How to tie the WMD Gurgler

Time Well Spent April 19, 2023

West Country fisher Tim Smith ties this surface lure with a flat-foam shellback so that it sits low in the water but creates a big wake.

Material list for the WMD Gurgler

Hook: Size 4 Kamasan B170

Treble: Size 16 Owner ST-36 (or size 14 standard treble)

Nylon link: 20lb black Amnesia nylon

Thread: Black

Tail: Black squirrel plus two strands pearl tinsel

Body: Peacock Ice Dub  

Rib: Silver tinsel  

Hackle: Teal or wigeon

Shellback: Flat, back high-density foam

Step 1. Fix a treble in the vice and loop a length of 20lb nylon between the bends. Pass the ends through the eye and secure with thread.

Step 2. Twist the nylon then catch in the ends at the bend of a large single hook. Secure the mount to the hook then fold one end of the nylon back and fix with thread.

Step 3. Add more tight thread-turns over the nylon, winding the thread back to the bend. There, catch in a bunch of black squirrel tail plus two strands of pearl tinsel.

Step 4. Park the thread at the tail base. Cut two half-inch-wide foam strips (inset), tapering one end of each to a point. 

Step 5. Tie in and secure one strip by running the thread to the eye and back.

Step 6. Add the second strip above the first, then catch in a length of silver tinsel. Dub on a large pinch of peacock Ice Dub and apply it in close turns.

Step 7. Carry the Ice Dub over the waste ends of the foam, stopping it short of the eye. Next, apply evenly spaced turns of the silver tinsel.

Step 8. Secure and then remove the loose end of tinsel. Tear off a pinch of teal flank feather and catch it in at the eye to form the hackle.

Step 9. With the hackle in place, pull the strips of foam over the top of the body, stretching them slightly so they mould around the sides.

Step 10. Secure the foam at the eye using close thread-turns. Lift the ends up, then wind on a few turns of thread directly behind the eye.

Step 11. Cast off the thread with a whip finish then trim to length the foam projecting over the eye. Finally, add varnish to the bare thread-turns.