Bunyan Bugs are a series of artificial lures used in

fly-fishing Fly fishing is an angling method that uses a light-weight lure—called an artificial fly—to catch fish. The fly is cast using a fly rod, reel, and specialized weighted line. The light weight requires casting techniques significantly differ ...

, designed to look like a wide variety of insects, including

grasshopper Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are among what is possibly the most ancient living group of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grasshopp ...

s, stoneflies,

Mayflies Mayflies (also known as shadflies or fishflies in Canada and the upper Midwestern United States, as Canadian soldiers in the American Great Lakes region, and as up-winged flies in the United Kingdom) are aquatic insects belonging to the orde ...

, horse flies,

bumble bee A bumblebee (or bumble bee, bumble-bee, or humble-bee) is any of over 250 species in the genus ''Bombus'', part of Apidae, one of the bee families. This genus is the only Extant taxon, extant group in the tribe Bombini, though a few extinct r ...

ant Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cretaceous period. More than 13,800 of an estimated total of 22 ...

s and

caddisflies The caddisflies, or order Trichoptera, are a group of insects with aquatic larvae and terrestrial adults. There are approximately 14,500 described species, most of which can be divided into the suborders Integripalpia and Annulipalpia on the b ...

Origin

''The Saga of the Bunyan Bug'' by Norman Means described the origins of the Bunyan Bug:

History

"Bunyan Bugs" were designed by fly-tier and split

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, bu ...

fly rod maker Paul Bunyan (aka Norman Means) circa 1927, and originated in Montana. The construction of the Bunyan Bug is unique and has no parallel among other Montana or western trout flies. Norman's grandson, Richard Rose has kept alive a legend that Bunyan Bugs have caught mammoth trout and bass on the western rivers of the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...

. His Bunyan Bugs have now become very collectable. Gathering the right materials to construct a Bunyan Bug is difficult, as is having the knowledge and patience required to make them. The Bunyan Bug was never tied like conventional flies. Imitation versions of the Bunyan Bug that have been tied like conventional flies have no value or represent the history of this dry fly. Today Bunyan Bugs are very rare and collectible.

Design

FlyAnglersOnline notes "The first Bunyan Bugs appeared in about 1929, and were all hand painted. Later, production models were made with a decal (fine tissue) which was lacquered in place making the paper disappear, leaving just the image." According to ''Montana Trout Flies'' by George Grant, the materials are: * Hook: "Size 4, heavy-wire, shank length about 1 1/4, also made with size 2 hook." * Cork Body: "Just about same length as hook shank. Generally round but slightly flattened on both sides and bottom." * Color: "Stained or painted deep orange. Segmented markings can be applied with permanent ink pens both top and bottom. Use black or dark brown ink." * Wings: "Hair from horse mane, blonde or light sandy, inserted into front end of body so that wings will lie flat and spent." * Tying note: "Body with wings cemented in slit, should be slit (not very deep) lengthwise and placed on top of hook so that almost all of the cork body is on top." * "A strong tying thread, attached to the hook shank prior to positioning the cork body, will now be wound firmly at segment marking to firmly seat the body on the shank." * "Use of strong adhesives in seating both wings and body will assist in keeping all parts in proper position." * "Tying thread should be fastened off ahead of the wings with a whip finish. Coat entire body with clear varnish."

Notes

External links

Bunyan Bugs in ''Cowboy Trout: Western Fly Fishing as If It Matters''
{{Fly fishing Dry fly patterns