Woolly Bugger
The Woolly Bugger is the most versatile trout fly ever created. A marabou tail provides endless life-like pulsing motion, while a palmered hackle body creates resistance and a breathing silhouette. Fish it black for leeches and dark days, olive for sculpin and bass, and white for baitfish. Strip it, swing it, dead-drift it — it catches fish every way it can be fished. An absolute must in any fly box.
- Type
- streamer (Streamer)
- Hook sizes
- #2–10
- Target species
- trout, bass, steelhead, salmon
- Difficulty
- beginner
- Best seasons
- spring, summer, fall, winter
Materials
- hook: 3X long streamer hook #2–10
- thread: Black or olive 6/0
- bead: Gold, black, or copper tungsten cone head (optional)
- weight: Lead wire underbody
- tail: Black, olive, or white marabou, full
- flash: Krystal Flash (2–4 strands in tail)
Tying steps
- Slide a tungsten cone or bead onto a size 2–10 3XL hook; wrap lead wire behind the bead.
- Start black or olive thread and wrap over the lead to secure it.
- Tie in a full, fluffy marabou tail with 4 strands of Krystal Flash at the bend.
- Tie in a rooster hackle feather by the tip at the bend, sized to the hook.
- Wrap chenille forward from bend to behind the bead to form the body.
- Palmer the hackle forward in even open spirals over the chenille body.
- Tie off the hackle with 4 tight wraps and trim the excess.
- Build a neat thread head against the bead or cone; whip finish and cement.