general Wooly Bugger questions

[Allison]

I'm just tying up a bunch of stuff while I'm recovering from surgery. Couple questions: Any advantage to weighting wooly buggers? I typically tie them in an 8 or 10 and use them for nearly all stillwater fishing. Also, is it worth the trouble to try and get more than one tail out of a marabou feather?

Thanks!!

[Davy]

1. Weighting them with a tungsten bead may give them a better action when fished in stillwater,

2. Depends on your marabou. Most of the time ,,,no. I usually snip a small "vee" out of the center stem end.

[Allison]

Ooo, that's a good idea. I think I even have some beads the right size....

[chadk]

a few wraps of lead or wire can do the trick. I like at least a little weight to most of my buggers. I can then fish them with a floating line - casting from my boat to the bank\shallows and strip back.

But if I'm fishing a full sinking line, a little or no weight is just fine.

[steve s]

I usually tie weighted and unweighted buggers, beadhead and no beadhead. With the beadhead flies, I add a few wraps of lead to keep the bead in place. As for the marabou, I go one feather per fly. I'll have to try the V-cut, I stroke the fibers forward and make a straight cut across the whole feather. I have noticed that sometimes the marabou is a bit full or the cut ends make a big bump where I tie in the tail and that ends in a lumpy body.

Steve S

[cabezon]

I'm with Steve S in regards to a diversity of styles: weighted with lead wraps, unweighted, with beads (often colored beads for an egg-sucking bugger), and with cone heads, especially black. After all, they don't take too long to tie and it is nice to have a diversity to fish at different depths without having to change fly lines from floaters to sink tips or among sink tips. One suggestion that I've read and used is to tie the heads different color threads when distinguishing between lead weighted vs unweighted versions.

I'm cheap. I can squeeze three tails out of a single marabou feather for a size 10, two for a size 8. If the tail is too long, it invites short strikes anyway.

Steve

[kodiaksalmon]

I like tying with eyes, and the fly riding hook point-up, Clouser style

As for the marabou, buy the cheapest marabou you can for wooly buggers, and don't worry about it. I'll buy the nice stuff for some steelhead flies, but in the rare instance (I can't remember the last time) I tie a bugger, I'll use el-cheapo marabou for the tail. For the short length of a tail, it works great, and the web is of little consequence, and it's cut off.

[Dr Bob]

Put me down for one tail per marabou feather and both weighted and unweighted buggers. I like the bead head approach as it gives the buggers a little more up and down action on the retrieve.

Dr Bob

[Nolan]

For weighting I wrap 2/3rds of the body in lead for all my buggers, but no cone head or bead head. But that doesn't mean no cone or bead head is better I just prefer it, not the fish:) Of all the dozen or so colors I have tried Jet black no flash works the best for me. I too get 3 flies out of my marabou feathers. I feel the thin tail profile gives the fly more action.

[Allison]

Thanks for all the advice! I thought I'd get laughed off the board for asking advice on how to tie something as common as a WB. This place is great!

[traditionalist]

You might also like to try using Arctic fox fur as a tail for woolly buggers. Has a great action, very similar to marabou, but is a lot more robust. Easier to handle and use as well.

As buggers are such a versatile fly, it pays to have a selection of weights, colours, and actions. They can be used to imitate a large number of things. As a general rule, you will get more hits on a bugger which imitates some natural food well.

There is also a case to be made for some other tail materials, as here;
http://www.mike-connor.homepage.t-online.de/Flies/Patterns/Green_Tailed_Woolly_Bugger/green_tailed_woolly_bugger.html

[sharpshooter223]

if you want a floating bugger use foam rubber instead of chennile and dont weight it

[PETI]

Nothing to do with tails, but.
Can't remember when or where but a guy suggested we weight WB's in the wrong place. Weight should be at the bend end for a more life like motion.
Seems to be a good idea to me, which I will use, as soon as I run out of what I have. May be a while.

