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McFlyLures

What’s the best bugger technique?

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The wooly bugger is one of the most versatile and widely used streamer patterns ever created. Because of this, multiple ways of tying it have evolved. Today I am demonstrating the two most popular ways, and you can decide which you find the best. The first way is by far the quickest and easiest way, however I do find that it can occasionally come undone and therefor is not as durable. The 2nd way is the most durable that I have used, however it takes a bit longer to tie. Please let me know which ways you like best, and tell me what your favorite is.

 

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Good video.

 

I tied up some wooley buggers in several colors a while back. I didn't catch enough fish with them to keep using them. I don't tie very many, anymore.

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I found the video better than most I've seen. I like the tiers style of describing the tie very much. I like the version with the wire better, I would trade a longer tie for more time fishing any day.

 

Because knit picking is what we do on the internet, I can't help mention that the lead wire is .015 not 0.15 as the tier said. (0.15 is a little over 1/8 of an inch)

 

Great video anyway, thanks for posting. I'm going to adopt the wire version for my go-to.

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I tie the hackle in up front, palmer to the back and rib it with wire (option 2) - had too many hackles come unwound after a fish or two. Don’t use chenille for bodies much any more; I prefer to twist the butt ends of the marabou from the tail and wrap them as the body. I also like to use a pheasant rump up front as a collar, like a Gartside Sparrow - buggy as hell.

 

Regards,

Scott

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Good video.

 

I tied up some wooley buggers in several colors a while back. I didn't catch enough fish with them to keep using them. I don't tie very many, anymore.

Thanks mike! So you didnt have much luck with one huh?

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I found the video better than most I've seen. I like the tiers style of describing the tie very much. I like the version with the wire better, I would trade a longer tie for more time fishing any day.

 

Because knit picking is what we do on the internet, I can't help mention that the lead wire is .015 not 0.15 as the tier said. (0.15 is a little over 1/8 of an inch)

 

Great video anyway, thanks for posting. I'm going to adopt the wire version for my go-to.

Thanks, Im glad you like the video. So I swore I said .015 sized. Ill go back and check, but Im almost positive said it right. Of course Ive been known to leave bloopers in accidentally, and this could very well be one of those times.

 

Ok so you caught my blooper. Haha! I sometimes will get a little dyslexic and say things the wrong way. I checked the narrative I wrote, and I wrote .015, however I said 0.15 when reading it. Silly me, thanks for catching that. Unfortunately YouTube wont let me edit voice, so its stuck forever wrong. Luckily I wrote the right size in the description section of the video. So hopefully people dont get too confused

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I tie the hackle in up front, palmer to the back and rib it with wire (option 2) - had too many hackles come unwound after a fish or two. Dont use chenille for bodies much any more; I prefer to twist the butt ends of the marabou from the tail and wrap them as the body. I also like to use a pheasant rump up front as a collar, like a Gartside Sparrow - buggy as hell.

 

Regards,

Scott

Yes, for sure that sounds like an awesome pattern, but sounds like its slightly different than the bugger. However I would like fishing that one better I think. Btw, I do the marabou body as well many times. Its quicker and sometimes can actually fish better.

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I found the video better than most I've seen. I like the tiers style of describing the tie very much. I like the version with the wire better, I would trade a longer tie for more time fishing any day.

 

Because knit picking is what we do on the internet, I can't help mention that the lead wire is .015 not 0.15 as the tier said. (0.15 is a little over 1/8 of an inch)

 

Great video anyway, thanks for posting. I'm going to adopt the wire version for my go-to.

Thanks, Im glad you like the video. So I swore I said .015 sized. Ill go back and check, but Im almost positive said it right. Of course Ive been known to leave bloopers in accidentally, and this could very well be one of those times.

 

Ok so you caught my blooper. Haha! I sometimes will get a little dyslexic and say things the wrong way. I checked the narrative I wrote, and I wrote .015, however I said 0.15 when reading it. Silly me, thanks for catching that. Unfortunately YouTube wont let me edit voice, so its stuck forever wrong. Luckily I wrote the right size in the description section of the video. So hopefully people dont get too confused

 

No one would really think you were using 0.15 Dia. wire. I'm just picking at you. Besides, in the video you can clearly read .015 on the spool.

 

I have lots of video mis-speeks on you tube.

 

If we were all perfect, what would we talk about on the internet?

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Don't use either way that you demonstrated. Some of each.

I tie the wire/rib in before the body material, tie the flash in at front and pull to rear after body is wound so that it shows like a stripe on the sides and is held in place by the hackle and rib; Tie hackle by tip at rear and wind as you did in first example, then counter wind the wire forward and complete head. This is more secure than your second example because the hackle is tied in at both ends and the rib being counter wound keeps the wire crossing the feather stem.

 

The only examples of hackle tied by base at front and only held by the rib at the rear, as your in second example that I have actually seen were some I bought at a fly shop (actually two different shops at different times) and all six of them let the hackle come loose at the rear. You might use a drop of CA at the first wrap of rib and prevent that, idk.

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Good video.

 

I tied up some wooley buggers in several colors a while back. I didn't catch enough fish with them to keep using them. I don't tie very many, anymore.

I have had a lot of luck with this variation. You should tie a few and give them a shot it will be worth your time.post-18580-0-36195000-1576880835_thumb.jpg

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I like the second one better for it's toughness. Sometimes, Instead of a wire rib I leave about a 6" length of my working thread as a rib. A size 8 woolly is the first fly I reach for when the water is cloudy and I'm pursuing trout. They catch a ton of pan fish, too. Great video as usual.

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There's a third option, which is to palmer forward and then counter rib.

 

(I'me guessing at what the video shows, the machine I'm on at the moment is too slow to play it.)

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Yes guys, lots of different ways to tie it like I had said above. But Im just taking the two most common (well that Ive found to be most common). This comes from my subscriber base as I polled them to find out what way they do it. I do the 2nd method most often. I understand there are other ways, some more difficult some less. Anyway, thanks for all the good comments.

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Like Mike I don't have a lot of luck with woolly buggers. I don't use either of the tying styles in the video. I carry three woolly bugger variations in my boxes. The White River Demon, the Chili Pepper and the Catskill Killer. I don't usually weight mine with lead wire. I use bead head for weight. Sometimes I'll add eyes and build a UV resin head. Best luck I've had is with smaller sizes, 16 and 18, mainly for trout. I have some in size 4 and 6 in my bass/pan fish box. Even tied a couple on some size 2 6xl hooks.

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No need to get defensive again. You should expect many opinions when you ask a question about tying a popular fly to a large forum of seasoned fly tiers. You do good work and make good videos. But you cant expect us to all agree on anything. Most of us are old.

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