Hello all i want to tie up some woolly buggers to try mainly at the start of the season before things warm up & hoping it might bring a few large trout :). I have read on here that a few people use them & found this http://www.wildfisher.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=4900.0;topicseen in the database & also thought this looked interesting . http://www.flyguysoutfitting.com/articulatedbugger.html .Can anyone advise on a few easy patterns they have success with on rivers
Personally I like to use a small zonker pattern tied to represent a minnow. Natural mink strip in a standard size 8 or 10 hook. I have stopped leading these patterns instead prefering to use an intermediate line for more control.
As for the fish caught, nothing really large but there have been a few that I was happy with. Not a cure for everything when things are slow but it does work and not enough people use this method on rivers.
cheers
Paul
You won't go far wrong with Scotfly's Wooly Bugger or variations on that theme. Matuka's are a good bet with the original Ace of Spades and it's variants being a hot favourite too.
I dare say the articulated fly will catch just as well or maybe even better than the original but whether the results would be worth the additional hassle is debatable.
I don't really use them for Broonies but some folk ( you know who you are :wink: :roll: ) use fritz flies and humungus variants.
Have a few ideas now to tie a couple of patterns but as i have have never used Marabou before what should i buy.Is it this stuff i Need to buy http://www.lathkill.com/shop/index.php?categoryID=191. Also what colours do people feel works best for brown trout. Cheers. :D
Hi Rab
Oliver Edwards says Black, White & Olive will cover most bases for Streamers.
I ususally use Oliver, well I say usually only tried it three times and caught once !
I do believe that the thinking that Streamers will work early season as there is little fly life is probably incorrest. I have used streamers on numerous occasions early season and caught feck all, however they seem to work better in the summer when the fish are more active.
The fish need to be active to chase a streamer pattern and may not do this early in the season, preferring to wait for any fly life that there is to come to them? :?
It's a good technique though from what I have read
Cheers
Stuart
Hi Rab, try here
http://www.ekmpowershop3.com/ekmps/shops/flyfishingworld/marabou-sunburst-collection-range-14-c.asp (http://www.ekmpowershop3.com/ekmps/shops/flyfishingworld/marabou-sunburst-collection-range-14-c.asp)
or here
http://wellbanklochans.co.uk/cgi-bin/sh000001.pl?REFPAGE=http%3a%2f%2fwellbanklochans%2eco%2euk%2fcgi%2dbin%2fss000001%2epl%3fSS%3dmarabou%26PR%3d%2d1%26TB%3dA%26SHOP%3d&WD=bloods%20marabou&PN=copy_of_Veniards_2007%2ehtml%23a3473#a3473 (http://wellbanklochans.co.uk/cgi-bin/sh000001.pl?REFPAGE=http%3a%2f%2fwellbanklochans%2eco%2euk%2fcgi%2dbin%2fss000001%2epl%3fSS%3dmarabou%26PR%3d%2d1%26TB%3dA%26SHOP%3d&WD=bloods%20marabou&PN=copy_of_Veniards_2007%2ehtml%23a3473#a3473)
In this second link you need to go almost to the bottom of the page for Turkey Marabou. Phone Neil ( 01307 466366 ) at Angus Angling who runs the shop and tell him what you're looking for. He'll keep you right with colours but I'd suggest a dark / damsel olive colour for the olive you'll need for most applications including Wooly Buggers.
Quote from: col on January 07, 2011, 05:20:21 PM
ive been using a wee minnow pattern too i'll stick up a picture later.
Hmm, early season on rivers, eet'sa nice Meester Col.
Look forward to it. :wink: :)
Quote from: Harpo on January 07, 2011, 03:15:56 PM
Hi Rab
Oliver Edwards says Black, White & Olive will cover most bases for Streamers.
Cheers
Stuart
I must have forgot Mr Edwards said Black White & Olive as i have watched the DVD .I look forward too seeing your minnow pattern Col .I know how & when to fish a minnow as i have been fishing minnows most of my life until i became obsessed by the Dry Fly about 2 years ago. :D If fishing streamers is half as effective as the natural minnow i should do OK. Cheers
I like that a lot Col :D
Norm
I've often wondered how my high water sea trout and salmon pattern, the Endrick Bug, would do for brownies on normal trout rivers. It catches a lot of sea trout and I've had some very big accidental brownies on it too. here it is dry and wetted up
Malcolm,
You never cease to amaze me with some of the somewhat unconventional but obviously very effective patterns you've devised. :8) :8)
That's a nice minnin' pattern Col, I'm thinking slow to fast sinker. :)
Wooly buggers and the like have caught me a few fish. Nothing big in the UK yet, but I have some new babies to try out this year :8)
A few alternative ideas for lures to try on rivers...
wooly sculpin, zoocougar, sex dungeon :shock:
Up until now I've pretty much stuck with the brown, black, olive colour scheme in pretty coloured water, but I know a few guys who have had very big fish on very large bright yellow or red and yellow lures, so maybe it is time to open our minds.
