Fishing a Wolly bugger

[berkleydog]

Was looking for some advice on fishing a wolly bugger in rivers. Do you let them drift as if you are fishing nymphs and then strip quickly to finish off. Also do you us a floating line, sink tip, or a sinking line. Just would like to hear some stratagies.

[Fisher_man#1]

It depends on the water you are fishing. In water that is 1-4ft deep ill use a floating line and a split shot right at the eye of the hook and just cast that out up and accross stream stripping in and letting it swing. Another way to fish a woolly bugger in this water is dead drift it like you would a nymph under a strike indicator, and id pare it with a bead head pheasent or prince. Deeper water 6-8ft is where ull need the sink tip or full sinking line to dredge the bottem. For this a down and accross is the standard approch and then just strip it in to retreive it.
Hope this helps.

Cheers.

[pikester]

The beauty of the bugger is that it effective fished in many different ways; there is no wrong way to fish one! I suppose the "traditional" way to fish it is the wet fly style downstream swing. In rivers like the Bow, it is often effective to float down & cast to the banks, vigorously stripping it back to the boat. Also effective but not often discussed is to fish it dead drift under an indicator like a nymph. I hooked my biggest rainbow ever on the Bow using this technique.


Sorry Fisher man, looks like you beat me to it! I have to learn to type faster lol.

[Fisher_man#1]

Originally Posted by pikester

The beauty of the bugger is that it effective fished in many different ways; there is no wrong way to fish one! I suppose the "traditional" way to fish it is the wet fly style downstream swing. In rivers like the Bow, it is often effective to float down & cast to the banks, vigorously stripping it back to the boat. Also effective but not often discussed is to fish it dead drift under an indicator like a nymph. I hooked my biggest rainbow ever on the Bow using this technique.


Sorry Fisher man, looks like you beat me to it! I have to learn to type faster lol.

Hey no worries, your definetly right about their versaitlity and there is no denying they are effective at catching fish. They come in a wide variety of colours these days with black, tan and white being the most popular. Often times ill put on a woolly when there is no surface activity and i dont feel like stairing at an indicator all day and just start working my way downstream. It is excieting feeling a fish grab these things on the swing and take off, and more often than not ull catch some biguns.

[s_erickson]

What do you guys mean using a fly as an indicator. I'm new to fly fishing and have only ever had one fly on my line at a time (always thought that was the law "single barbless"). If someone could post a picture of how i should be setting this up i'll be sure to give it a try. I do however think it could be difficult to cast if it the way im thinking.

[berkleydog]

Thanks guys great info.

Berkleydog

[Fisher_man#1]

Originally Posted by s_erickson

What do you guys mean using a fly as an indicator. I'm new to fly fishing and have only ever had one fly on my line at a time (always thought that was the law "single barbless"). If someone could post a picture of how i should be setting this up i'll be sure to give it a try. I do however think it could be difficult to cast if it the way im thinking.

You know like a strike indicator, all it is, is a highly visible, high floating pice of yarn, cork,or plastic that tells you when a fish takes your fly, like a bobber in spin fishing. I usullay use a thingamabobber
but there are many products on the market like these
or these and they just get attached to your line with a loop conector down to your tippet and from there you can attach a maximum of 3 single hook flies. Got it LOL.
Ill try and come up with a picture later unless someone can expain it better.

[s_erickson]

okay, i got it. I figured that was all it was, but didn't want to be the guy looking like an idiot out there instead of just asking. Thanks for the help.

PS. Are you allowed to use a fly with a hook as your indicator?

[Fisher_man#1]

Originally Posted by s_erickson

okay, i got it. I figured that was all it was, but didn't want to be the guy looking like an idiot out there instead of just asking. Thanks for the help.

PS. Are you allowed to use a fly with a hook as your indicator?

Yep alot people like to use big hairy dries like stimmies, bastard adams and perhaps the best know is a hopper especailly around this time of year. Just remember this counts as one of your 3 flies, but i wouldnt recomend using 3 flies with a dry as it will be hard to get it to float and it tangles easily.

Cheers.

[Cal]

Originally Posted by s_erickson

okay, i got it. I figured that was all it was, but didn't want to be the guy looking like an idiot out there instead of just asking. Thanks for the help.

PS. Are you allowed to use a fly with a hook as your indicator?

I'd always figured that this would be hard to cast and so I never tryed it untill this year. To my suprise I found that two flies with a couple feet of tippet in between it realy wasnt much harder to cast, or else my casting somehow got better this year.

[soggysocks]

I still get a bit intimidated by using too many hooks. Always make a mess out of my line...I should try a Wolly with a Bow river Bugger again. Haven't gotten wind knots the last 3 times I was out so getting the casting rhythm to more of a second nature. I have yet to give a wolly bugger fair use yet though. How big should I tie one? Keep them small but large nymph ? or putting them on a larger streamer hook?

[fishstix]

In a creek or small river I fish the wooley bugger by casting straight across and retrieving it in quick(depending on the current) strips. I like to be able to see it as i retreive it. If i come across a hole ane nothing is rising i usually pull out a tan or olive WB. You'll have to vary your technique, across and strip, sink and drift. What ever, but there is no one way to do it.

Fishstix!!

[Christofficer]

Buggers are versatile, and imo, way more fun to fish streamers than nymphs. Infact, I retired my floating line for this year and put on my sink tip. I tied up a few of my own variations of buggers, all have caught fish. My usual go to colors are brown or black, olive is third choice. I tied some up like a catatonic leech, marabou dub body and marabou tail except hackle like the bugger. Caught quite a few fish on it over the past few years.

Really it doesn't matter how you fish it, it all depends what the fish want. Cast it upstream, let it sink down with a tight line and swing it with the current. fast strips, slow strips, dead drift.......try em all. All kinds of colors will work, I've even tied some all sparkle purple. all sizes too, generally the bigger the fish the bigger the size.