This is a bug that spends an inordinate amount of time on the end of my tippet this time of year. It's a winner in the rivers for sea run cutthroat when fished around the wood piles and snags and if the water is relatively clear, coho salmon can't seem to resist it either. It's a fantastic lake searching or attractor pattern as well throughout the fall and winter. You can alter the bead and body color as you so desire. Black with a chartreuse bead is a killer much of the time. An olive version with an orange bead is sensational as well. Sometime chartreuse is the ticket, particularly on cutthroat and coho and an all white with a pink or orange bead holds a permanent place in my box too.
Sparkle Buggers are quick to tie and do their share of catching. I mostly tie these on a #8 3X long hook, but often go to #6 in the rivers for coho or down to a #10 in lakes. Give the Sparkle Bugger a shot the next time you go out. You should be pleasantly surprised.
Confluence Beer Pairing: Grab your favorite four-legged friend and puddle hop your way down to Fairhaven's Paws for a Beer for a Bark in the Dark, a Kulshan Brewing collaboration to celebrate Paws for a Beer's 5th Anniversary. Bark in the Dark is a German Dark Lager that for me encapsulates the taste of fall, much less heavy than Kitten Mittens but still has that toasty rich malt flavor I totally dig in the cooler. season. Reach for a can of Bark in the Dark and tie up a few Sparkle Buggers this month. That is, as long as Bowser hasn't ravaged your marabou stash like it was a pack of beef jerky. In this case, you'll need to swing by the Confluence first.