Red TBH CDC black fuzzel jig bugger
This fly is one of a series of 4 woolly bugger flies that I tie specifically for river fishing and if I only had one woolly bugger in my river fishing fly box this would be the one.
Point flies
Double eyed, soft hackle dog nobbler
At the same time the woolly bugger was evolving in the US in England a similar fly that became known as a dog nobbler was also evolving. Dog nobbler flies were heavily weighted for use in deeper water, were generally not palmered with a hackle and often were tied with bead chain eyes.
BH silver surfer
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.
Mark II woolly bugger – alternate tie
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.
Brown woolly bugger
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.
Mallard and claret – Chatto’s soft hackle version
One of the first loch flies I was introduced was a mallard and claret tied in a traditional way with a pair of feather slip wings. I thought it was the bees knees as a bob fly and used it any time when mayflies were around. For me this is a vastly superior fly and as well as being a great substitute for a traditionally tied mallard and claret also works well on mayfly feeders taking pre emergers.
Bead head mallard & claret
A variation on my Soft Winged Bob flies is to turn them into anchor flies for use as the point fly in a team of loch style flies. They are attractive to fish and because of the smaller size and additional weight they sink faster than most flies and keep my leader straight making it easier to keep in contact with my dropper flies. The weigh is a 2mm gold, copper or black tungsten bead (or brass bead and 8 wraps of .015mm lead on the front half of the hook shank).
Bead head diawl bach
I tie it both with and without weight and find the addition of a small black tungsten bead makes it a handy anchor fly or a good prospecting fly in running water.
Bead head bibio variant
A bead head version is not a bad idea either. Swap over to a slightly longer hook such as a Tiemco 3769, start with a small black tungsten bead and continue with the recipe below.
My version below varies from the original tie in that it doesn’t include a body hackle. Instead the body is dubbed with seal fur dubbing which has been teased out in step ‘D’ with a Velcro rub.
Woolly worm
This is an old pattern and whilst it can be dressed in many different ways I prefer it dressed as described below which is similar to the original form with the exception of the tail which I prefer to be much finer than the original. I guess that makes it like a small Woolly Bugger. This fly works well in streams when fished across and down and is also a useful fly when fish are in still water mooching amongst flotsam & jetsam.