Tie Talk: Tying the Booby Frog Fly (Step-by-Step Photos)

The Booby Frog fly was designed to look, move and float like a real frog does on a pond, while staying easy to cast with a lighter fly rod and remaining completely snag free.

Admittedly, the Booby Frog is not the world’s easiest fly to tie. But I have to say that it is one of the most creative and innovative warm-water patterns I’ve seen in a long time so I felt I had to share. If this little bug doesn’t make you want to take a little “lunch break” and hit your local bass hole, I’m not sure you can call yourself a fly angler…

Friend and warm-water master Jay Zimmerman had this to say about his latest creation:
“Like a real frog, the Booby Frog does not always float. when it does though, it sits in the surface film at a 45 degree angle with it’s legs splayed out and the big foam eyes popping out of the water. The fisherman need only touch the fly line to get the front-facing rubber legs to twitch back. This is often just the right trigger for the big bass lurking nearby.

This fly has so much great movement and action in the water because the natural materials are not bound to the entire length of the hook shank. The Booby Frog is tied on a large stinger-style hook, but all the materials are tied in at the same 3/16th of an inch of the hook shank directly behind the eye of the hook. This allows the frog body no restrictions in movement.

Also, this frog may be the first ever to offer the bass fisherman a top water fly that rides hook point up (almost out of the water!) completely eliminating the need for any cumbersome and distracting hard-mono weed guards that only partially work. The Booby Frog casts easily with a common trout-weight fly rod and crawls easily and seductively over even the thickest weed beds, logs and lily pads.”

Be sure to visit Jay’s blog for all the images that go with the tying steps. You can also click here for step-by-step instructions.