Dog Nobblers

[fly time 0]

While on ebay looking at some fly boxes, I came across one loaded with 50 Dog Nobblers? to me they look alot like a wooly bugger, but I have never heard of this fly, what exactly is it? Thanks

 

 

 

Dustin.

[Nick N 0]

English name for wooly buggers for the most part. some have round lead heads though

[fly time 0]

Thanks Nick!!

 

 

Dustin.

[flytyingscotsman 0]

English name for wooly buggers for the most part. some have round lead heads though

 

Although it looks like a wooly bugger, it's tied without the palmered hackle and always

has bead chain eyes or a lead head, as you mention.

 

It's a UK stillwater fly fished either as a lure or damsel fly nymph imitation.

 

 

[Alex_F 0]

The original Dog Nobbler's were an invention of Sid Knight or Trevor Housby, I'm not sure but these names stick out in my memory in relation to the Nobbler. They were a big hit in the '80s and were derived from jigs in as much as they used crook shanked hooks. A BB or AAA size lead shot was super glued and crimped to the shank to the eye side of the crook. The shot was then given an eye. Later, due to jig hooks being in short supply for the average UK tyer the shot was just crimped to a standard L/S lure hook. Other variant tyings used heavy lead wire instead of the shot, often covered with Peacock herl.

 

The standard tyings were very similar to Wooly Buggers in appearance with the exception, as noted above, that there was no body hackle.

 

The recognised method of fishing them was to hurl them out on a floating line and retrieve in short quick strips, leaving a pause of a second or more to allow the fly to sink. In doing this you get the fly to move in a very erratic rising and falling motion.

 

I still use a white Nobbler/Bugger/Missionary cross for fry feeders today but substitute the lead shot with a tungsten cone head. I've had Trout to 5lb and Pike to 17lb 11oz on it.

 

In the pic the original jig hook and lead shot is shown inset.

[Bazzer69 0]

I was fishing Dog Nobblers in the seventies at various British Stillwaters It is not a Woolybugger of any kind. It was tied with a lead shot at the head and fished on both floating and sinking lines. It was effective when fished in tandem with a Booby, especially at Graham water. Ah such fond memories.

[Bazzer69 0]

nul

[vicrider 0]

Interesting you ran across this post from so long ago. So the early part of this thread explained the Dog Nobbler but what was the Bobby you fished in tandem with it.

 

And what's "nul"?

[vicrider 0]

Okay, so I did a little googling and found the Dog Nobbler pics which is basically a Wooly Bugger without palmered hackle and in the front is a fat head of different color or bead eyes. A side note on this was when I was in a shop near the White River and an old guy (like me) came in and almost whispered to the clerk that his wife lost the hackle on her Wooly Bugger and the fish still hit it real good.

 

Then I looked up the Bobby Fly and found what we call the Booby Fly. Then I went back saw that that was what you had typed and I read it wrong. So there's no reason why they shouldn't both work well today. I happen to like the original Wooly Worm in many situatiions more than the Wooly Bugger. And now I know how to put my Booby flies which have never been wet to good use.

[barrytheguide 0]

Dog Nobbler indeed uses chenille for the body and a long feather tail, usually marabou, it is different from a woolly bugger in that it has no hackle and a Good sized lead shot pinched on the hook for a head. I've only ever seen it used on still waters personally. The Woolly Bugger, known in the UK as a Fuzzy Wuzzy, is fished both on still water and moving water. The Booby, so called because it has two styrofoam eyes that might look like a pair of breasts was tied on a short shank hook, chenille body and a marabou tail. All these flies were very effective and generally fished with differing methods. I always had a many of them in my fly box in differing colors. In the UK these flies and others which are called streamers here in the USA were known as lures in the UK. Often you were referred to as either a lure fisherman or a nymph fisherman. I frequently used both depending on what the fish were up to! Most of us preferred nymph fishing, but used lures when all else failed.

Unfortunately I don't have much Stillwater fishing were I live in California now. But I do have some fantastic moving water. The Trinity and the Lower Sacramento were I have been guiding for more than twenty years.

The "nul" was posted so I could tick the box to follow this thread.

[barrytheguide 0]

The original Dog Nobbler's were an invention of Sid Knight or Trevor Housby, I'm not sure but these names stick out in my memory in relation to the Nobbler. They were a big hit in the '80s and were derived from jigs in as much as they used crook shanked hooks. A BB or AAA size lead shot was super glued and crimped to the shank to the eye side of the crook. The shot was then given an eye. Later, due to jig hooks being in short supply for the average UK tyer the shot was just crimped to a standard L/S lure hook. Other variant tyings used heavy lead wire instead of the shot, often covered with Peacock herl.The standard tyings were very similar to Wooly Buggers in appearance with the exception, as noted above, that there was no body hackle.The recognised method of fishing them was to hurl them out on a floating line and retrieve in short quick strips, leaving a pause of a second or more to allow the fly to sink. In doing this you get the fly to move in a very erratic rising and falling motion.I still use a white Nobbler/Bugger/Missionary cross for fry feeders today but substitute the lead shot with a tungsten cone head. I've had Trout to 5lb and Pike to 17lb 11oz on it.In the pic the original jig hook and lead shot is shown inset.

Do Nobblers that I knew never had a wing or a hackle, but I guess this could be a later variation.

[Crackaig 0]

Not much to add but that the name came from its ability to get down to trout lying "Doggo" on the bottom.

Cheers,

C.

[Bazzer69 0]

Never used it for bottom fish, the Booby fished on a hi-d line, a short leader and a slow retrieve it what I used.