Here it is ya all!

[[email protected] 0]

Here's my second try at wooly bugger. I found out I had the steps all wrong on last one. And this time no trimming.

[MuskyFlyGuy 0]

Much better 

that will fish 

[mikechell 0]

Yep ... that's a MUCH better representation of a Wooly Bugger!  You're using the "fluffy" part of the feather.  "Webby" I think it's references as. 

If you can use the upper part of the feather, before it gets down to the webby part, the bugger will look cleaner.  

 

[Jaydub 0]

1000% improvement!

[chugbug27 0]

👍

[[email protected] 0]

2 hours ago, mikechell said:

Yep ... that's a MUCH better representation of a Wooly Bugger!  You're using the "fluffy" part of the feather.  "Webby" I think it's references as. 

If you can use the upper part of the feather, before it gets down to the webby part, the bugger will look cleaner.  

 

"Upper part " you mean towards the tip of the feather?

[Bill_729 0]

5 hours ago, [email protected] said:

"Upper part " you mean towards the tip of the feather?

If you look at a feather from a cape/neck, you'll notice that the base of the feather is "webby".   Folks typically, pull off that part--knowing that they don't want to use that part on their fly.  So in that sense, the "upper part" is the good part of the feather.  You can examine the feather to see how much "inner web" (sic) it has--generally, less is better for dry flies. For a wooley bugger, a feather having more inner web may possibly give a more life-like action in the water, but I only worry about it to the extent it is convenient to do so.. A feather with soft hackle from a "hen" chicken may be ideal for a wet fly or streamer like the wooley bugger.   If the "good part" is sort of short, there is nothing wrong with using 2 hackle feathers to get the job done.  It is common to use a brown feather and a grizzly feather too on the Adams dry fly. I use other combinations on my bass and/or bluegill bugs depending upon my mood.  In my experience, the tips of the feathers are sort of fragile, and I often have them break them off while wrapping them and have to start again--surely you will figure this out first hand  (comment: you don't have to use the tip).     If you have saddle hackle (from the side of the chicken), they are longer feathers, and in general you may get several flies out of one feather.  I suspect they are ideal for the wooley bugger, but they are certainly not required.

Since you have a vise, I take it for granted that you have a bobbin too.  A bobbin is an important tool that I didn't have when I started tying, as my "kit" didn't come with one and I didn't realize how important it was to have one. Of course, some people tie flies without even a vise, just like some people climb Mount Everest or run marathons.  I borrowed that thought from the Orvis Fly Tying Guide.

Bill

P.S. I may give the impression that I know what I'm doing, but I suspect I'm in the "bottom 50%" of the tyers here with regard to my knowledge or tying ability.  I basically know how to tie what I need for my individual needs, as opposed to being able to tie flies for use accross the country, for instance.  But between this forum and YouTube, my knowledge is growing. I've been participating here for about a year.  During that time I have amassed a collection of foam I haven't dug into yet (and a few other stuffs I won't go into).  I started tying when you had to learn from books with B&W photographs, if that.   If you don't mind me asking, about how old are you  (I enjoy having some sense of who is who : ) .   Cheers!

[Lesg 0]

👍 Big improvement !

[flytire 0]

your wooly bugger is perfectly fine using the "webby" part of the feather

just dont wrap the feather with the "fluff" still on the stem (although the fish probably wouldnt care)

just remove the "fluff" (marabou like fibers) below the red line

 

[Bill_729 0]

9 hours ago, flytire said:

just remove the "fluff" (marabou like fibers) below the red line

 

As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words..

[mikechell 0]

Yep ... what they 👆 said !

[Jaydub 0]

Or leave the fluff. A couple turns of fluff at the front won't hurt it a bit and it might even fish better.