Conehead Buggers, Beadhead Keepers, Flures
We've all had it happen: a thought pops into your head from out of nowhere. A while ago it happened to me: Conehead Buggers should be fished with ultralight spinning rods, not fly rods!
Mention conehead buggers and people immediately think fly fishing. Really, though, conehead buggers are more appropriate for an ultralight spinning rod rather than a fly rod. Fly rods are best suited for fishing unweighted flies, although I think most people also fish bead head nymphs. Once the weight of the "fly" even approaches a gram, though, whatever grace there might have been in a fly cast is gone. The film "A River Runs Through It" would have been a box office flop if the fly casting scenes (which sold the movie) were filmed casting a conehead bugger.
A tungsten conehead by itself can weigh over a gram. Add a hook and wet materials and casting one with a fly rod becomes chuck and duck (and a chance for a free ear piercing). About a gram is a perfect weight for an ultralight spinning rod and light line, though. In Joe Robinson's book Piscatorial Absurdities, he wrote about what he called "flures," which are a bit of a cross between a fly and a lure. Seems to me that a conehead bugger fits that definition pretty well.
I guess people think "fly fishing" because a Woolly Bugger clearly is a fly - and one of the more popular ones at that. A beadhead Woolly Bugger clearly is still a Woolly Bugger and thus is still a fly. A conehead Woolly Bugger is still a Woolly Bugger and, yes, it is still a fly (at least, according to the New York State Freshwater Fishing Regulations). Legions of fly fishers cast conehead Woolly Buggers. Legions of spin fishers cast Trout Magnets, which actually weigh less than a conehead Woolly Bugger tied with a "large" Orvis tungsten conehead!
Size 4 Conehead Killer Bugger - 1.8 grams (and still a fly)!Although I knew it would work, the only way to actually prove it was to take a couple conehead buggers to Maine and try to cast them with my ultralight spinning rods. Well, they cast like bullets (even with my baitcaster)! Unfortunately, though, they sank like bullets also, and the only retrieves that kept them from getting stuck in the rocks were too fast to draw strikes from the smallmouth bass. If a smallmouth bass, or a trout for that matter, wants your lure, you almost cannot retrieve it fast enough to keep it away from the fish. The key, though, is how badly it wants your lure. In Maine that week, they wanted slow retrieves.
Beadhead Keepers
Beadhead Keeper KebariAt some point, I don't recall when, I tied a few beadhead Keeper Kebari. The one in the photos above and below, weighs .95 grams, well within the weight range that an ultralight spinning rod can cast effectively (and well above the weight that a fly rod can cast gracefully).
Proof of concept. Smallmouth bass caught with a beadhead Keeper Kebari cast with the Tenryu Alter RZA5102S-LLT.The beadhead Keeper Kebari proved to be an extremely successful fly. I caught lots of fish with it, both smallmouth bass and redbreast sunfish. I couldn't cast it as far as I could a 1.5 g Shimano Slim Swimmer spoon, which is not surprising given that it weighs less and has more wind resistance. Still, I could cast it plenty far enough to catch fish. I have not tried it in a stream for trout, but I am confident that it would work (and that it would be easier to cast with an ultralight spinning rod than with a fly rod).
Flures
Flures are nearly forgotten. As mentioned above, Joe Robinson coined the term in his 2009 book Piscatorial Absurdities to describe a cross between a fly and lure. The book now is unavailable. If you do a Google search for flures, you will get lots of hits for a medication and for a band, and nothing of substance on a cross between a fly and a lure. It's as if nobody cares.
I care. On my 2026 vacation to Maine for smallmouth bass (and redbreast sunfish!), I played around a bit with different flures, with the only critera being that the flure had elements of a fly (standard fly tying material tied to the hook) and was heavy enough to cast with my Tenryu Rayz Alter RZA5102S-LLT.
Fly or Flure?The best of the bunch is pictured above. Actually, one could argue that it is a fly rather than a flure, in that it actually fits the NY state definition of a fly (Artificial fly means a hook with no more than two points dressed with feathers, hair, thread, tinsel, or any similar material to which no additional hooks, spinners, spoons, or similar devices have been added.) The Maine definition is similar, but restricts the fly to one hook point.
At .7g and dense (with five .1g beads on a size 12 streamer hook) it cast easily and plenty far enough - and caught fish. Yes, you could cast it with a fly rod, but it is much better suited to an ultralight spinning rod!
I consider the point proven. Conehead buggers and beadhead keepers should be fished with ultralight spinning rods! And flures? Flures were intended for ultralight spinning rods from the getgo.
I don't sell them, and I doubt Kiwi would either. This is a rant, not an offer.
One last point. The items pictured above are indeed flies. No, you probably should not try to convince a warden that you are "fly fishing" with your ultralight spinning rod in a Fly Fishing Only area. Some states might allow it. I'd bet most wouldn't.
The fish don't care. The judges do.
With both hackle and a spinner blade, this truly is a flure. Ugly but effective.Header photo: Tenryu Rayz RZ4102B-UL, Shimano Calcutta Conquest BFS-HG ('17)
Warning:
The hooks are sharp.
The coffee's hot.
The fish are slippery when wet.
All the hooks sold on Finesse-Fishing.com, whether packaged as loose hooks or attached to lures, are dangerously sharp. Some have barbs, which make removal from skin, eyes or clothing difficult. Wear eye protection. Wear a broad-brimmed hat. If you fish with or around children, bend down all hook barbs and make sure the children wear eye protection and broad-brimmed hats. Be aware of your back cast so no one gets hooked.
Also, all the rods sold on Finesse-Fishing.com will conduct electricity. Do not, under any circumstances, fish during a thunderstorm. Consider any fishing rod to be a lightning rod! Fishing rods can and do get hit by lightning!
Whatever you do, do it with finesse!