Fishing woolly bugger on small streams

salmo

salmo

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I'm not exactly sure if this is in the correct forum, but here it goes anyway. What is the best way to fish a woolly bugger early in the season on a small stream? Would you fish it upstream and strip it back? Fish it across and let it swing down and strip it back like a wet fly? Or cast straight down stream and strip it back. I have never had any luck with streamers and nymphs but keep on trying.
 
Depends on the water. I've had success con small streams casting the up into the bottom of a riffle and letting them tumble into a pool to be taken by fish at the head of the pool. I've had success swinging them like a wet fly. I've also had success getting it down through the length of a deep pool and taken on the rise at the end of the pool.

In slower water I do better if they get down to the bottom.
 
Yea, depends on the run. However, through a run you can always pitch it 3/4 upstream, mend upstream once or twice, and then strip it in just before it's across from you. Deadly.

But seriously, this could be like Bubba talking about shrimp. You can dangle it in the current, dead drift it, strip it fast, strip it slow, sink it, no weight, etc, etc. It's such a great pattern because it's so versatile.
 
salmo wrote:
I'm not exactly sure if this is in the correct forum, but here it goes anyway. What is the best way to fish a woolly bugger early in the season on a small stream? Would you fish it upstream and strip it back? Fish it across and let it swing down and strip it back like a wet fly? Or cast straight down stream and strip it back. I have never had any luck with streamers and nymphs but keep on trying.
Click to expand...

Yes to all of the above :)

Dead drift, upstream or downstream. Slow strip. Dap it under rocks. Let it tumble into a plunge pool. There's really no wrong way to fish it.
 
You might have to fish it a few different ways to see how the fish react. If your getting follows on the down and across technique, that shows the fish are feeding aggressively, and a quicker retrieve could do well. Or fish your steamer like a nymph, and dead drift it through a run, or undercut if they are not reacting to your fly on the swing. Experiment around, and it's only a matter of time before you start getting in to some fish.
 
I have more success with buggers in moving water, not so much in slack water. I like to cast it upstream and let it sink as it rolls down stream, dead drifting. Mend your line as it drifts (not too much slack) so you can detect a take, sometimes the bugger will stop and you think you're snagged but alas it is a trout.

Depending upon flows you might want to add weight accordingly, it can be fished with or without weight but for dead drifting, especially early season I like to get it down deep.

At the end of the drift I like to let it hang in the current, gently pump it and see how long you can hang it out there. Then use your imagination on retrieve, jerks, slow steady, sometimes I'll sweep the rod back quickly for a super fast retrieve which sometimes gets hit.

Small streams are tougher but work the pockets, behind rocks, in the short run pools. If the trout are actively feeding they will come after it.
 
I'm just gonna come out an say it:
It's cheating.
There are two keys to fishing a bugger on small streams.
1. Size 10 small tail- hook at the very back of tail.
Olive, black , white, brown are all you need.

2. Fish Fast going downstream and swing, dip and pull back going upstream. Cover water, The fish hook themselves.

See for yourself on a Brookie stream but it's cheating. ;-)
 
How far do you guys normally place your split shot away from the woolly bugger? I never have much success with them but I'm probably not fishing them correctly.
 
Tie or buy ones with a cone head for weight - on small streams this is the perfect amount of weight, usually gets it close to the bottom by the time you have gotten the line under control for the retrieve. Always felt like they are more likely to take it if it is getting stripped back within 6" of the bottom. Mend to keep it down if you have to. Some days they'll just crush it no matter where it is. Early season is a great time to fish them, many times I haven't used anything but olive conehead buggers for an entire day. But as the season goes on and the water gets lower, buggers are best used before 10 a.m. in my experience. The all-day bite may not last through this week coming up as we head into hatch season.
 
huntfish wrote:
How far do you guys normally place your split shot away from the woolly bugger? I never have much success with them but I'm probably not fishing them correctly.
Click to expand...

Probably not your standard response but if I do fish shot with buggers, I often pinch them on right as close to the hook as I can. Or use cone or bead heads as sarce suggested. Or tie the bugger with lead wire or tape.
 
I honestly don't know if there is a way to fish them wrong. That being said dead drifting a size 10 olive bugger seems to always save the day or make it a great one.
 
Like others said, no wrong way to do it and it all depends on the particular run. I tied up some small micro buggers on a 2x 14 wet fly hook. Black, Short tail, a little bit of flash, and a red bead head, and they work awesome on brookies. After a drifting dry fly droppers for a few hours, it's a fun change to switch to using streamers. Plus it'll weed out some of the fingerling sized brookies that can't physically get the hook in their mouth, but they'll still try.
 
salmo wrote:
I'm not exactly sure if this is in the correct forum, but here it goes anyway. What is the best way to fish a woolly bugger early in the season on a small stream? Would you fish it upstream and strip it back? Fish it across and let it swing down and strip it back like a wet fly? Or cast straight down stream and strip it back. I have never had any luck with streamers and nymphs but keep on trying.
Click to expand...
Well it varies with the water, and it's not consistent. I've fish up across and down all on the same stream and all at different times of the year. The only way to know is to try one way and see what happens. My experience is though that this time of the year my bet is on downstream.
 
Try drifting a #12-10 bugger under an indicator. Just like a nymph. Very effective.
 
huntfish wrote:
How far do you guys normally place your split shot away from the woolly bugger? I never have much success with them but I'm probably not fishing them correctly.
Click to expand...

I only buy tungsten head buggers for this reason. No need for split shot and the tungsten gets it down where I need it for my style of fishing. I would rather error on the side of being lower in the water than have a lure above the feeding zone.
 
The only way a wooly bugger can be fished wrong is if it isn't in the water. Seriously, the pattern is an incredible and versatile fly. Another forum member and myself hit a wild trout stream yesterday and landed 14 fish in a couple hours, all of them on buggers.....then again, that's the only fly we threw all day.
 
My best results are on a swing. I cast slightly up stream, mend a few times then let the line pull the bugger across the stream. I like it to stay sideways in the current so a trout can see what looks like to be a struggling bait fish. A lot of times at the end of the swing I will let it just sit there for about 15 seconds and have gotten hits this way as well. If you see a really fishy looking spot in the water position yourself so that the end of your swing will end up right in front of that spot.
 
Also helps to tie the bugger on with some sort of non-slip mono loop knot. It will sink faster and also have a lot more movement.
 
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