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The Gurgler is the simplest topwater fly in saltwater fly fishing. Three materials, a tail, a body, and a strip of foam folded over the top, create a surface fly that pushes water, leaves a V-wake, and makes a soft gurgling sound on the strip that drives predatory fish into violent surface strikes. Jack Gartside invented it in 1988 on a trip to the Bahamas, originally for jack crevalle, and quickly realized it worked on everything: striped bass, bluefish, false albacore, snook, tarpon, seatrout, and, when Pacific Northwest anglers got hold of it, sea-run cutthroat and coho salmon.
Gartside was one of the most innovative fly tiers of the modern era, a Boston-based tier who learned to tie flies at age 10 from Ted Williams, the Red Sox legend. His designs were always simple. The Gurgler evolved from the classic Foam Beetle used for trout: Gartside scaled it up to saltwater size, added a marabou tail and palmered hackle body, and created a topwater pattern that required no special materials, no complicated techniques, and no advanced tying skills. You can tie one in three minutes, and that first one will catch fish.
The Sound Searcher is the modern Pacific Northwest evolution of the Gurgler concept, developed by Stephen D'Angelo for Puget Sound sea-run cutthroat. Where Gartside's original used bucktail and hackle under the foam, the Sound Searcher uses UV Ice Wing fiber that flashes and pulses in the water, creating a more visible and more active fly for the murky, green-tinted waters of the Sound. Both patterns work on the same principle: foam on top creates the wake, materials underneath create the profile, and the strip-pause retrieve triggers the strike.
What They Imitate
Both the Gurgler and Sound Searcher imitate the same thing: a baitfish struggling on the surface. The foam strip folded over the top creates a lip that catches water on the strip, pushing a wake and making a subtle gurgling sound. This disturbance, visual and acoustic, signals "wounded prey" to every predator within range.
The difference from the foam bass popper is subtlety. The Miyawaki has a rigid foam head that creates a more pronounced wake. The Gurgler/Sound Searcher has a flexible foam strip that creates a gentler disturbance, more wounded baitfish, less aggressive popper action. On pressured fish or calm water, the softer wake of a Gurgler often outproduces a popper.
Depending on color and size:
- Injured sand lance or herring (white/pearl, #4-6), the standard Puget Sound presentation
- Stunned baitfish below dams (white, #1/0-2), the Sound Searcher's specialty
- Fleeing shrimp (tan/pink, #6-8), the calm-water option
- Generic surface disturbance (chartreuse/white, any size), the searching pattern when you're prospecting
The Recipe, Classic Gartside Gurgler
| Component | Material |
|---|---|
| Hook | Saltwater streamer hook, #2-1/0 (Gamakatsu SC15, Mustad 34007) |
| Thread | White 140 denier (UTC or Danville) |
| Tail | White bucktail or craft fur, with 4-6 strands pearl Krystal Flash |
| Body | Palmered grizzly hackle over pearl Estaz or cactus chenille |
| Foam | 2mm white craft foam, cut as a strip, folded over the body |
The Recipe, Sound Searcher
| Component | Material |
|---|---|
| Hook | Gamakatsu SC15, #1/0 (saltwater) or appropriate freshwater hook |
| Thread | Veevus Mono (clear) or white 140 denier |
| Tail/underbody | Hareline UV Ice Wing Pearl (Ripple Ice Fiber) |
| Body/overwing | White Evazote foam or Hareline 2mm foam, cut to baitfish shape |
| Eyes | Fish Skull Living Eyes (earth color) |
| Finish | UV resin (Loon Fly Finish Thin) |
How to Tie the Gurgler, Step by Step
Step 1: Tail. Tie in a sparse clump of white bucktail at the bend, about 1.5 shank lengths long. Add 4-6 strands of pearl Krystal Flash on each side. The tail is the baitfish body, keep it slim.
Step 2: Body. Tie in a piece of Estaz or cactus chenille and a grizzly hackle feather at the bend. Wrap the Estaz forward to behind the hook eye, then palmer the hackle forward through it in open spirals. The hackle creates a buggy silhouette under the foam that adds movement in the water.
Step 3: Foam. Cut a strip of 2mm craft foam about 1.5 times the hook shank length and slightly wider than the hook gap. Tie it in at the bend (behind the body), with the strip extending rearward past the tail. Pull the foam forward over the top of the body and tie it down behind the hook eye. The foam should form a smooth lip at the front that catches water on the strip. Trim the foam head square or rounded.
Step 4: Finish. Whip finish behind the foam lip. Add a drop of head cement. The finished fly should have foam on top, hackle/Estaz underneath, and the tail extending beyond the foam.
How to Tie the Sound Searcher, Step by Step
Step 1: Thread base. Start mono thread at the hook eye, wrap to the bend, reinforce.
