TYING A WOOLLY BUGGER
“The Woolly Bugger is so effective; it should be banned from some watersheds.” Bill Hunter said this in the book, The Professionals’ Favorite Flies Vol II, written by Lefty Kreh in 1994. The fly is known to be effective. It is also straightforward to tie, making it a great fly pattern for beginners. It should be found in any fly box.
Materials for Woolly Bugger
| Part: | Materials: | Size/Color: |
| Hook: | Akita | AK431BL #8 |
| Bead: | Taimen | Furrow Orange 3.5 mm |
| Thread: | Veevus | 14/0 Olive |
| Tail: | Marabou | Olive |
| Rib: | UTC | SM Copper |
| Body Hackle: | Chenchilla Cock Saddles | Medium Olive |
| Body: | Trilobal Antron Chenille | Olive Small |
| Head: | Ice Dub | Black |
Video Instructions on How to Tie a Woolly Bugger
Video coming soon.Slideshow on How To Tie a Woolly Bugger
Step 1 – Add the Bead and Tie in the Tail
Put the tungsten bead onto the hook. You do this by taking the hook’s point through the small opening of the bead and then sliding the bead up until it meets the hook’s eye. Attach the hook to the vise and tie in the thread. Continue wrapping the thread around the hook until you reach the point where the hook’s bend begins.
Take a small portion of Marabou fibers from the side of the feather. These fibers are softer and will give more movement to the fly. Tie these in, and the length should be 1 to 2x the length of the hook. Continue to tie down the Marabou fibers until you reach the head area again. Now you should tie in a strain of flash and the copper wire.
Step 2 – Make the Body
Once you have tied in the strain of flash and the wire, and your thread is at the point where the tail is tied in, you can tie in one Chencilla Cock Saddle for the body hackle. The next step is to prepare the Chenille. Tear away some of the fibers, so only the thread remains. This will make it easier to tie in the Chenille and give the fly a more even body.
Wrap the Chenille around the hook towards the head area, but leave a few millimeters of space. Then continue with wrapping the hackle. You can give it a few extra turns in the head area. Complete the body by ribbing the copper wire in the opposite direction as the body hackle. This procedure will strengthen the fly. Finally, clean up the head area with the black Ice Dub in the space between the hackle and the bead. The black dubbing will contrast the bead.
How to Fish the Woolly Bugger Fly
The Woolly Bugger is a simple tie, and it is also catching a lot of fish. This makes it an excellent pattern to check out if you want to learn to tie flies. You can tie it on different hook sizes and several different color combinations. It works well in both fresh- and saltwater. When stripping the fly, try to give it a short break. The tungsten bead will make it dive down in the water. These movements are known to trigger the fish to take the fly.
