Grubs on a fly rod

By Ian

​  When most people think of flies, they think of tiny hooks with bits of stuff tied on. You know, that weird smelling fluff that looks like it came from the neighbor's cat. The problem with most fur tied flies is that they are quite expensive, being a dollar or so each, as each fly must be tied by hand. For many of my fly fishing friends, the costs steadily add up over time. 

  A great alternative is using weightless grubs on a fly rod. Grubs are inexpensive and have great action that seems especially effective on big bluegill. The tantalizing tail action of a grub on the fall has caught my personal best bluegill at 1.5 lbs. Ideally, the grub should be around 1-2" long. As far as colors go, I like white for clearer waters and watermelon for darker water.

  Above: Nice "slab" bluegill caught on a green pumpkin grub.

  The most crucial part of this rig is to have your grub weightless. A weightless grub would have more action than a weighted one, and more importantly would be easier to cast on a fly rod. I prefer to rig grubs on a thin wire aberdeen hook, rigged like you would with a jighead. 

  The most common way of fishing this rid is to slowly twitch the grub and bringing in line at the same time. This method works especially well on smaller, friskier fish, but I like to cast out the grub, let it sink, twitch, let it sink, etc. The tail action on the fall seems to bring out the bigger bluegills, who are more wary and less active than the smaller ones. Bigger bluegills are also more attracted to more natural shades of colors.

  I hope that helps. For fun fishing or bluegill in general, the weightless grub can't be beat.

Tight lines,

​-Ian