Step 2: Tail. Take UV Ice Wing fiber, taper it by hand, measure to 1.5 shank lengths. Double it over for bulk. Secure at the bend with tight wraps.
Step 3: Foam body. Cut a baitfish-shaped piece of Evazote foam (freehand or with a baitfish cutter). Tie it in at the bend with moderate tension, mono thread can cut foam if pulled too tight. The foam should extend rearward to form the overwing/back.
Step 4: Dubbing loop. Advance thread forward. Create a 2-3 inch dubbing loop. Add Ice Wing fiber into the loop and twist tight. Wrap forward in dense, touching turns, this creates the translucent, flashy underbody.
Step 5: Head. Pull the foam forward over the body, tie down behind the hook eye. Trim the foam head to shape, square cut, then round the corners for a baitfish profile.
Step 6: Eyes and finish. Attach Fish Skull Living Eyes to the foam head with UV resin. Cure with a UV light. The single prominent eye gives fish a focal point to strike.
Where to Fish Them
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Puget Sound Beaches, WA, The Sound Searcher and Gurgler are the #2 topwater patterns behind the Miyawaki Popper. Fish them on calm mornings and evenings when the Sound is flat. The Gurgler's softer wake outperforms the Miyawaki on pressured fish at popular beaches like Lincoln Park and Golden Gardens.
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Northeast striper beaches, The Gurgler was invented for this. White or chartreuse in #1/0-2/0, stripped fast through a blitz. Stripers, bluefish, and false albacore all eat Gurglers aggressively.
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Florida Keys, Gurglers in tan or pink for snook and seatrout in the backcountry. The soft wake triggers strikes from fish hiding under mangroves.
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Bass ponds, The Gurgler is one of the best topwater bass flies ever designed. Chartreuse or yellow in #4-6, stripped along lily pads and docks. Largemouth hit it like a Zara Spook.
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Texas Coast, Tan Gurglers for redfish and seatrout in the marsh. The foam keeps it on the surface over grass flats where weighted flies sink and foul.
How to Fish Them, The Wake
The retrieve is the same for both patterns: long, steady strips that create a V-wake on the surface. Not popping, not chugging, waking. The foam lip catches water and pushes it to the sides, leaving a trail that says "something alive is moving up here."
For cutthroat: Slow, steady strips with occasional pauses. The wake should be subtle, a barely visible V behind the fly. Cutthroat are subtle feeders that investigate before committing. If you strip too fast, they'll follow but won't eat.
For stripers and bluefish: Fast, aggressive strips. These are chase predators, they want to catch something that's fleeing. Speed triggers the commitment.
For bass: Strip-pause-strip. Bass want the fly to stop and start. The pause lets them track it, the next strip triggers the attack.
Keep stripping through the miss. Cutthroat especially will miss the fly on the first strike, sometimes two or three times. Don't set the hook until you feel weight. Keep stripping and they'll come back. This is the hardest part of topwater fishing: watching a fish blow up on your fly and forcing yourself not to react until the line goes tight.
How to Tie Them, Video Tutorials
Sound Searcher: Trident Fly Fishing's Sound Searcher tutorial, Complete materials list and step-by-step with UV Ice Wing and mono thread techniques.
Gurgler for cutthroat: Puget Sound Gurgler tutorial, Specifically tied for sea-run cutthroat, simplified from the original Gartside pattern.
Classic Gartside Gurgler: Charlie Craven's Gurgler tutorial, Written step-by-step with photos of the original pattern.
Tips From the Vise
Craft foam works fine. You don't need expensive Evazote or specialty foam. The 2mm craft foam sheets from any craft store (available in dozens of colors) tie great Gurglers. Cut it into strips and you have a lifetime supply.
The lip angle matters. The foam should extend slightly past the hook eye at the front, creating a lip that angles downward into the water. Too long and the fly dives on the strip. Too short and it doesn't push water. About 3-5mm of foam extending past the eye is the sweet spot.
Don't overthink it. The Gurgler's greatest virtue is its simplicity. Three materials, three steps, three minutes. If your Gurgler has foam on top and something flashy underneath, it will catch fish. Perfectionism is wasted on this pattern.
Fly images courtesy of Pacific Fly Fishers and Spawn Fly Fish.
Build Your Box
- White Gurgler #6 (6), Puget Sound cutthroat
- White Sound Searcher #1/0 (4), big water, coho
- Chartreuse Gurgler #4 (4), bass and stained water
- Tan Gurgler #6 (4), shrimp imitation, calm water
That's 18 flies. The Gurgler is the fastest fly to tie in this entire article series, you can knock out a dozen in an hour. The Sound Searcher takes slightly longer because of the dubbing loop and eyes, but it's still a 5-minute fly. Together with the foam bass popper and the Steamboat Island Leech, these four patterns cover every depth and presentation style for Puget Sound beach fly fishing.
