I was really surprised to see one of the best tiers slip up like this. Our highly respected tier, Hans W., releases a YouTube for a Wooly Worm using a dry fly hackle and calls it a Woolly Bugger. I’m not commenting about the spelling but about the name itself. The Wooly Bugger is recognized as one of the most popular flies this side of the pond. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-6lrdY2Rjc :rolleyes:
Ray,
Not sure I understand. Looking at that fly, it is clearly a ‘Wooly Bugger’ as Hans said. Now he does use a “Badger saddle hackle”. Maybe saddles are just too good these days (lol). ‘Wooly Worms’ usually have a short stub of a tail or no tail at all. Perhaps the only thing that may have been missing for those who fish this fly deep is some weight.
Allan
My point is that a Wooly Bugger will have a long fibered, soft hackle that will lay back against the body when wet and usually a marabou tail. What he has is a Wooly Worm with a long tail.
I’ve always seen the difference between the “Wooly Worm” and the “Wooly Bugger” as the latter having a tail, and the worm having no tail or only a short tag. Always tied them all with saddle hackle. But like is mentioned, many saddles are no longer soft and fibrous these days.
I aree that a stiff dry style hackle on a bugger tends to be less productive.
Ralph
If all I had was a picture of that fly I would have said it was a wooly worm. However I have tied what I call wooly buggers with dry fly hackle and almost always with a bead head (or lead wraps) and as Ray says a longer tail.
a Woolly Bugger is a Woolly Worm with a marabou tail. Simple as that. People are forever changing flies and calling them something they are not.
A Griffith’s Gnat is a small Woolly Worm with dry fly hackle so it floats. Murray’s Hellgrammite is a Woolly Bugger with an ostrich herl tail. Ten million variations on these flies all called something else.
Bugger: soft marabou (or marabou-like) tail about as long as the hook shank. Worm: short tag-tail of yarn or other fibers, not extending past the hook bend, or no tail at all.
Simple and widely-accepted.
Just an aside:
Fly tyers used to beg for quality dry fly hackle. In fact I’m re-reading Theodore Gordon’s Notes & Letters and he pleads for some good hackle. Anyway, the better genetic breeders have gotten hackle to the point of shorter and stiffer barbs, very long stems and ‘sweet spot’, stems that don’t twist and colors that we love to see. Even the hens have evolved in the same way. Therefore, now we have a difficult time finding soft saddle hackle for wooly buggers, worms, etc., long stiff hackle for tailing big flies or large hackle collars, rounded tip hen hackle and some other situations.
Anyway, don’t mean to hijack this thread and I still think Hans is correct with his labeling of the fly he tyed as a Wooly Bugger. Here’s a Wooly Worm from an article on this site:
http://www.flyanglersonline.com/features/panfish/worma7.gif
and another. There are as many as color combinations you can think of.
In all fairness, and literal definitions aside…I have to agree with Ray. As sparse as Hans tied his Bugger, it looks more like the red tag of a Wooly Worm than the tail of a bugger. The marabou tail is usually tied much more full and longer to impart the marabou “dance” to the pattern.
chuckle
Call it as you wish - it will work regardless 
Cheers,
Hans W
I have always spelled it “Wooly Bugger”, and prefer dry fly hackle. If that makes it a different pattern, then so be it.
What came first, the Griffith Gnat or the Woolly Worm ? Probably the worm.
Hans,
Agreed, they will most all work regardless of the name. 
FWIW, that is a Wooly Bugger. Bit of an unusual color combination, but a bugger nonetheless. Dry fly hackle tied in that manner often works better than saddle hackle. If the saddle hackle is too soft, it will simply lay back against the body and provide little action.
also let’s not forget the “crackleback” which the FC fans love so much— a Woolly Worm with stiff hackle.
WOW…Summer Shack Nasties? Let’s all grab a rod and go fishing…
Brad
Really now, Brad has a point. Don’t you assume a fly tyed by anyone but the inventor is slightly different than the original? I do and will until proven otherwise on a regular basis. On of my favorite dries is what I call “Almost an Adams” It looks like an Adams unless you examine it closely, then you may notice a lack of wings and maybe brown hackle.
Will the real Wooly Bugger please stand up?
This is picking fly poop out of pepper!