Woolly Bugger

Materials

Hook

4X-long streamer hook (Dai-Riki 700, TMC 5263 or similar), sizes 2-12

Thread

6/0 or 140-denier to match the body (brown olive on the Orvis olive tie, black on a black bugger)

Weightoptional

Lead-free wire, .020, 10-15 wraps over the front half of the shankOr a 5/32 in gold bead or cone at the eye. Leave it off for a fly you want to swing or fish under an indicator.

Tail

Marabou blood quill, one plume, about a shank length; wispy tips strippedBlessing's original was black marabou; match the body colour for the variants listed.

Flashoptional

2-3 strands of Flashabou or Krystal Flash each side of the tailPearl or colour-matched; red on black for salmon.

Riboptional

Fine copper or gold Ultra Wire, smallCounter-wrapped to protect the hackle. Flagler uses the tying thread itself as the rib.

Body

Medium chenille (olive on the original; black, purple, chartreuse, white, brown/rust or pink for the variants). The Pere Marquette salmon version uses chartreuse UV Polar Chenille.

Hackle

Saddle hackle, barbs about 1.5 times the gap, palmered from tail to head (black on the original; olive grizzly on the Orvis olive tie; black schlappen on the PM salmon version)

Head

Tying thread, cemented; on the beaded tie a small collar of rusty brown Superfine dubbing behind the bead

Steps

1. 1.Flatten the barb, slide on the bead if you are using one, and clamp the hook. If you want weight, wrap 10-15 turns of .020 lead-free wire over the front half of the shank and lock it in place with thread.
2. 2.Start the thread behind the eye or bead and lay a base back to a point above the barb.
3. 3.Take one marabou blood quill and pinch or strip off the wispy tips so the tail will finish in a fuller, blunter point. Measure it to about a shank length, tie it in above the barb, and bind the butts forward along the whole shank so the body has a smooth, even underbody without a bump at the rear.
4. 4.If you want flash, tie two or three strands along each side of the tail and trim them just beyond the marabou tips.
5. 5.Tie in the ribbing wire at the base of the tail if you are using one.
6. 6.Prepare a saddle hackle by stripping the fluff from the stem. Tie it in by the tip at the base of the tail with the shiny side facing you so the barbs sweep back when palmered.
7. 7.Strip a short piece of core bare at the end of the chenille, tie it in by the bare core at the tail base, and run the thread forward to a point two eye-widths behind the eye or right behind the bead.
8. 8.Wind the chenille forward in touching turns, tie it off, and trim the excess.
9. 9.Palmer the hackle forward in five to seven evenly spaced open turns, tie it off behind the eye or bead, and trim.
10. 10.Counter-wrap the wire rib through the hackle, wiggling it as you go so it does not trap barbs, tie it off and break it with a twist.
11. 11.Build a small neat head (or dub a short collar behind the bead), whip finish and add a drop of cement. Leave room for the head: crowding the eye is the most common bugger mistake.

From the tier

• Russell Blessing tied it in 1967 as a hellgrammite for Susquehanna smallmouth and wanted as much movement from the hackle and tail as possible; his son told Fly Life Magazine that movement was the whole point of the fly.
• Kelly Galloup, teaching Blessing's original, stresses leaving enough room behind the eye for a proper head; Tim Flagler strips the marabou tips and binds the butts along the shank so the body has no bump behind it.
• Fish it any way you like: dead-drifted, swung, or stripped. In Michigan a black or olive bugger is swung or drifted for steelhead, and the chartreuse Polar Chenille version is stripped for Pere Marquette kings.

Hook and hardware

• 4X-long streamer hook1

  size 2-12 · Dai-Riki 700 or TMC 5263

  Hook

  1

Feathers and fur

• Marabou blood quill1 plume

  colour to match body

  Tail

  1 plume

• Saddle hackle1 feather

  black, olive grizzly, or to match

  Hackle

  1 feather

• Superfine dubbingoptionala pinch

  rusty brown

  Head

  a pinch

Synthetics, flash and legs

• Flashabou or Krystal Flashoptional4-6 strands

  pearl or colour-matched

  Flash

  4-6 strands

• Chenilleabout 6 in

  medium; olive, black, purple, chartreuse, white, brown or pink

  Body

  about 6 in

Thread and finish

• Tying thread1 spool

  6/0 or 140 denier, to match body

  ThreadHead

  1 spool

• Head cement1 drop

  Head

  1 drop

Other

• Lead-free wireoptional10-15 wraps

  .020

  Weight

  10-15 wraps

• Brass or tungsten beadoptional1

  5/32 in gold

  Weight

  Alternative to lead wire.

  1

• Ultra Wireoptionalabout 6 in

  small, copper or gold

  Rib

  about 6 in