The MK 2 woolly buggers evolved from standard black and olive woolly buggers as a fly that would imitate an American frog that had bright red between its hind legs and consequently the red tag is traditionally tied in below the tail. This tie is a little more popular than the original tie these days and is main point of difference is that the tag tied in on top.
Large populations of dark olive Yabbies of the Cherax Genus have developed in both Lake Jindabyne and Lake Eucumbene and many other places. Many anglers suggest that the Yabby has been responsible for changing the feeding habits of trout in the lakes as the populations of Yabbies have increased. In fact in both Lake Jindabyne and Lake Eucumbene you seldom catch a trout with a full stomach when the contents doesn’t include yabbies.
You can of course tie a hot head on any fly and from time to time when I am tying flies I add hot thread head to a couple of flies just to ensure that I have some options in my fly boxes. This fly takes the hot head concept to the next step and includes a bigger than average thread head which is a significant feature of the fly.
I generally only tie it in two versions the fly described below and a brown and pink version. Particularly if the water is a little discoloured I find these flies work well either as middle dropper attractor flies or as my top dropper bob fly but from time to time also fish them on the point particularly if fish are switched onto small flies.
Keep an eye for swallows dipping on the water feeding on midge. That’s a sure sign that there will also be damsel nymphs around and then of course further up the food chain there are likely to be trout feeding on both the midge and the damsel nymphs. This is the time to start thinking about fishing either damsel buggers or olive woolly buggers.
This is my favourite. I have absolute confidence in this fly and it’s my default point fly in fly fishing competitions. That of course doesn’t mean that I don’t fish other woolly buggers or woolly bugger variations with specific applications in particular fisheries but it does mean that if the buggers that should work (eg a Magoo in Purrumbete or a Tassi bugger in Arthurs lake) isn’t working then I will always give my brown bugger a swim.
I was ripping the black tailed version of this fly through the chop with some success when my boat partner asked what fly is that ‘silver surfer’. I explained to him that it was just a woolly bugger variant tied with a black tail and silver UV straggle fritz. I tried to give it a real name such as ‘silver woolly bugger’ but unfortunately ‘silver surfer has stuck.
Woolly buggers and their variants would have to be close to the quintessential wet fly. This woolly bugger version is one of my favourate late season still water flies.
I was introduced to this variation in the lead up to the 2002 Tasmanian One Fly which by chance I won. Whilst I was not comfortable enough to use this fly in that contest I have used it many times since to great effect.
There are a few flies that I have absolute confidence in and consequently have no hesitation in tying them on if I am in unknown territory and am up for a bit of prospecting. This fly is really a merging of two of them and it is so consistent that its has earned its own place amongst my top 10 or so trout flies. The two flies that were merged to form this fly were of course the bibio and the standard black woolly bugger. Whilst the bibio still holds its own place in my top 10 or so trout flies this bibio bugger has displaced the standard black woolly bugger.
