Black tie affair

Published 12:01 am Sunday, May 15, 2011

The woolly bugger is one of the world’s universal flies that can be used to catch nearly every kind of fish.

It’s appeal lies in the fact that while it doesn’t look exactly like anything, it can be tied in different sizes and colors to look a little like a lot of things that fish eat.

Tied in white, it looks like a small baitfish. In olive, it can resemble a dragonfly or damselfly nymph. In brown and orange, fish take it for a crayfish. In blacks, browns and olives, it looks a lot like the leeches that are prevalent in lakes.

This is an unweighted version, but many tiers add weight so the fly will sink faster in the water. Using lead wire or a weighted bead or conehead just behind the eye of the hook before you tie the fly can create a diving action that is irresistable for trout and salmon.

What you’ll need

To tie a bugger, you need a tying vise and a thread bobbin.

Here’s the recipe for materials and an explanation of what they are:

Hook: Long shank hook size 4 to 10

Thread: Black 6/0

Tail: Black marabou

Rib: Fine silver or copper wire

Body: Black chenille

Hackle: Black saddle

Black saddle hackle. A large feather from the back of a chicken, dyed black. The tips move in the water.

Black marabou. A downy feather from a turkey leg that breathes and pulsates underwater, providing a lifelike appearance.

Black chenille. A thick and fluffy material spun into a string core that quickly forms an insect body.

Silver wire. A fine wire that adds strength and durability as well as a little flash to the fly.

Black thread. Use a synthetic thread, not cotton, for strength and durability. The thread is held and controlled in a bobbin.

Here’s how to start:

Step 1: Secure the hook in a fly tying vise. Then secure your thread by wrapping the thread over itself along the shank of the hook. Cut off thread end.

Step 2: Moisten your fingers and stroke the tip of the marabou. Create a tail by cutting a hunk of marabou feather long enough to wrap starting below the eye of the hook, along the shank, and extending past the bend of the hook about the same distance as the shank. Wrap the thread firmly back in front of the eye securing marabou.

Step 3: Then tie a hunk of wire along the marabou to the hook bend, letting the wire extend past the tail. Leave the thread at the bend. Tie in just the tip of the saddle hackle at the bend, letting the feather extend past the tail. Use your fingernails to pinch off about 1/4-inch of the chenille, leaving just the string core. Tie in the string just above the hook bend. Wrap thread back to just before eye of hook.

Step 4: Wrap chenille clockwise over and along the hook with close turns until it’s just before the eye. Tie off with three wraps of thread and cut off waste chenille.

Step 5: Wrap hackle counter clockwise in an open spiral over the chenille to the eye. Each wrap is about 1/4-inch apart. Tie off with three wraps and cut off unneeded hackle.

Step 6: Wrap wire clockwise in an open spiral the same distance apart as hackle. Wiggle wire as you wrap to slide it between the hackle fibers to avoid pinching them down. Tie off and cut off unneeded wire.

Step 7: Add extra wraps of thread over the cut ends of the materials to create a head for the fly in front of the eye. Secure with several half hitches, cut thread, and add a coat of clear fingernail polish to finish.