Red TBH CDC black fuzzel jig bugger

 

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.

Most jig hooks are suitable for this fly but my preferences are Hanak, Fulling Mills and Knapek.

I generally tie my jig buggers in two sizes:
#10 with a 3.5mm tungsten bead and #12 with a 3mm tungsten bead

My other jig buggers include:
Silver TBH CDC MKII black with red tag
Copper TBH CDC MKII olive with orange tag
Silver TBH CDC brown fuzzel bugger

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Materials:

 

Hook Tungsten jig bead Thread Tail Rib Body Under-hackle Front hackle
Jig hook #10 & #12 #10=3.5mm & #12=3.0 Uni 6/0 black Black marabou UTC med silver wire 50% Hairline UV black or Siman 14UV peacock black dubbing & 50% seals fur Black CDC hackle Crow hackle

Process

Process

 

A
  1. Jig hook beads are available in a great cross section of sizes and colours and in a smooth faceted surface as in this fly or a flat surface.
  2. Like normal fly tying beads they come with a thin opening and a wide opening at the other. The wide opening on jig beads is however slotted so that you can manoeuvre the bead over jig hook bend.
  3. Slide the bead onto the hook shank small opening first all the way to behind the eye of the hook.
  4. You generally need to rotate the bead round the hook shank as you move it along the hook shank in order to get it all the way to behind the hook shank.
  5. Wind the thread in touching turns to the bend of the hook.
  6. Tie in a marabou tail 1.0 to 1.5 times the length of the hook. For river buggers I don't tie the tail in any longer than 1.5 times the length of the hook as longer tails encourage short takes.
red-tbh-cdc-a

 

 

B
  1. Insert the end of silver wire into the slot of the bead and tie it in all the way along the top of the hook shank to the bend of the hook.
red-tbh-cdc-b

 

C
  1. Load your dubbing onto your thread and wind it forward to the 95% position build up a body that starts narrow at the bend of the hook and thickens up a little as you move up the fly.
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D
  1. Wind the wire forward forming 4 or 5 segment on the body of the fly.
  2. Take one final wrap of the wire behind the bead and then worry off the excess wire.
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E
  1. Using a section of Velcro tease out dubbing fibres evenly around the body of the fly. This is a great alternative to Palmering a hackle down the body of many flies.
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F
  1. Tie in a CDC hackle, by the tip, at the 95% position directly in front of the body.
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G
  1. Trim off the tip of the CDC hackle where it is tied in.
  2. Take two or three turns of the CDC hackle in the gap you left between the body and the eye of the hook but still leaving enough room to tie the front hackle in behind the bead.
  3. Tie the CDC hackle off and trim the butt with a blade rather than scissors.
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H
  1. Tie in a brown pheasant cock hackle directly behind the bead.
red-tbh-cdc-h

 

I
  1. Trim off the tip of the brown pheasant cock hackle where it is tied in.
  2. Take just one full wrap of the brown pheasant cock hackle directly behind the bead.
  3. Tie the brown pheasant cock hackle off and trim the butt with a blade rather than scissors.
red-tbh-cdc-i

 

J
  1. Whip finish behind the bead.
  2. Varnish the whip finish and the bead. If you don't varnish the bead some of them tarnish quite quickly.
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