Cecil, W5DXP wrote:
"What EZNEC doesn`t account for is the phase delay through the
bugcatcher coil which is an appreciable percentage of a wavelength."

It needs to have enough delay to replace that missing from the resonant
length of the antenna as ON4UN shows in his Fig 9-22.

Inductors are retardation coils.. They delay current change much as a
flywhell inhibits change in rotation. When voltage is applied to an RL
circuit, current is a function of time. If reactance in a circuit is
low, instantaneous current is almost in-phase with instantaneous applied
voltage. There is little if any delay of current in response to applied
voltage. If inductance in a circuit is high, delay of current is high.
Terman gives an example of inductive delay on page 643 of his 1955
edition:

"Another type of artificial line, suitable for low power operation,
consists of a coaxial cable in which the inner conductor is a continuous
coil of small wire wound on an insulating cylindrical core. This greatly
increases inductance per unit length of line with corresponding
reduction in velocity and increase in time delay per unit length. It is
possible with such a line to obtain a round-trip transit time of as much
as 1 microsecond in a length of two feet.

Best regards, Richard Harrison, KB5WZI