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Ristarwen

Woolly Buggers Tonight

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Decided to try woolly bugger again tonight (after the fiasco the first time I tied). I went to Michael's and got a bag of muti-colored marabou for $1.99, and a couple of colors of chenille from a limited-selection fly shop/outfitter. I also picked up some more hooks, since I didn't have the right shape and the closest I did have (a 2x long, 1x heavy) was a size 14. Sooo...these are on Size 10, 2x heavy, 3x long Spear-it hooks. (N063)

 

I was all excited about my new bright colors, so I blended two of my favorites for my first one:

post-44341-0-41665000-1347766938_thumb.jpg

 

The tail was a bit short, but I think overall it was an okay first attempt. I'm still working with the crappy hackle from the materials kit, but I'm too cheap to buy legit hackle for now.

 

For the second one, I let The Guy pick out the colors. He was playing with his fancy camera, and wanted another bright one to take pictures of.

post-44341-0-43848600-1347767245_thumb.jpg

 

I was really happy with this one. This photo is from my camera, as my netbook is to wimpy to handle pictures from his...macro settings are awesome. :)

 

Question about materials...is the marabou from the craft store okay? I sorted out the decent feathers from the not so decent, and the flies came out okay...is there any reason I shouldn't use these feathers? And for chenille...where do you guys get this stuff if you're not getting it from the fly store? If it's in craft stores, what section is it located in usually?

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Marabou is marabou ... the only problem I foresee with craft store supplies is whether the colors are water proof. Since feathers for craft work usually don't see a washing machine, the dyes don't necessarily need to be water resistant. But the feather material should hold up just fine.

There are some really good deals for fly tying materials online. There's one source, http://www.flytyersdungeon.com That has outstanding prices ... I don't know how they sell so cheaply.

 

Good looking wooly buggers.

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good looking buggers - those will catch for sure! The only recommendations I would make would be to downsize the thickness of your chenille, to make a trimmer body, and to try tying in your hackle at the front of the body, and winding it back towards the tail - you bind it down with a thin wire rib counter - wrapped over the hackle, and tie off the rib at th head of the fly. This method has the hackle angled back over the fly, rather than forward, which I prefer, and the rib gives it some added durability. This is just my own preference, of course - your flies are fine as is! Just a couple new ideas to try!

Happy Tying!

Wiper Dawg

 

 

 

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Thanks for the tips, Wiper! Somebody at a fly shop mentioned a method similar to that, and by the time I got home my brain had erased it. The hackle has been giving me one heck of time, so thanks!

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Another feather that can be used to tie buggers is Emu. There are several types of Emu feathers and so you need to be able to see them before buying. The feathers are used in the place of the palmered hackle. Fortunately I was able to buy a pound of feathers fro $20 before the feather extension craze.

 

This is the type of feather that you want. The barbules are softer and give more movement to the fly.

 

Natural-Emu-Feathers.jpg

 

Here are my Emu buggers. Mix and match the color of the tail and the chenille to get different colored buggers.

 

Screenshot2012-06-14at13602PM.png

 

They are effective as this blog indicates:

 

http://philipweigall.com.au/2009/06/17/lucky-fly/

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Thanks for the tip! I'll keep my eye out for some emu feathers... I like your glass bead-heads too. What size combos are you using for beads/hooks?

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The glass beads are from a craft store. You need to buy some that you think will be good and try them on the hooks.

 

Emu feathers are limited in size so I tie the buggers on 4XL 2XH size 10 and 12 hooks. Use the small chenille for the body.

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