No fly is more universal than the Woolly Bugger. With a wiggling marabou tail, a palmered hackle body and often a weighted head, it looks like a little bit of everything, a leech, a baitfish, a crayfish, a big swimming nymph, which is why it catches trout, bass, panfish and nearly everything else in fresh water. If you are new to fly fishing, this is the fly to start with.
What it imitates
The Woolly Bugger's genius is that it imitates nothing exactly and everything approximately. That breathing marabou tail suggests life, whether the fish reads it as a fleeing baitfish, an undulating leech or a scuttling crayfish depends on how you fish it.
How to fish it
- Strip it like a streamer for trout and bass, with an erratic, wounded-baitfish retrieve.
- Swing it in current and let it hang, deadly on trout in rivers.
- Dead-drift or crawl it along the bottom to imitate a nymph or crayfish.
Tip When you do not know what to tie on, tie on a Woolly Bugger. Black, olive and brown cover most situations, and varying the retrieve, strip, swing, or crawl, lets one fly imitate several different foods.
Sizes and colors
Black, olive, brown and white are the essential colors; add a bead head or lead wraps to get down. Bigger for bass and big trout, smaller for panfish and small streams. Few flies reward a well-stocked selection more.