[GeorgeMcFly]

ok I have been having very good luck on black wooley buggers that I bought. instead of crystal flash they have 1 flashy green strips down each side. could it be flashabou? I need me some of whatever it is. seems to catch more than the regular bugger my cousin used. the 2 times i used it I caught 11 rock bass with it. . well I wanted to come up with something a lil different than a normal bugger. so I made this. size 8 streamer hook, black marabou tail, copper rib, 8 strands of peacock for the body. I don't have black hackle yet for the bugger so I used some black partridge for a kind of hackle collar. I think it looks not bad except maybe the head is a lil to built up and the hackle not al the way to the front of it. also I used bigcliffs idea to tear the marabou shorter on the back instead of cut it so it still looks fluffy. cause it was too long kinda. other than that its really picks up alot of light and is very irridecent! hopefully will catch me some more bass! heres the pic!

[aroostookbasser]

I see where you were going with it.....but it ain't no "bugger". More like a bead headed "what-the-heck". If you need black hackles in a pinch, try using a permanant marker to tint brown or dark brown hackles. Do bothe sides or create a mottled appearance doing one side. Or for contrast, use white hackle or red on a black body. Both seems to make bass hit well. Sorry it ain't a "bugger" without the hackle rib and marabou tail.

[GeorgeMcFly]

well it has copper rib, peacock body and marabou tail and soft black partridge hackle. just not saddle hackle. i don't have any saddle hackle yet cause I am not sure what one to get for drys and buggers both. well how isn't it a bugger? so what your saying is if I catch some big bass with it I can sell this fly as a beadheaded what the heck???? great! now I can't wait to try it out. cause its gonna catch fish. don't care if ya think its not a bugger or not. it resembles one so i had a better idea of taking black chenile and putting it under the peacock body to make it thicker. what if i did that and then added your saddle hackle? would it be one then? so u don't think nothing will hit it? I really thought frank would like this one! he always loves to use the peacock

[aroostookbasser]

Didn't say it wouldn't work..just said it was not a true wooly bugger. Maribou tail and palmered hackle. Body materials are irrelavant.

[Frank Whiton]

Hi George,

I have found with many flies that less is better. I think this fly is over dressed. Your collar should be more forward as you noted. It also could be a lot sparser like a soft hackle fly. The body has too much wire or flash material. You have lost the advantage of using peacock on the body as it is mostly covered. If I wanted flash on the body I would put it only on the sides. With a peacock body I wouldn't use any flash except in the tail as you have done.

You won't find any saddle hackle that will serve to palmer a fly and also be used as dry fly hackle. They are different animals. In one case you want a soft hackle and in the other you want a stiff hackle. You should be very selective in buying dry fly hackle and get the best you can afford for the dry flies you want to tie. You can save some money by getting a lower grade hackle for buggers and other wet flies.

Frank

Take a look at these Whiting Bugger Packs.

WHITING "BUGGER PACKS". A BEAUTIFUL SEMI-WEBBY HACKLE that will tye size-6, 8 and 10 buggers. It is furnished on a skin patch. Tom Whiting says this pak will tye up to 75-buggers. Dick Talleur says these are the best! COLORS: (1)Brown, (2)Olive, (3)Dyed-Black, (4)Olive/Grizzly, (5)Brown/Grizzly, (6)Natural-Grizzly $11.95/PAK

[GeorgeMcFly]

alright guys. thanks again for the tips. I will get me some of that hackle. you are right. I prolly should of stripped one side of that hackle to make it thinner.

[BigCliff]

What you tied is the longhaired, upper body shaved, hairy rump-ed cousin of the wooly bugger known as the "Casual Dress". It will outfish a bugger in certain situations, though prolly not as many as the vice versa.

I'm pretty sure the flash on the sides you're referring to is indeed flashabou. I think the chartruese version is usually used on those peacock buggers, though the picture in my mind of one tied with gold prismatic flashabou is awful pretty.

I'll now clue you in to a marvelous bugger variation that has caught me OODLES of fishes. In place of the Chenille/peacock herl, wrap flashabou around the body. (bout 12 strands, depends on the size) The trick on this one is you need to make the part of the marabou feather wrapped onto the hook shank pretty consistent thickness, so its basically a cylinder. This is so you have a consistent surface to wrap the flashabou around. The copper wire over the hackle is ABSOLUTELY VITAL to this fly holding up, since the hackle doesn't have anything fuzzy to nestle down into.

great combos:
black tail, hackle and conehead/bead with royal blue flash- "The Bruise"
Olive " ", brass cone/bead with charteuse flash- "The Green Meenie"
Tan " " " " with gold prizmatic flash- "The Mailyn Monroe"
and finally,
Grey " " " silver cone, and silver prizmatic flash- "The Holy Grail"

I like to fish the dark ones in deep holes in size 6's and 4's, the tan and grey ones work well as small as u wanna tie them. A couple of guys in San Antonio may hunt me down for putting those on the intarweb.

[GeorgeMcFly]

thanks cliff for the secret tips! haha I won't tell noone else. your secrets safe with the forum . ok hope I did good on this. I just ordered some strung chinese saddle hackle on a fly fishing ebay store. I got both black and olive for 10.98. says its great for buggers and looked like you got alot of feathers. says 5 to 7 inches average for each feather. hope these work ok. then I will make some real buggers!

[BigCliff]

It may be great for buggers, but its hard to say. Most of the buggers i've ever tied have been with those types of hackles, but I go through the feathers in the bags while in the shop to make sure there's plenty of long skinny ones for smaller buggers. If it turns out you didn't get many of those, just tie bigger buggers and find something else to tie your small ones with.

Buying a high quality full saddle (whiting, metz) may be pricey, but it will give you as many feathers for assorted sizes of buggers as 6 bags of saddle hackles would. I still recommend buying them in person though, if at all possible.

Not trying to inspire buyer's remorse, just trying to help.

[xjguy07]

frank

The body has too much wire or flash material

i dont kno if he is gonna use it for a bass fly that might be the right amount of flash, i know that from fishing for bass with spinning gear for many years they like sound and they like flash( buzz and spinner baits as an example), it's not as much the idea that they will think it's food but the idea that it will piss them off and they will strike it in defence. either way their still hitting it and your still catching fish.