Woolly buggers & variants
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My understanding is that the Woolly Bugger has its origins in America where it appears to be tied, as a leach imitation. having said that there is also an English fly with bead chin eyes called a Dog Nobler that is very similar to a traditional Woolly Bugger. Whatever the name or origin this style of fly is a great fish taker in a wide range of conditions. There are probably more variations to the Woolly Bugger than I have had breakfasts. Some are over-dressed some under-dressed, some weighted other not, on all sorts of hooks and in all sorts of colour combinations. Most will work sometimes but many are “once of” flies that don’t consistently take or attract fish.
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{{+1}}Shrek – Chatto’s viva{{-1}}
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It seems that these days the term 'VIVA' has been given to the very popular and successful colour combination of light green or chartreuse and black.{{end}}
Last Updated: April 20, 2023
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{{+1}}Olive epoxy bugger -silver TBH, UV spine & orange butt{{-1}}
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Because of the lack of body dressing and the epoxy body this fly sinks quickly and the mirage tinsel spine that I have added flashes, in a way I am confident will be enticing, to stocked rainbows in particular, as the fly is being worked back to the boat or shore are very enticing.{{end}}
Categories: Flies, Loch flies, Trout flies, Woolly buggers & variants
Tags: Ireland, rainbow trout, stocky bashing, UK 
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{{+1}}Black epoxy bugger – silver TBH, UV spine & red butt{{-1}}
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This fly is my take on one of the flies that was promoted by our 2018 Northern Ireland Commonwealth Fly Fishing Championships team guild as being a productive fly for use in the lakes that we fished there. Because of the lack of body dressing and the epoxy body this fly sinks quickly and apparently is great option for stocked rainbows in particular.{{end}}
Categories: Flies, Trout flies, Woolly buggers & variantsTags: buggers, epoxy, Ireland, Northern ireland, UK No Comments »
{{+1}}Red TBH CDC black fuzzel jig bugger{{-1}}
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This fly is one of a series of 4 woolly bugger flies that I tie specifically for river fishing and if I only had one woolly bugger in my river fishing fly box this would be the one.{{end}}
{{+1}}Silver TBH CDC black/red MKII fuzzel bugger{{-1}}
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MKII woolly buggers without any weight are amongst my favourite top dropper flies when loch style fly fishing in lakes and these smaller versions with a silver tungsten bead are up there amongst my favourite river flies.{{end}}
{{+1}}Silver TBH CDC black sparkle fuzzel bugger{{-1}}
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This one of the 4 colours of TBH jig buggers that I carry in my river fly box. It's a great buggy looking fly that sink well and swims hook point up so less likely to get hooked up on the bottom othan flies that swim hook point down.{{end}}
{{+1}}Gold TBH CDC brown fuzzel jig bugger{{-1}}
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These are the only woolly bugger type flies that I now carry in my river fly box. They are a step up from my earlier version in that I have added a CDC under wing directly behind the front hackle which I have reduced down to just one full turn. I tie them in sizes #10 and #12 in just 4 colours.{{end}}
{{+1}}Metalic pink TBH brown woolly bugger{{-1}}
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This is a variation of a bead head woolly bugger that has worked very well for me in Lake Eucumbene and Tantangara Reservoir on brown trout and on Lake Maroon for bass.{{end}}
{{+1}}Humungus – black and gold{{-1}}
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The tie of my fly is very close to David Downey's fusion of those two flies which he describes as perhaps the best still water fly in the world. I use it as a top dropper attractor and for that reason use a brass rather than a tungsten bead. Particularly in water that is a little discoloured I am confident this fly brings a lot of fish to my team.{{end}}
{{+1}}Todd’s Vampire (variant){{-1}}
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Based in Maple Ridge, B.C. Todd Oishi designed his "leach" (Vampires are also a blood sucker hence the name) fly with a tail of black rabbit fur or black marabou and with Vampire Vippy as the body. I have not been able to find any Vampire Vippy and tie my Vampires with UV straggle fritz.{{end}}