The Wooly Bugger ( or Woolly Bugger)

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

When I started selling flies in a big sporting goods store around 1965 we had tons of old trout streamer patterns.

Grey Ghost, Edison Tiger, Spruce, Mikey Fin, Royal Coachman and dozens of others that I can't bring up out of my 'hard drive' right now.

We had the Wooly Worm too which is like a Wooly Bugger today but with a short tuft of a tail or no tail at all.

Then someone added that longer marabou tail to the Wooly Worm and called it the Wooly Bugger.

I know that we did not have the Wooly Bugger to sell over 30 years ago so it's fairly new to us.

Like the Wooly Worm, you could tie the Wooly Bugger in all sizes and it hundreds of color combinations.

I think you can catch anything that swims with a Wooly Bugger if you just tie it to match the standard streamer flies used for that species.

Today the Wooly Bugger is in the "Top Ten" list of the best selling wet flies in the USA.

My good friend Richard Haavik, owner of Rainbow Lodge in British Columbia, told me that the black Crystal (Wooly) Bugger has eliminated the need for all their old BC wet flys from years past. He said flies like the old famous Carey Special and Doc Spratley have been put to rest by the Wooly Bugger up there.

[Darian]

The first time I ever noticed anyone using a marabou tail on a Wooly Worm was at Pyramid Lake in approximately 1980. Multiple colors but black and purple were the primaries. Since the time I started fishing up there, I've seen a wide variety of styles and color combos. Some involving synthetic materials in Wooly Buggers.... They all seem to work at one time or another.

Altho I had already had experience casting shooting heads and 2 fly rigs, that was the first time that I'd seen a two fly cast of flies that were that heavy (weight wise) used with shooting heads. These flies were tied on size 4, 3X long hooks and weighted shanks. The cast was made by laying the line out on the water during the back cast and lobbed forwarded as far as possible. Sounds more difficult than it is from a ladder. If the floating beetles were around in those days, they were a well kept secret....

I vaguely recall a sports shop (probably not around any longer) in Reno or Sparks that had a wire basket hanging in the window. In the basket was a whole bunch of Wooly Buggers that caught a Cutthroat in Pyramid. It seemed like every color was represented there....

Now, Reno Fly Shop has the widest variety of Wooly Buggers (all named) that I've seen.... Great fly.

[gene goss]

A Wiggle Tail by Jay Fair will out fish the wooly bugger if tied right.........I belong to the Granite Bay Flycasters and teach a stillwater trout class once a year with Jim Holmes........I'm embarrass when my friends ask what's my best flies for stillwater fishing are.......and the #1 fly in my box is a black wiggle tail. When tied right.......and retrived right......this fly has a better jiging action then the wooly bugger.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Great Gene......

We sell Jay Fair's Wiggle Tail and it is a variation of the Woolly Bugger.

[JD]

A Wiggle Tail by Jay Fair will out fish the wooly bugger if tied right

Debatable, but isn't a Wiggle Tail really just a variant of the Wooly Bugger?

Come on, be honest...

[Ed Wahl]

Sounds like a challenge to me. What say you, Gene? Ed

[Adam Grace]

I tied up some big saltwater baby tarpon woolly buggers for fishing in the mangroves, the baby tarpon loved them so did a couple of snook. The woolly bugger is a super versatile fly...I love it!

[gene goss]

Your right JD the wooly bugger and the wiggle tail are attracter flies........the tail on the wooly bugger is the trigger as is the tail on the wiggle tail is the trigger.....but a wiggle tail is more alive looking when tied right......Ed I'll except the challenge......How about high noon at Kiene's I'll bring my fish aquarium tank, and we can tie some leader to the flies and drag them around in the water and look at the action???????

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Jay Fair's 'Wiggle Nymph' is a type of Woolly Bugger that has a short body and a long tail so it must have more "wiggle"?

I know we sell tons of them individually and in variety 10 packs.

Jay Fair is usually guiding on Eagle lake this time of year, November being a top month.

With fly fishers he is mostly wading the shoreline after traveling around the lake in a boat to his favorite spots.

Do yourself a favor and get out a day with him soon because he is getting pretty old now.

PS: Denny Rickard's "Seal Bugger" is another 'Woolly Bugger like' small attractor lake fly.

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In a variety of colors (black, green, olive, brown, rust, etc) and sizes (#10-14) these small buggy attractor flies can imitate small fish, aquatic nymphs (damsel, dragon and mayfly) scuds and leeches.

[gene goss]

Ok Ed......Rancho Seco would be fine for me......lets make it a little more interesting..... you have to use my wiggle tail fly for the day........and i will use your wooly bugger fly for the day.......we could invite some other people to join us.....and give them each one of our fly to try.....(barbless ok with you)