Banded bugger

 

A similar fly to a Shrek or Bloody Mary this fly is distinguished by the bands of fuzelled seals fur and holographic tinsel along the full length of the body. This is a particularly good point fly early and late in the season when the browns and bows are getting ready to make their spawn run. Brown with red or gold tinsel as well as olive with green tinsel also work well.

Materials

Hook Thread Bead Tail Rib Body Front hackle
Medium shank such as Tiemco 3769 Black For #8 hook a 3.2 mm tungsten bead works well Marabou Fine holographic tinsel Seals fur Crow breast feather

Process

A
  1. Thread your bead onto the hook small opening first.
  2. Wind the thread from behind the bead to the bend of the hook in close turns.
  3. Tie in a length of holographic tinsel along the hook shank to the bend of the hook.I have all my tinsels on bobbins and permanently loaded onto a bobbin holder. By doing this I minimise wastage and make the winding process easier.

B
  1. Tie in a woolly bugger type tail. I don't add the tinsel as in the traditional woolly bugger type tail but you can if you think your fly needs the extra bit of flash.

C
  1. Using the single strand method of dubbing build up a uniform boady along the full length of the hook shank. On this size #8 hook the body is about 3 mm diameter.

D
  1. Wind your tinsel forward with a gap about as wide as the tinsel between each wrap of tinsel.
  2. Tie the tinsel off behind the bead and trim the excess.
  3. Tie in by the tip a hackle with barbules about twice as long as the gape of the hook.

E
  1. Trim the hackle tip away.
  2. Take just 1 or 2 turns of the front hackle depending on the thickness of the barbules.
  3. Wind your thread through the hackle tying it into place.
  4. Trim the excess hackle away with a blade.

F
  1. Stroke the hackles back and lock them in place with several wraps of thread creating a narrow collar behind the bead.
  2. Whip finish behind the bead. I generally just do one or two quad hitches by hand.
  3. Trim the thread and varnish the collar and the bead. If you don't varnish the bead they tarnish quickly.



Last Updated: September 6, 2011
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Categories: Flies, Woolly buggers & variants
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