Like bibio1, I now mostly prefer to use a sinking line to control the depth rather than a heavily weighted fly. Up until recently this has been a Cortland 333 fast sink-tip, but I've just bout an airflo :shock: deep water express or something for fishing rivers.
I thought Harpo raised a good point when he suggested that lures not particularly good in early season. That makes sense as the fry are in the shallows as the water warms and the warming water means trout are more inclined to feed aggressively and chase their prey. I certainly find trout more inclined to chase lures in summer rather than spring. Not that I catch them :(
Alex
These work real well in the western US lakes.. http://stevenojai.tripod.com/sealbugger.htm (http://stevenojai.tripod.com/sealbugger.htm) Should be good over yonder :piper
Quote from: Harpo on January 07, 2011, 03:15:56 PM
Hi Rab
Oliver Edwards says Black, White & Olive will cover most bases for Streamers.
I ususally use Oliver, well I say usually only tried it three times and caught once !
I do believe that the thinking that Streamers will work early season as there is little fly life is probably incorrest. I have used streamers on numerous occasions early season and caught feck all, however they seem to work better in the summer when the fish are more active.
The fish need to be active to chase a streamer pattern and may not do this early in the season, preferring to wait for any fly life that there is to come to them? :?
It's a good technique though from what I have read
Cheers
Stuart
Hello all this goes against what i found when i fished the natural minnow.Early season is often the best time & during summer when the river is running high.Typically on Rivers & Lochs early season you would fish your minnow deep & very slow right on the bottom for best results.During summer spates i often fished a well weighted minnow Czech Nymph style before i knew what Czech Nymphing was.Maybe haresears sinking line approach & a minnow fly slightly weighted so the hook sticks upwards trundled alone the bottom early season is the ticket.That fly Col uses looks the business do you know what size your 3D eyes are that fly also are they robust when stuck with 5 mim epoxy Col .Cheers
Quote from: Darwin on January 08, 2011, 04:29:24 AM
These work real well in the western US lakes.. http://stevenojai.tripod.com/sealbugger.htm (http://stevenojai.tripod.com/sealbugger.htm) Should be good over yonder :piper
Oh, no we can't have that :lol:
(http://stevenojai.tripod.com/images/sealbugger/sealbugger.jpg)
Quote from: Rabmax on January 08, 2011, 11:41:32 AM
Hello all this goes against what i found when i fished the natural minnow.Early season is often the best time & during summer when the river is running high.Typically on Rivers & Lochs early season you would fish your minnow deep & very slow right on the bottom for best results.During summer spates i often fished a well weighted minnow Czech Nymph style before i knew what Czech Nymphing was.Maybe haresears sinking line approach & a minnow fly slightly weighted so the hook sticks upwards trundled alone the bottom early season is the ticket.That fly Col uses looks the business do you know what size your 3D eyes are that fly also are they robust when stuck with 5 mim epoxy Col .Cheers
Rab, how do you fish the natural minnow ?
Are you using barrel weights and fishing it diver style or are you just hooking it through the back or lip ?
Quote from: guest on January 08, 2011, 11:59:59 AM
Oh, no we can't have that :lol:
Rab, how do you fish the natural minnow ?
Are you using barrel weights and fishing it diver style or are you just hooking it through the back or lip ?
