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In the off-season
several years ago, I was tying small Woolly Buggers and
having a devil of a time with the marabou tails because of
my rough winter-dry hands. I don’t remember what switched
me to rabbit fur, but with the availability of Zonker strips
in dozens of colors I was easily converted to buggers with
fur tails. The tails are bushy, thick and durable.
There is one major disadvantage: the length of the fur. I
tie a few 6’s but the tails are often a bit shorter than I
like. I find the most effective sizes to be 8 to 12, on 2xl
or 3xl hooks
In sizes 12 to 16 I will
pull out the guard hairs to increase the “fluffiness” of the
tail. In these smaller sizes I prefer a 2xl hook, as this
configuration gives a larger hook gap relative to the length
of the hook shank. I like to keep the hook gap substantial
because most of my fishing is in fast water where I
appreciate the extra holding power. I also think that
because the lead wire wraps narrow the gap, starting with a
larger hook gap will compensate for this.
For the body I prefer
dubbing over chenille. This adds a great deal of
“bugginess” to the fly. I am slow at the dubbing process,
but on size 10 and smaller hooks the task is accomplished
with relative ease. On bigger sizes you might try an
underbody of wool yarn to build up the body quickly,
followed by a layer of dubbing.
You will find
step-by-step instructions on My Favorite Flies page.
Click here.
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Peter Frailey
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Several Woolly
Fur-Buggers |
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Tying
Sequence:
Hook: Sizes 10, Mustad 74
Thread: Black Danville 3/0
Weight: 8 to 12 wraps lead
wire
Tail: Rabbit (from olive
Zonker strip)
Hackle: Black rooster saddle
feather, palmered
Body: Haretron dubbing |
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Tying
Sequence for
a fur-bugger I often call the "Woody Bugger"
because of the woodchuck fur:
Hook: Sizes 10, Mustad 74
Thread: Black Danville 3/0
Weight: 8 to 12 wraps lead
wire
Tail: Groundhog
Hackle: Brown rooster saddle
feather, palmered
Body: Groundhog dubbing |
This is my rendition of Rick Garfield's "Ausable
Ugly"
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Tying
Sequence for
New York State Guide Rich Garfield's "Ausable Ugly":
Hook: Sizes 10, Mustad 74
Thread: Black Danville 3/0
Weight: 8 to 12 wraps lead
wire
Tail: Muskrat (guardhair plus
underfur)
Hackle: Grizzly rooster
saddle feather, palmered (Rich uses
grizzly hen hackle)
Body: Grey squirrel dubbing
(Rich makes his own dubbing mix by
combining muskrat, raccoon and coyote, all
blended in a coffee grinder)
Additional tying Information:
Rich emailed me that he goes
one step further than my sample above. He
"aggressively brushes the entire completed fly
to separate all the hackle fibers and to roughen
up the dubbing for a soft appearance." You
can check out the original on
Rich's Web site. |
Photos by Peter Frailey |
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