Hackle for Wooley Buggers

[UncleShorty]

What kind do you use? Have you tried the Whiting "Bugger Packs"?

I've got some OLD saddle hackle that I've had since the disco era. It's not very good, it's webby and too short, (I'm tying #10 3 xl hooks).

What can I get that's better and isn't going to break the materials budget, (which, it turns out, is quite a bit smaller than the shoes budget for SWMBO...)?

 

[nfrechet]

i'd use up that old saddle first

do you have a dry fly neck that has a lot of larger feathers on the sides that wont be used for anything?

buy some inexpensive strung hackles

hell i use the feathers from a 25+ year old metz neck and they work just great

 

[Heritage-Angler]

^^^What Normand said.

You can always use one of the saddle feathers to palmer up the body, tie it off, then tie in another one to make a hackle collar near the eye - if that's the look you want.

 

[troutbert]

Use whatever you got. The trout won't care.

A wooly bugger is just a "fuzzy bug" type of fly, so the hackle requirements aren't critical.

 

[Maurice]

troutbert wrote:
Use whatever you got. The trout won't care.

A wooly bugger is just a "fuzzy bug" type of fly, so the hackle requirements aren't critical.

I agree it don't matter but where do you get off down playing the Wooly bugger as "just a fuzzy bug type of fly?" Its a streamer, crayfish, stonefly, etc...about the only thing it doesn't immitate is a green rock worm and a little chartreuse chenille will rectify that in a jiffy.

 

[pabrookie94]

I'm going to defend the "fuzzy" wooly bugger here and say that they're fish catch machines. I dead drift, swing, strip, etc. them and they always seem to produce even on tough days.

As for what material I use the Whiting Bugger packs are the best $20 I spent for flies like these. I use the correct sizes for my buggers, smaller and larger feathers for musky flies, other streamers, etc.

 

[troutbert]

Wooly Buggers are great.

And Wooly Buggers are a fuzzy bug type of fly.

No need to "defend" WBs, because I'm not attacking them.

I've fished with them for decades, and still do.

"Fuzzy bug" is not a negative thing for flies. Fuzzy bugs are good. Trout like fuzzy bugs.

 

[jeremymcon]

I just use cheap strung saddle hackle. Hareline strung hackle or "wooly bugger" hackle has been consistently decent for me. But basically what I like in a wooly bugger hackle is long feathers and fairly stiff barbs. But i will use the webby feathers too, as I find it hard to believe it makes much difference to the fish - I just like the way the fly looks with fairly stiff barbed hackles.

 

[jifigz]

Using the Hareline Bugger hackle improved the appearance of my buggers tremendously as compared to any cheap saddle hackle. Not only does the Hareline bugger hackle improve my buggers but it is cheap to boot. Like everyone sale said though, the fish probably couldn't care less.

 

[nfrechet]

pretty buggers for fishermen

ugly fuzzy buggers for fish

🙂

 

[mike_richardson]

I am with you guys. my favorite hackle to use is grizzly from the ouside edges. They look goofy to a tyer but the trout like them.

 

[outsider]

I tend to use whatever I have, including dry fly capes that are decades old, before real quality necks were available. The larger feathers were very webby. My favorite is a black and grizzly wooly bugger.

 

[tctrout]

I really prefer to use "buggier" feathers, found on the ends of necks and saddles. My favorite is called schlappen, and I get it from Clearwater Hackle.

Schlappen from Clearwater Hackle

TC