Views from the Vice – Yuk Bug

Truth be told, the Yuk Bug is a relatively new addition to my fly box. But after seeing the immense size and prolific nature of various types of stonefly insects at Papa Bear’s Outdoors a couple of seasons ago… I made sure I had plenty of the biggest buggiest, stonefly patterns available the next time I met up with Wayne to fish his beautiful property.

Nearly every rock in the 750 acres of freestone wilderness at Papa Bear’s Outdoors contains remnants of a critter that resembles these Yuk Bugs, both Golden and Black varieties.

No two flys accounted for more or larger trout for me last season than the Olive Yuk Bug shown above, tied in tandem with my own Black Tic Tac pattern which is basically a small wooly bugger made entirely of marabou and webby grizzly hackle.

Also, these nymphs/streamers are just plain fun to fish. After dead drifting the fly through a section of river, if a fish doesn’t take your presentation you can strip it in or twitch your rod tip to entice a strike. More often than not if a fish is there — they will take aggressively. Stoneflies swim toward the banks after they’ve released from their hold, and the stripping and twitching of the line creates a tremendously lifelike action on the legs of the fly, and it’s irresistible to trout.

If you’re planning a trip to PBO this spring, summer, or fall – do not leave home without a heavily weighted Yuk Bug.

Tight Lines!