"Black Buggers are my go-to fly...."

I started out tying buggers by following a recipe from a book, palmering hackle forward over a chenille body.  But most of my buggers fell apart; the hackle came loose and floated on the surface. Once in a while I caught fish, maybe twice in a while. Luckily, a few small changes in the way I tied them solved all my problems.

First; rather than tying in the hackle at the back of the shank, I saw somewhere a technique where the hackle was tied in by the butt, at the front of the hook.  After the body was created by wrapping chenille in the classic fashion, from the back to the front, the hackle was then palmered rearward to the end of the shank.  Fine copper wire was used to tie down the hackle tip and then wrapped forward as a rib, cross-wrapping the palmered hackle stem. This locked the hackle in place and kept it from breaking or coming loose.

I use a lot of buggers, so I was fortunate to find a lifetime supply of copper wire at a yard sale.  Keep you eyes open. You might get lucky, too. 

Another ribbing option in lead wire.  I have used fine lead wire to rib size 8 buggers to give them a little extra weight. The day I first tried this I caught the “he's got to be lying” smallmouth. That day I caught half a dozen 2 plus pounders and one I wish I had a camera for.

Second; I read somewhere that beadchain eyes make deadly buggers. What I have found is that by tying the eyes on top of the shank, they cause the fly to ride with the hook pointing up, less snags. The eyes also give the fly a nice slow fall, very close to the way a leech swims to the bottom. Some say it creates a jigging action. Whatever it does, Smallmouth love it.

Third, I found that by adding a flash-tail I caught more fish. A couple of pieces of Flashabou is all that is needed. The little bit of flash attracts a lot of strikes. 

--Dan Gober, February 2006