classic Michigan dry fly · 1936
Cooper Bug
Also called Poodle Bug
Solid origin Smedley quotes Cooper himself, and Bergman's Trout (1938) pictures the fly.
History
Ken Cooper tied this deer-hair fly in 1936 and first tried it on a moonlit night at Pine Lake. A friend thought the trimmed hair looked like a clipped poodle, so it started out as the Poodle Bug.
It became the Cooper Bug after Ray Bergman pictured it in his 1938 book Trout. The upright, trimmed topknot works like a parachute, so the fly lands right side up.
Materials
| Hook | Dry, sizes 10 to 14 |
|---|---|
| Tail | Red deer hair |
| Body | Red wool, ribbed with gold |
| Wings | Deer hair, divided and set out to the sides |
| Topknot | Deer hair tied upright and trimmed flat into a V |
Sources
- "Cooper Bug." Fly Anglers Online forum, 2021 (quotes the Just Old Flies column, week 153, citing Smedley, 1950).
- Smedley, H. H. Fly Patterns and Their Origins. Westshore Publications, 1950.
- Bergman, R. Trout. Knopf, 1938 (color plate 15).
Know more about this fly's history, or spot a mistake? Send a correction.
No photo yet. Every photo on michfly is of a fly tied for the site, so they're added a few at a time.
Original recipe cards for many Michigan patterns are kept at the Michigan Dry Flies archive, built by the late Tom Deschaine.