Consistent look of a wooly bugger?

[Joeypm 0]

Hi all,

 

I'm trying to figure out how to get a consistent looking wooly bugger. The problem im having is the hackle used for the palmering of the body. I was wondering if there is size chart (hackle gauge) for what size hackle to palmer the body with? Im using larger webby feathers but 8 times out of 10 they are just to big. There has to be some way to gauge this.... I know some of you tie a consistent bugger... please share the type of feather and how you size it...

 

thanks in advance,

 

joeypm

[Rodd Gunn 0]

First of all here is what i would do. Get yourself some white poster board large enough to fit under your vise (24" x 24"). Not only does it give you good visibility, but lets you mark right on the board some indicators that you use regularly. Now, at the bottom of the poster board closet to you draw a hackle gage. Beginning at size 22 and going upward to size 8. Then draw a hackle gage specifically for woolly bugger in the same fashion but using your size bugger hooks. Additionally on your board, you can draw a gage for tinsel on streamers and another gage for the length of streamer wings for various size hooks. All this comes in vary handy. Using these gages will help make your hackles more consistent. I hope this helps.

 

 

[flytire 0]

here is a nice read regarding wooly buggers

 

http://www.ozarkangler.com/lesson-11-the-w...er_5037_ct.aspx

 

 

[Joeypm 0]

First of all here is what i would do. Get yourself some white poster board large enough to fit under your vise (24" x 24"). Not only does it give you good visibility, but lets you mark right on the board some indicators that you use regularly. Now, at the bottom of the poster board closet to you draw a hackle gage. Beginning at size 22 and going upward to size 8. Then draw a hackle gage specifically for woolly bugger in the same fashion but using your size bugger hooks. Additionally on your board, you can draw a gage for tinsel on streamers and another gage for the length of streamer wings for various size hooks. All this comes in vary handy. Using these gages will help make your hackles more consistent. I hope this helps.

 

[Joeypm 0]

Rodd Gunn ( is that just clever or is that your real name?) I like it either way.

 

Thanks so much for the reply.... you suggested some great stuff.... I guess what I realy need to know is... I have a hackle gauge on my vise. I thought this was just for dry fly hackle? Is this what I should be using even for wooly buggers? or is there a wooly bugger gauge?

 

 

 

Flytire... thanks for the link.....

 

 

Joeypm

 

[Al Beatty 0]

Hi Joeypm,

 

You've gotten some great answers from the other members; they are well worth using. A rule of thumb we use is to try to never use a hackle whose fibers are longer than twice the span of the hook gape when measured at the center of the fly (or feather). You'll notice that many soft hackle feathers are shaped similar to a Christmas tree with fibers longer at the base of the stem than they are at the tip of the feather. One of the members (flytier) pointed you to a website that suggested tying the feather on the hook at the front then Palmering it over the body from front to the back then anchoring it with a rib wrapped over the feather. That is an excellent suggestion and produces a really durable fly. Back to measureing the hackle fiber length: We usually just bend the feather in half by placing it over the hook shank. When the fibers spread out you can gage how long they are at the center of the feather in relation to the hook gape.

 

Tying note: If you prefer tying the feather on the hook at the back of the hook, that's OK. Just tie it on by the tip so the fibers are getting progressively larger the closer your wraps are as they travel to the front of the hook. In this case, we suggest counter-wrapping the rib to anchor the feather in place. Take care & ...

 

Tight Lines - Gretchen & Al Beatty

www.btsflyfishing.com

[tidewaterfly 0]

I've never seen a woolly bugger gauge, but that doesn't mean someone hasn't made one!

 

Your hackle gauge is primarily intended as an aid for selecting dry fly hackle, but can be used for any type of fly. Another tip that may help is to pre-select your hackle. For example, if you're tying a dozen size 6 buggers, then select enough hackle, using the gauge if needed, to tie all 12 flies, and lay them out before you start tying. This actually will save you some time in the tying process, and give you better consistency. You can take this a step further & place them in marked containers, then anytime you tie that size fly, you'll already have the proper size hackle needed. This is something many commercial tiers do.

 

When selecting hackle for a specific size hook, you'll want the feathers to all be about the same length & the fiber length should be about the same. Just keep in mind you're dealing with natural materials, so there will be some degree of variation. If you follow what Al said, you'll be fine.

 

I've been tying so long that I rarely use a gauge, and I'm sure many others on this site have developed the same "eye" for materials selection. If you tie enough, you'll likely also be able to select your materials without a gauge.

 

However, Rodd's suggestion is a great one. No one can remember every detail, so it's always a good idea to make notes about the flies you tie, and the more patterns you tie, the more difficult it will be to remember details. I learned this from the book, "The Dette's, A Catskill Legend" by Eric Leiser. The Dette's, Walt Winnie & Mary, tied commercially and I read that they kept detailed files on every fly they tied, with a sample fly. This allowed them to go back & re-create any pattern exactly as they had originally tied it. They did a lot of custom tying of patterns too, many sent to them by customers that did not have known recipe's, so they had to keep their own accounting of what each pattern required, otherwise, the pattern could have been lost forever.

 

Of course, bugger pattern recipes are well known, but when I tied commercially, I used to keep notes on such things as how much weight I put on specific size flies. I would wrap lead wire, and pre-cut pieces of the wire to specific lengths. For example for a size 6 bugger, on a 3X long hook, I may have used 2.5 inches of .035 size wire. The only way I could repeatedly duplicate this, was to keep detailed notes. If I deviated from this, for example for a custom order, I would again make notes, so that I could tie the flies the same way if the customer should re-order flies.

 

Consistency is not difficult to obtain, it just takes some practice & doing each step of the tying process consistently.

 

 

 

 

[JSzymczyk 0]

Rodd Gunn ( is that just clever or is that your real name?) I like it either way.

 

yeah, that's his name. I know his brother Ray.

[Rodd Gunn 0]

I never saw a woolly bugger gage. You have to make it yourself. Draw one on the edge of your poster board. An example would be for a size 8 bugger, the hackle should be no more than twice the gap of the hook. Do the same for a size 12, 10 and maybe a 6. Rodd Gunn

 

[Rodd Gunn 0]

I just made a photo of my poster board. This makes it a lot easier to understand.

[Joeypm 0]

Everyone,

 

Thanks for all the replies.....

 

Rodd thanks again and I see you live in Pa. Do you ever fish the little lehigh? I live like 6 miles from there maybe we can drop a line somtime?

 

Thanks again to all .... I'll take the advice and hopefully get more consistent!!!!

 

Joeypm

 

[Mr. Vegas 0]

here is a nice read regarding wooly buggers

 

http://www.ozarkangler.com/lesson-11-the-w...er_5037_ct.aspx

 

 

 

Great link!

[bad fish rising 0]

i suggest buying a woolly bugger saddle patch from hareline dubbin inc. mine cost 16.99$.

it has very long consistant sized hackles that will make several flies out of each feather.

to get the most out of my patch i tie nymphs with the tips of each feather then tie buggers with the rest of it.

hope this helps