Woolly Bugger

Hook: TMC 300 #4-12   

Thread: Black (or any color you wish to use) 6/0   

Tail: Black, brown, or olive marabou 

Body: Chenille (olive & purple are popular colors), leech yarn, polar chenille, ice chenille   

Ribbing: Thick gold oval tinsel or wires

Hackle: Black saddle hackle 

Options: Bead heads, cone heads, or Dumbbell eyes

Comments: This is one of my favorite early season flies.  To make a long story short, it is a good fly to learn how to catch trout - particularly large trout on.  In the spring when the water temperature warms up, large brown trout go on a feeding frenzy under the right conditions and presentation.  This is an easy fly to tie and can have many variations added to it.  Bead or cone heads add weight and color, as well as strands of Flashabou, Krystal Flash, etc.  Different colors of chenille can be used as well.   It should be tied in a variety of sizes, but I have found that in this area, #6 & #8 'buggers are the way to go.

Early Season Tips:   Give it some weight and let it sink to the bottom of the pools.  Twitch retrieve very slowly if the water temps are low.  The warmer the water, the more active the fish, the quicker the retrieve.  Cast it across and down current, letting it move sideways across the pool or run.