How to fish wooly buggers?

[TNJeff]

Hello all,
This looks like a great forum. My name is Jeff and I live in Nashville TN. Recently my 8 year old son and I have begun fishing and I've dusted off my dad's old fly rod. I can almost cast without hooking myself and I can usually get the fly to the water. I have been using Wooly Buggers (size 6 or 10) and the like, trying for panfish. My question is, how do you fish these things? Should they sink slowly? Mine seem to stay on top a long time. I also got some Clouser Minnows in size 6 to try in a local river.
Thanks in advance for any advice you may have!
Jeff

[Jed]

Welcome to the board. Hope you set down and stay a spell.

I would put weight in front of the bugger. A split shot 12 - 18" up the line or bead head wooly buggers. You can fish them dead drift, with a slow retrieve or with a faster retrieve with a quick jerk (not you) on the line. The wonderful thing about wooly buffers is that you can't fish them wrong.

jed

[TNJeff]

I tried a small split shot on evening (smallest one I had, maybe a little bigger than a BB) but I put it right next to the fly. Had a lot of trouble casting it. I have a 3x tippet on my (old) leader so maybe that was it. I'll try it farther up the line.

[lee s]

Welcome TN,
If shot causes you frustration, you may simply wait for the bugger to soak and sink. SOMETIMES that is the decent rate desired. And then again, sometimes faster sink is better. Only the fish know that one.
....lee s.

[rainbowchaser]

Hi Jeff If your wooly bugger is floating try soaking it in the water a bit before casting and try to minimize false casting which will dry out the fly. Spitting on the fly and rubbing it in works about as well as any of the wetting agents you can buy and may help get the fly to sink.

I fish "Streamer's", in two different ways. Either unweighted, so they are presented just below the water surface, or weighted to fish on or near the water bed. The two major zones where fish take food, is within 2 feet of the surface, or 2 feet from the water bed. Everything else is a Dead Zone.

If I fish them "High", they travel hook down. If I "Low", they are keeled and travel hook up.

Keeling is laying a wire weight on top of the hook shank, and wrapping the weight secure, before dressing the fly. This changes the "Center of Gravity", so the hook will travel through the water hook up. Hook up, helps prevent hooks getting caught on underwater obstructions.

I normally use metal beads, as weight on nymphs, where it is used as a Thorax (not a Head). Helps saves on rod tips becoming shattered for Bead Impact with the Rod Blank when casting.

[Crash13]

Jeff, I'm also from the Nashville area. Let me know if you want to go fish sometime, I'll show you what I know about flyfishing. In fact, I'm going in the morning. Email or pm, I'll be checking the net later tonight......Gary

[MOturkE]

Place the bugger in the water and squeeze the air out of it. Or, you could use an old technique taught me by one of the neighborhood boys when I was growing up - spit on it and squeeze the air out. I'm told it helps hide any scent that you may have on your fly and the fish like it...?

I can neither confirm nor deny...

Welcome to the board, Jeff!

[IronHead]

You can also try using floracarbon leaders. They sink pretty well and are pretty tough.

[tnriverrat]

Fellow Nashvillian here. I have never had the problem of a WB sinking to slow, but I toe my own with a healthy dose of lead wire. Shoot me an email and we can meet at Fly South of Demonbruen street. Best shop in town bar none.