modern Michigan dry fly · late 1980s or early 1990s
Secret Rubber Bug
Also called SRB
Likely origin The archive card (from Gates Lodge's Josh Greenberg) and Frankenfly agree on Gates and the date; Frankenfly's recipe matches the card closely and may draw on it.
History
Rusty Gates of Gates Au Sable Lodge came up with the Secret Rubber Bug, or SRB, in the late 1980s or early 1990s as a deer fly imitation. It is a foam-backed peacock body with spent hen wings.
Gates liked it under cedar sweepers and bridges and often fished two at once, with a smaller one trailing about a foot and a half behind.
Materials
| Hook | Standard dry, sizes 12 to 16 |
|---|---|
| Thread | Black 6/0 |
| Shellback | 2 mm black foam, pulled over the body |
| Body | Peacock herl twisted around the thread |
| Wing | Grizzly hen tips, spent and swept back |
| Hackle | Grizzly |
Sources
- Deschaine, T. "Secret Rubber Bug (SRB)." Michigan Dry Flies archive recipe card.
- "Secret Rubber Bug (Rusty Gates)." Frankenfly.
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.