Todd's Wiggle Minnow gets the Trash Fly Treatment

We’ve all sang to “Margaritaville.” Have you ever wondered what happened to Jimmy Buffet’s flip flop after he blew it out and cut his foot on the pop top? It seems that a lot more folks than Jimmy have had that problem. Every time I pick up trash on a stream clean up day or pull a boat into a cove there is a flip flop bobbing along or washed ashore.

There seems to be an endless supply of good previously used foam out there. I have been keeping those I find for a long time. I have a large tote box that is full to running over. There’s a reason for the hoard of broken or single flip flops. I have several fly patterns that flip flops are the key material.
The most common and more written about fly that is made with foam is the popper. Sharpened copper tubing in a drill and in my case a small engine lathe cuts perfectly cylindrical blanks. These blanks can be punched with a bodkin or spilt with a razor knife. The flip foam works well with super glue.
A pattern that recently caught my attention was a Todd’s Wiggly Minnow. It is a great small mouth bass fly and is readily eaten by a long list of other fish. Here’s the Wiggly Minnow meets Trash Flies.

Hook: #4 Diriki

Tail: Craft Fur

Tail Support: 20 lb mono

Body: Foam cylinder cut from recycled Flip Flop (white) Colored with sharpies. Eyes: 3D Eyes