Posted On February 26, 2012
Yes the famous Woolly Bugger, I don't know who and when this fly was invented but no doubt there are probably plenty of fly tiers around the world wishing to stake that claim, if you know the answer please don't hesitate to put me straight. A lot of fly tiers spend the majority of their fly tying time exacting an almost identical representation of what they are trying to present to the fish be it a mayfly, nymph, baitfish, etc, on a lot of occasions almost too exacting. The ironic twist with the Woolly Bugger being one of the most famous and versatile flies used throughout the world today for almost all types of fly fishing is that it doesn't really represent anything in particular at all. I guess with a lot of flies the attributes and characteristics such as pulsation, silhouette and color are more important than exact representation. I discovered this variation of the woolly bugger in an old Fly Life magazine , I liked the technique of bringing the body to life by teasing out the dubbing and I discovered a good way to do it by using velcro tabs you can get from your local hardware store.