able to throw a one knocker spook with my 8 weight..
Drew Chicones Hawg Leg baby!
There is a top water fly called the pole dancer that walks.
Walking the dog requires slack in the line after each twitch. Try walking a zara spook up current and you will find out that is doesn’t work. So a fly would be hard. My local shop sells and “fly” that looks like a baby zara, if you call that a fly. Maybe a spun deer hair fly? Like a MIrrolure fly?
Hog Legs and Pole Dancers. What’s not to like!
Pole dancer is really good but can get frustrating if it digs in on back cast.
Some chargers do great too. Mostly feather and craft fur. There is a formula to thickness in the different sections that help it function better.
I tied some this spring on jig hooks with feathers and a little fur all sourced from hobby lobby and they swam identical to a soft plastic fluke and the shoal bass and Lmb loved them.
These are rough versions of it. Sorry for crappy pic!
You can walk the dog with a fly like you can with a topwater plug and conventional gear. It’s not impossible.
Chocklett’s jerkchanger is a good one. Good side-to-side movement - I throw for stripers and spots here in Georgia.
Arculeo’s BC Baitfish is pretty much an articulated wiggle minnow. Three inches long on a fairly stout 2/0 hook. I think it could work for what you’re after if they’re feeding up top.
I got the Pole Dancer when it came out for black bass and striper fishing. It works ok, but I have to say a straight up gurgler or a wedge popper (also known as the flip flop popper) works better in my experience.
PDs are expensive flies. I took some to the amazon and only used them once. The peacocks didn’t care and tore through flies. So I threw cheap stuff that got annihilated instead of a $15 fly. The PD works best with a loop knot to introduce the slack needed, but for wedge poppers I fish a straight knot to really get the pop action.
Here is a picture of the Pole Dancer for reference:
As others have mentioned, the pole dancer. But it is a giant, heavy fly. Not the most fun to cast. Also check out the wiggle minnow. Not quite pure walk the dog style but kind of close.
I was going to add jerkchangers. Hard to beat for stripers.
Do the PD and the others wag back and forth with a steady retrieve, or are you talking about a twitchy retrieve? Just asking, because a high-frequency, twitching retrieve that imitates a baitfish swimming is not easy to master.
The Pole Dancer requires a bit of left and right tip action to get it moving correctly. It isn’t as dramatic as a Zara Spook, but it is something to get used to do to the length of a fly rod compared to a conventional rod.
I can control the action beter fishing them on my shorter bass fly rods that are 7’11”
My go to though for poppers are the VIP-style popper, or a wedge popper. I used to tie these out of flip flop material, but now use foam board.
VIP style:
I like black or red for bass.
And here is a wedge style, which really looks like a double wide VIP:
Alvin Dedeaux ties a version of this that is pretty slick. It’s bigger, but it really does move some water.
This is what I have. I fish it for smallmouth all season but it’s done well for snook too. If there was 1 fly to use all year I’d pick this one. The action comes from the weight wrapped on the bend of the hook and the amount of deer hair wraps for the head. Size and colors are endless depending on your needs. Just a starting point I do 14 wraps of .30 lead and 5 wraps of deer hair for the head.
We’ve been using one called a Spiral Spook tied by Chase Smith (@fishchaseflies). I have no idea how its tied, but it basically casts like you have a heddon lure on the end of your line. It retrieves great though, darting left and right…and the eats will keep you up at night.
That was a BOSS of a Red!
I’ve fished the Pole Dancer and have a few different sizes of them. Had some hits but once I started catching fish on Gurglers, I’ve used them exclusively when surface fishing for Trout or Reds.
That said, I tie a fly similar to the McCkittrick’s Jawbreaker and use curly tails for them. I tie the flies on jig hooks, weight them and use them when bind casting in likely areas, creek mouths, edges of bars etc. Always use loop knots. Once in a while you can see the fly coming in and when you get a good twitch rhythm it kinda goes side to side. Not as drastic as a Spook and not on surface but pretty good action.
Am gonna tie up a Gurgler with one of these tails when I get back to FLA this fall. Want to see if the curly tails will give the Gurgler a bit of “walk the dog” action.