Peter

[tythetier]

I ONLY USE ONE FEATHER PER FLY AS WELL. I USE THE TIP SECTION FOR MINE. I CATCH FISH ON THEM SO THAT IS ALL THAT MATTERS TO ME.

DONT CAN THE REST OF THE FEATHER THOUGH. KEEP THE SIDES (OR WHAT EVER YOU DONT USE) FOR DAMSEL TAILS, OR ANYTHING ELSE THAT YOU JUST NEED SPARSE AMOUNTS FOR.

AS FOR THE WEIGHT GOES. I HAVE CAUGHT FISH ON WEIGHTED AND THE UNWEIGHTED FLIES. PETER MAKES AN INTERESTING POINT AS WELL. I HAVE HEARD THE SAME THING, BUT I HAVE ALWAYS TIED THE WEIGHT IN AT THE FRONT.


GOOD LUCK AND GET BETTER.

[ak_powder_monkey]

I use as much weight as I can on my buggers, I like to fish them DEEP

[Daryle Holmstrom]

I ONLY USE ONE FEATHER PER FLY AS WELL. I USE THE TIP SECTION FOR MINE. I CATCH FISH ON THEM SO THAT IS ALL THAT MATTERS TO ME.

DONT CAN THE REST OF THE FEATHER THOUGH. KEEP THE SIDES (OR WHAT EVER YOU DONT USE) FOR DAMSEL TAILS, OR ANYTHING ELSE THAT YOU JUST NEED SPARSE AMOUNTS FOR.

AS FOR THE WEIGHT GOES. I HAVE CAUGHT FISH ON WEIGHTED AND THE UNWEIGHTED FLIES. PETER MAKES AN INTERESTING POINT AS WELL. I HAVE HEARD THE SAME THING, BUT I HAVE ALWAYS TIED THE WEIGHT IN AT THE FRONT.


GOOD LUCK AND GET BETTER.

iagree Strip the fibers spin them for dubbing, cut up the fibers and throw them in with other fibers or other materials in a coffee grinder for custom dubbing. They make a real buggy body.

[WT99]

I also like to tie wolly buggers with different lenghts of tails. I know the general rule for tail lenght is to have it equal body lenght, but I will sometimes make'em 2-2.5 times the body lenght and I have had good results.

[synister370]

I also like to tie wolly buggers with different lenghts of tails. I know the general rule for tail lenght is to have it equal body lenght, but I will sometimes make'em 2-2.5 times the body lenght and I have had good results.

i ditto this ive been adding way more then what is needed for the tail and been having real good results.. some of them are so think and bushy they end up looking like a bunny..


but i tie all mine with lead weight and some with or with out the bead head..

for great lakes steelhead like i fish i allways use lead weight and a bead head.. then i dont have to piss around with adding shot...i can dead drift the bugger and i know it will sink nicely..

i use 8 or 10 hooks

[Scott Keith]

Anybody add rubber legs?? I like a big bead or conehead up front... although the lead wrap at the tail sounds good... I did a marathon fly tying session last night to get ready for lone lake this weekend.. I'll probably tie up a few more today....

Scott

[P-FITZ98]

I like to use 2 feathers for the tails on #2s.Big buggers in hot pink,wrapped with lead and a bead head, with schlaupen for hackle.Sink really quick.John Newbury and I boated over 40 triploids that were 6-8 pounds last weekend on this fly at Rufus Woods.Oh, yaeh, dont forget the flash in the tails.

[Allison]

Hot pink for Triploids? INSANE!!!!!

[P-FITZ98]

It was INSANE fishing, but hot pink is the brightest color a fish can see in the water.That or chartruse.We caught alot on both colors, even one fly that had a pink tail/chartruse body/pink bead.Rufus Woods is hot right now for BIG trips.

[Be Jofus G]

Hot pink for Triploids? INSANE!!!!!

All Purple and also chartruse/black tied up like that woks well too for triploids.