Wooly Buggers or Fry Patterns

[Black-Don]

Malcolm,

You never cease to amaze me with some of the somewhat unconventional but obviously very effective patterns you've devised.  : :

That's a nice minnin' pattern Col, I'm thinking slow to fast sinker. 

[haresear]

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 :

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

[Darwin]

These work real well in the western US lakes.. http://stevenojai.tripod.com/sealbugger.htm  Should be good over yonder  :piper

[Rabmax]

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

[Black-Don]

These work real well in the western US lakes.. http://stevenojai.tripod.com/sealbugger.htm  Should be good over yonder  :piper

Oh, no we can't have that  :lol:

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 ?

[Rabmax]

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 . 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

[Black-Don]

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 . 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 ?

[Rabmax]

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.

[Inchlaggan]

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

[Inchlaggan]

Not that heavy, about the same as epoxy. I use it with and without lead wire.