How do i fly fish with a Woolly Bugger?

Question

I know they are effective, but what is the best way to fish them?

Answer 1

Depends on the fish...I use it for both smallmouth and trout. When fishing for smallmouth, i try to move slowly around rocks. For trout, I fish it across shoals and let it drift into the pocket with some small stripping motions. I use no weight or strike indicator. Usually kills them on White River here in Arkansas.

Answer 2

The Woolly Bugger is one of my first 'Go To' flies when I get to a lake, especially if I do not know the lake, meaning if I have never fished it before.

In a lake, the Woolly Bugger is a great fly for finding the fish.

My favorite way is to start with an intermediate clear or camo line with about 4 to 5 feet of fluorocarbon leader or tippet attached then the fly. The Woolly Bugger is usually a black or an olive green to start with. If those don't produce then I put on an brown and after that a white Woolly Bugger. You can either use a bead head or one with some lead built in near the head of the fly when you tie it. I don't use a really heavy bead head or cone head, just a Woolly Bugger with enough weight to get it to sink, allowing the line to control the depth and not a heavily weighted fly. I cast out as much line as I can, doesn't matter how much, because you then start moving (I use a WaterMaster Raft which allows me to either kick with my fins or row with the oars. Pontoon boats are good also. If you are using a float tube then you should use the second method I will mention. You could also do this in a boat with either oars or an electric motor.

Move your craft very slowly, stripping out line as you go until all of your intermediate line is out except 3 wraps on the reel. The idea here is to get the fly as far behind the boat as possible in undisturbed water. Slowly move your boat in varying speeds, this causes the intermediate fly line to vary in depth since you are searching for the fish. Move your boat in a series of small zig zags, as this causes changes the speed of a fly and the depth.

Have very little drag on the reel. If a big fish hits, they are sometimes moving a freight train speed (or so it seems) as they make the grab for the fly. Let them run with the fly until they slow down, then just pull up on the rod. There is so much line out that the drag of the line in the water is setting the hook, you just have to keep the tension on the line. If you try to set the hook when the fish first grabs the fly then you will break off more fish than you catch, and the ones you are breaking off are the really big fish, the ones you really want to catch. The best thing you can do is have your rod in a rod holder. That way you don't do that instinctive jerk on the rod to set the hook, it is a hard habit to break.

The second method to move the fly is to have all that line out then move the boat/raft/float tube until the line is straight. Stop. Wait a few seconds for the boat to stop then strip in 15 to 20 feet of line, using various strips, like some short ones, a few long ones, a strip-pause-strip, until you get a fish to hit, then remember what you were doing. Anyway, strip in 15 to 20 feet, then snake shake your line back out onto the water and move your boat again until the line is once again straight behind your boat. Stop. Repeat over and over again. This method is getting your fly to a variety of depths and speeds and movements within the water. Sooner or later you will find what the fish want.

If you are in a deep lake and you get no action using the intermediate line, you can put on a sink tip line and go down deeper, also using a Woolly Bugger with more weight on it.

At night, right after sunset, is my favorite time to be out on the lake. Everyone else has headed in as the shadows works their way across the lake. Once it turns dark you usually have around 45 minutes to 1 hour of fantastic fishing. Use a floating fly line and a large black Woolly Bugger. Cast it out 35 to 40 feet and either slowly work it in or slowly troll. Have very little drag on your reel. This is the time of evening when the big fish come up from the depths where they have been resting all day and they feed like crazy for a short while. Be prepared for some heavy hits and great fun.

It only lasts a short while because the eyes of the fish then start to change from their day time vision to their night time vision. During that change they can't see very well and they stop feeding until the change takes place. Then they will move into the shallows and other areas of the lake and feed for most of the night.

Another way to fish the Woolly Bugger in a lake is to use a floating fly line and a smaller sized 14 or 12 brown Woolly Bugger that has virtually no weight added to it. If the shoreline has an area of reeds, move in and start casting towards the reeds in the shallow water (that's the reason for no weight). In the early morning or during an overcast day or when the wind is giving a little chop or ripple to the water the fish feel safer in shallow water from predators and they move in towards the reeds. There is a lot of insect life that lives in the reeds and often times the wind will knock those insects into the water. Another insect that really likes the reeds or rocky areas are the Dragonfly Nymphs. Those things work the shallows looking for other insect nymphs and larva to eat. They also use the reeds to climb out on when they are ready to transform. Trout have figured this out and a Dragonfly nymph is a tasty meal to them.
You cast in as close as you can get or if the reeds are spread out a bit, the into the reeds a little ways and slowly work the fly back towards you for up to 10 feet, then pick up the line off the water and cast in again, slowly working the shoreline. Keep an eye out for rock outcroppings and other structure that affords the fish a little protection.

That covers the lakes fairly well.

Now for rivers and streams.

Many rivers, especially out west, have a lot of stonefly nymphs in them. They vary in size and color. They live in the rocks on the bottom of the river and then start migrating towards the edge of the river to be ready to climb out onto the rocks and brush for when they transform. Fish are very aware of this and they work the rocks on the bottom, always looking for insect life. But when the stonefly nymphs start working their way towards the edge, the trout move in very close to the edge of the river, right up against the bank or shore. That is where the stonefly nymph is most vulnerable, that last few feet in shallow water as it tries to crawl out of the water and that is where the fish are waiting for them. Use a black or olive Woolly Bugger, cast it upstream right along the shore. Don't cast it a long way as you want to be able to keep total control of the line. The idea is to have the Woolly Bugger drift back towards you, drag free, and for you to start raising your rod higher to keep the slack out of the line. Let the fly go by you and then pick it up and toss it along side the bank again. Do this a few times then move a step or two upstream and do it again.

Also, you can use a heavier Woolly Bugger and cast into the deep pockets you find in streams and rivers, getting down to the bottom and working the fly back towards you. Fish will mistake it for a stonefly nymph or a leach or a smaller fish, who knows, but they will take the fly.

Hope this helps. As you can tell, I really like the Woolly Bugger and fish them a lot, especially in the lakes.

Larry