Need advice on my first decent Wooly Buggers

[RCFetter]

My first two presentable wooly buggers on size 8 streamer hooks. After I felt comfortable with the bead head I started tying w/o the bead and had problems with the head and whip finishing. Without the bead I kept tangling the thread with the hackle and the knot slipping off of the hook eye.

I’m not sure about the marabou tail length. Online videos and pics show a long tail but my store bought WBs have a shorter tail. Plus, I saw in an older thread that streamer tails should not be too long b/c of short strikes or something like that.

Also, I’m not sure about the hackle. Is it too large or are there too many wraps?

Any help and critiques will be appreciated.

 

[miltiades]

Looks good. Theyre supposed to be messy so dont worry about perfection

 

[dc410]

They look good. I think the length of your tails are about right. Here are a couple of tips or ideas for wooly buggers to consider when tying buggers.

1. Whenever I tie a marabou tail I always trim the center stem out of the feather at the tip. You will get a lot better action out of your marabou tail if you get rid of that stem.
2. Rabbit strip has great action and makes a really good substitute for marabou on the tail of any bugger.
3. Very fine ultra wire counterwrapped back over top of your palmered hackle will add a load of durability to the fly. You will trap some fibers when doing this but using very fine wire and weaving it back and forth generally does a nice job to reinforce that feather. It will buy you a few extra fish on every bugger.

 

[jeremymcon]

Yup i think they look good. They should definitely catch fish! There are plenty of things that you can do to pretty them up a little, but nothing that's really necessary.

For example, I usually add some ultra wire as a counter rib - looks nice, and helps protect the hackle to make the fly a little more durable. Also, on the bead head one, I would have used fewer turns of hackle. But for a wooly bugger I can't imagine it makes any difference - I just like the looks of a slightly more sparse bugger. I like the hackle on the non bead version.

Another thing I do is break or cut off the tips of the marabou feather - you can see that the tail on the bead head one was tied with the very tips, which can be a little thin and stringy. I learned that tip from tighlinevideo on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ku1-lnkKzI

I think the head on the non-bead version looks good. I almost always trap a couple hackle fibers when whip finishing - I just cut them off after I'm done.

I also subscribe to the "short strike" theory, so try to keep my tails pretty short. Can't say for sure though if it makes any difference - just something I do.

 

[codym21]

If your having trouble with the hackle getting in the way when your whip finishing try licking your fingers and brushing the hackle back.
That should make it easier for you

 

[djs12354]

They look darn decent to me, RC. Take them out and see what the final critics have to say. My bet is that they will approve!

 

[lv2nymph]

Yea, you'll take fish with those bad boys, remember they'll work in warm water too.

 

[RCFetter]

Thanks guys. I appreciate the advice. I know what you mean about the tips and I watched a video on how to wrap the hackle with wire.

I know the WB does not have to be perfect but I trying to follow Afish's advice in an older thread where he said start with 1 fly and when you get that one down move on to the next.

Also, I've browsing prior posts in the forum's fly tying section. So far I'm back to Feb 2012. The body of knowledge in this forum is awesome.