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BassMouth87

The Many Faces of the Bugger

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The wooley bugger is a classic pattern that seems to be able to hook just about anything that swims. Some people tie very simplistic patterns, others very elaborate and intricate patterns, and many tie everything in between. After recently putting a twist on the wooley bugger myself and getting into a lot of nice fish with them I thought that perhaps it would be interesting to make a thread so everyone could share their twist or take on the bugger, how they go about fishing them, what they are targeting etc.

 

 

Olive Krystal Hackle Bugger

 

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Materials:

 

Hook: Eagle Claw Size 10 Steamer

Thread: Danvilles 6/0 Orange

Head: Copper/black Cone head, Tungstun bead etc

Body: Olive Chenille

Hackle: Crystal Hackle, glitter yarn etc

Collar: Buggy long fibered dubbing (Custom Scud Dub)

 

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I have had a lot of luck fishing these in conditions when the water is high and muddy. It seems to have a good silhouette when visibility is very low. So far I have caught small mouth bass and brown trout on them, but I know that if tied on a bigger/stronger hook steelhead among many other species would find this little morsel very delectable.

 

I have been fishing them mostly on the swing, casting towards the far bank and then tossing in an upstream mend and waiting for the fly to get into position before I pick up the swing and follow the fly with my rod tip as it swings through the pool. After a few cast move up or downstream to allow your swing to glide through a different area and perhaps entice a fish waiting to ambush its prey.

 

Below is a picture of the first unlucky brown to be caught swinging the olive krystal bugger in high muddy water conditions:

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I hope everyone joins in and posts a few of there favorite bugger patterns and variations and how they go about fishing them, perhaps include a few pictures of fish you have caught on them. I know that there are hundreds if not thousands of variations so it will be interesting to see what everyone here as had luck with.

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Ooo buggers you say, such an indispensable pattern and yes with a million and one variations, i think i can add a couple that i have photographed in the past but there must be many more.

 

Skully Egg sucking bugger (can be done in any colour, black and gold head is also a great one)

 

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Standard Olive with BMS blend (not teased out yet), i only hackle the front. Once again any colour!

 

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Purple is sometimes kool in low light, with those funky rainbow coloured tungsten beads.

 

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Beautiful flies as always Jam, part of the inspiration for this thread was seeing your front hackle bugger yesterday on the water and thinking of how many variations there must be out there in books and everyone's private collection. Love the look of that purple spey style bugger.

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The wooley bugger is a classic pattern that seems to be able to hook just about anything that swims. Some people tie very simplistic patterns, others very elaborate and intricate patterns, and many tie everything in between. After recently putting a twist on the wooley bugger myself and getting into a lot of nice fish with them I thought that perhaps it would be interesting to make a thread so everyone could share their twist or take on the bugger, how they go about fishing them, what they are targeting etc.

 

Nice idea on the thread; I love to dead drift buggers until 3/4 of the drift, and then swing them and strip in. I also love to tie extended ones and simply strip them across pools before doing anything else (especially early in the morning); expect aggressive strikes!

 

 

TC

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For me a bugger is all about the tail. I like to take a few feathers and strip just the best, fullest, longest webbiest fibers to make a single tail. Clump it all together rip off the tip and tie it in. This way there's no stem involved to stiffen or restrict the fibers movement. It's more work but the marabou really breathes, flares and flutters more in the water when I do this.

 

The bottom two flies are my 10 n 12 yr old sons. (little help from dad)

 

That box in the pic was just left at a local pond the other day and now belongs to someone else:(

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Being as I primarily use buggers in warmwater, I like them big & full. Most I tie are palmered with strung saddles, so I like to include some of the fluff at the feather base.

 

I've posted these pics previously, but here's a few of my most recent buggers. Plus a couple of Clousers. The flies in the top & bottom pictures are tied on straight shank worm hooks, size 1.

 

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I have been tying them with rubber legs dubbing brush. The local brookies and browns have been hammering them.

 

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A couple based on the Danish fly 'Frede'. Uses Marabou dubbing instead of chenille and a dumbell eye for the jigging action sea trout like.

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I don't own a camera that can get decent pics of small things...like flies. So, i will just say that adding a propeller like blade to the front of any woolly-bug seems to DRASTICALLY increase the number of strikes i get on rainbows and browns in the river. I dead float them past a rock (or other wake making obstruction) and just as it passes the down-stream side i hold the line to start pulling the propeller into action...if there are fish in that hole it seems to make them have to bite at it. I think the vibration does it but am not sure. A Friend of my grandfather invented that in the early 70s then some-one South of Pueblo Colo. started calling them pistol-petes and claimed they invented. If Brownie (the REAL inventor) hadn't started getting a local shop to get the propellers those bozos would never have been able to get the props. to make them. The props. are an unusuall bead that is seldom used...so they never would have found one. For the props to spin right you have to add a round bead behind them and make certain the bead and prop. are not too tight against the hook eye. The difference is EASILY noticed on every bugger type i have tried. I don't understand why it isn't taught more???

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I find that salmonoids love sitting by an obstruction and any bait that can drop in by that obstruction has a good chance to be hit. I read a post with someone saying about prop/diving lips and flies and how it might improve them. I have some discs from Eumer that are intended for tube flies and are called monster cones and are light weight flat discs that cause turbulance to flow over the materials in the collar and wing. I have been thinking of adding one to a fly for sea trout, especially on the slow days. I might try it on one of these and let you know how it works.

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