{{+1}}Double eyed, soft hackle dog nobbler{{-1}}

Whilst the woolly bugger was evolving in Pennsylvania USA from a fly designed by Russell Blessing to represent the local hellgrammite or dobsonfly nymphs, probably from the woolly worm pattern, at the same time in England a similar fly that became known as a dog nobbler was also evolving. Dog nobbler flies were heavily weighted for use in deeper water, were generally not palmered with a hackle and often were tied with bead chain eyes.

So, whilst many that see this fly may think it's just another variation of the well known woolly bugger I have chosen to call it a dog nobbler as it carries many of the traits of those earlier English dog nobbler flies.

Materials

Hook	Eyes	Thread	Tail	Tail Flash	Body	Front hackle
Hanak 260 BL #8 to #12 or Hanak 900BL #10 to 14	My preference is bead chain eyes but you can also use other double eyes such as "real eyes" or "dumbell eyes"	6/0 uni thread the same as or contrasting with the colour of the soft hackle	Marabou	Sparkle flash or equivilent	Estaz chenille or other similar material	Woolly bugger front hackle

Process

A	Tie the thread in touching turns over the first 10% of the hook shank then return the thread to the 95% position and tie in a set of double eyes. Tying in double eyes Then continue winding the thread in touching turns to the bend of the hook. A drop of super-glue on the figure of 8 tie in of the eyes is a good idea at this stage. Understanding hooks

B	Tie in a woolly bugger type tail of marabou with a couple of strands of sparkle flash. The finished tail should be around 2 times as long as the hook. Woolly bugger type tails

C	Select a length of body material and strip the first couple of millimetres back down to the central cord and tie the length of body material at the bend of the hook by that bare cord. Take the thread back down to behind the double eyes.

D	Wind the body material forward in tight touching turns to just short of the double eyes. Tie the body material off behind the double eyes and trim away the excess. Select a soft hackle with barbules about twice the length of the gape of the hook and tie it in by its tip directly behind the double eyes. Woolly bugger hackles

E	Trim the tip of the feather where it is tied in. Take two or three turns of the soft hackle behind the double eyes. Tie the soft hackle off and trim the butt off with a blade rather than scissors.