wooly bugger

[Justice League]

I know that this may be a stupid question but what is or is there a proper way to fish a wooly bugger?




Just trying to settle a little bet.



Tight lines to all
Jason

[white43]

As with most any fly, depends on the conditions and species. Wooly buggers are like opinions, everyone has one, a favorite one at that, and while it make sense to that singular person, it might not to anyone else. I didn't answer your question, but if you look behind the words the answer is there. JGW

[dogtown]

I believe the correct answer is swung, dead drifted, yanked with fast strips along the bottom on a full sinking line, used as a point fly with a nymph dropper... Others can add on.

[RexW]

I don't think there is a wrong way to fish wooly bugger. I've found it to be a very versitile fly that will catch a variety of fish species. I even caught a striper on one last weekend.

Rex

[Randy58]

I think the beauty of Woolly Buggers is that they can be fished and retrieved in so many ways, upstream, downstream, crosscurrent, etc..

I find I have more success detecting strikes when I keep my rod tip low and my line tight. Some anglers
even use indicators. I always watch the line.

Kelly Gallap and Bob Linesman have an interesting way to fish all streamers: the jerk-strip retrieve.

Randy Kadish

[Buddy Sanders]

Jason,

If your bet is that there 'is' one correct way to fish a wooly bugger, you've lost.

If your bet is that there are zero 'wrong' ways to fish a wooly bugger, you've won.

After wracking my significant intellect, and that of those around me (more significant than mine), I've yet to come up with a way to fish this fly that doesn't actually work, much less can be considered 'wrong'.

If there is a 'one fly' for every situation, this is it.

Good Luck!

Buddy

[ducksterman]

What Buddy said...........

You might break it down a little ...to ...moving water...& stillwater....then it would be ...."what Buddy said"

[McManus]

Jerk Strip Retrieve? Can you explain?

[ducksterman]

Jerk Strip Retrieve? Can you explain?

Hopefully someone can put it into words but it's best understood if you see it in his DVD...strikes me as being almost violent


Now getting back to the Buddy thing...

I do think if you want to define exactly what you are trying to imitate with the bugger...and only god knows what it doesn't imitate...then there may be right and wrongs....e.g. let's say you were imitating only a leech in stillwater.....but that's only academic because if you did screw up a leech retrieve you'd be imitating something else...

[Lotech]

Constant false casting would be the wrong way to fish the Wooly Bugger. You need to put that puppy in the water and let it go to work. I've caught fish slow bouncing it off the bottom of a lake and short stripping it just under the surface. Depending on the size and color, it imitates everything from minnows, leeches and even dragon fly nymphs. Very versatile.