I grew up fishing it & only stopped about 2 years ago most of my mates still fish it.I used to fish Hill lochs often in the summer months & sometimes i would bump into the occasional fly fisher who would tell me he would have 3 or 4 trout but i would often have 30 or more.I never fish for pike but have caught plenty fishing for trout even when you scare a pike from the side.Just watch the v shape caused by the pike & cast the minnow near & watch the v shape turn towards your minnow then hold on stupid fish :D. As for tackle i used both diving ones & ones with Perspex wings .Some shops sell minnow tackles but they tend to be crap so we have molds & make our own.If you want some PM me your details & i will send you some. Black Don
Quote from: Rabmax on January 08, 2011, 01:44:25 PM
I grew up fishing it & only stopped about 2 years ago most of my mates still fish it.I used to fish Hill lochs often in the summer months & sometimes i would bump into the occasional fly fisher who would tell me he would have 3 or 4 trout but i would often have 30 or more.I never fish for pike but have caught plenty fishing for trout even when you scare a pike from the side.Just watch the v shape caused by the pike & cast the minnow near & watch the v shape turn towards your minnow then hold on stupid fish :D. As for tackle i used both diving ones & ones with Perspex wings .Some shops sell minnow tackles but they tend to be crap so we have molds & make our own.If you want some PM me your details & i will send you some. Black Don
Aye, those minnow mounts never were much good. 30 troots in a day is a good score by the way. What kind of hooks did you used to use and how did you get the minnins down deep if you wanted to ?
I can't post a picture of my minnow tackles as i have lost the cable to connect my camera to my PC.I found this one that looks similar to what i used on small rivers. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Allcock-2-Natural-Dead-Bait-Minnow-Mount-Rig-/160499218841?pt=UK_SportingGoods_FishingAcces_RL&hash=item255e7fb999 On larger rivers or lochs the lead would be tapered & nearly double this length.Also with lead being soft if you bend the tackle at the tail your minnow fishes like a wounded minnow.This must be how your jointed Rapala got designed & Articulated Woolly Buggers. :D
Quote from: col on January 08, 2011, 05:52:35 PM
I usually tie my buggers with a bead followed by some lead wire, then superglue the wire---but i'm finding the pattern slips with time and sometimes very little use at all. Can anyone reccomend a suitable-strong superglue for this use, i was using loctite gel.
I use "Milliput", a two-part epoxy modelling material. It starts off much like Plasticine, you cut equal quantities of the two parts, mix with your fingers and mold arould the hook/ lead wire. It adds weight and allows you to build a body shape. Sadly I have no step by step photographs, but if there is any interest I'll do some.
In the meantime see this site-
http://www.milliput.com/home.htm
Not that heavy, about the same as epoxy. I use it with and without lead wire.
Quote from: col on January 08, 2011, 05:52:35 PM
found in clearwater rivers they can produce in otherwise dead water. Ie flowless flats .
Hi Col, plenty of flowless flats on the Almond :roll:, would you class that as Clearwater? i've often found those parts of the Almond impossible to fish for unless as you say there are rising fish to go for.
And to everyone, how do you fish your streamers/lures? I tried casting it up stream and across last year, leaving it to settle and then stripping it back just fater than the current. It seems like a good tactic but only worked the once for me.
I worry that this "lines" the fish.
Also tried down and across whoch was easier to fish, but didn't seem that way a natiral bait fish would swim :?
watch how Ollies casts his streamer in this vid, you don't see much but it's at 17 seconds, this technique works well and it's worth watching his streamer fishing lesson on dvd
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XujYjEcyGK8
Quote from: Ardbeg on January 08, 2011, 11:27:30 PM
Variation is the key Stu, also try casting across and slightly upstream with a big downward stream mend. The fly will wheech past the troot and hopefully instinct will make it grab the flee.
Ardbeg
Thats the way I fish mine mostly for seatrout and salmon. I've seen them torpedo after the fly and they often take it just as the fly starts to slow down
Quote from: bibio1 on January 06, 2011, 10:22:48 PM
Personally I like to use a small zonker pattern tied to represent a minnow. Natural mink strip in a standard size 8 or 10 hook. I have stopped leading these patterns instead prefering to use an intermediate line for more control.
As for the fish caught, nothing really large but there have been a few that I was happy with. Not a cure for everything when things are slow but it does work and not enough people use this method on rivers.
cheers
Paul
Totally agree - I don't fish buggers, a rabbit strip or mink strip for smaller patterns is definitely the way to go. The ones I'm using are about 3'' long, and they're deadly :lol: I'd say it's worth exploring at home with a real large streamer, it might be slow but when you do tempt something, it's going to be a good fish. Don't f*ck about: :lol:
(http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5134/5412824746_27830d2835_z.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/scottloudon/5412824746/)
Also when you're out streamer fish, try dead drifting like a dry fly - you may be rather surprised at the results :8) Harpo - just saw your post, don't worry about lining fish - it's inevitable if you can't see them. I've found fish quite tolerant of it if they are deep.
I fish with both "zonkers" and "wooly Buggers". I'd say I have more success with wooly buggers but the lure that I actually catch most of my troots on is a 1/2" tube fly that was orginally tied for sea trout fishing :dunno
Norm