The fly box · No. 35 of 36
Woolly Bugger
Small fish, leeches, large nymphs; a mouthful for a big trout in coloured water.
- Kind
- Streamer
- Hook sizes
- 6–10
- Season
- Spring, autumn, winter
- For
- Trout
- At the vice
- An easy tie
The dressing
| Hook | 2X- or 3X-long streamer hook, barbless or with the barb flattened, sizes 6–10 |
|---|---|
| Thread | Black or olive, 6/0 |
| Tail | Marabou plume, black or olive, about a shank long; two strands of pearl flash each side if wanted |
| Body | Medium chenille to match the tail |
| Rib | Fine copper or gold wire, counter-wound through the hackle |
| Hackle | Black or grizzly saddle hackle, palmered along the body in open turns |
| Wing | None |
| Also | Optional 3.2–4.0 mm brass or tungsten bead, or ten to twelve turns of lead-free wire under the body |
Tying it
- Fit the bead or wrap lead-free wire on the shank, then lay a thread base to the bend.
- Tie in a marabou tail about as long as the shank and bind the butts down along the hook for an even underbody.
- Tie in the wire, then the saddle hackle by its tip, then the chenille.
- Wind the chenille forward in touching turns and tie off behind the bead or eye.
- Palmer the hackle back to the bend in five or six open turns and trap the tip with the wire.
- Counter-wind the wire forward through the hackle, wiggling it to avoid crushing fibres, and tie off.
- Whip finish and varnish the head.
Fishing it
Keep one for high or coloured water, for deep undercut banks and for the big, dark pool nothing else will reach. Cast across and slightly down on 3X (0.20 mm) tippet, give the fly a moment to sink, then let it swing while you draw it back in short, uneven pulls with pauses between. Fish may take on the pause or as it turns below you. Dead drifting it under the near bank like a large nymph works too. Step down a pace between casts and cover the water methodically.
Where it comes from
Russell Blessing of Pennsylvania is credited with the Woolly Bugger, tied in the late 1960s by adding a marabou tail to the old Woolly Worm in an attempt to copy a hellgrammite. What he made resembles a great many things instead. Marabou breathes at the slightest pull, the palmered hackle pushes water, and the whole fly looks alive even when it is hardly moving.