Double Gonga - Umpqua
It started as a Matuka meets Wooly Bugger. But the finished Double Gonga has well thought out features: Bugger tail of dense marabou, but a fuller wrapping of schlappen for greater profile and motion in the water. Lead eyes on the underside of the hooks to ensure it rides hook down.
To give this fly an underwater sound signature, Charlie stayed away from a deer hair head. Such flies push water, but also cause it to be too buoyant. Using the soft craft fur or Polar Fibre for the head of this fly turned out to be just the solution. By placing the butt ends of these fibers into a dubbing loop, Charlie could create a thick, flowing chenille that could easily be shaped with scissors, wrapped in and around the lead eyes and would sink like a rock, yet shed water on the back cast.
Giant yet easy to cast with lead eyes for weight and an articulated body tied on a pair of 3xL #4 hooks, try fishing it with a rip and strip or simply dead drifting with an occasional pulse of the rod tip…be ready!