Stonefly Woolly Bugger

[Steeltrap]

Has anyone ever used this fly? Doesn't appear to difficult to tie, but just wondering how effective it is.....before I tie up several and they don't catch anything.

 

[Skeet6]

Looks fishy to me. If a regular bugger would work, so would this!
Mike B
PS: is there a recipe around?

 

[Steeltrap]

This fly is on the Orvis site. I can't find a specific recipe anywhere.....but a close up look at it, the wing appears to be motted turkey feather, tail is like every other Bugger, and the body I'm thinking a brushed synthetic dubbing? That's my best guess.

 

[tomgamber]

Looks like extra work to me but i don't tie for the fun of it any longer. I tie when I need to.

 

[sandfly]

tail= maribou
body= brown dubbing
wingcase= raffia

 

[PennKev]

sandfly wrote:
tail= maribou
body= brown dubbing
wingcase= raffia

The pattern in the OP's pic is clearly using turkey quill segments as the wing case and appears to also incorporate soft hackle fibers as legs.

 

[Steeltrap]

I attempted to tie one using....1st try a turkey feather.....2nd try I used a hen pheasant tail fibers......Neither one was acceptable so I cut off all of the materials and tied up a Muddler.

I have some brown thin-skin that may work.....or may not. I think I'll just go back and stick with flies I know work.

 

[LongLineRelease]

Try the Swiss straw route suggested by sandfly. It’s very forgiving. More so than feathers or thin skin.

 

[blueheron]

I drift stonefly nymphs and then crawl them at the end of the drift.
I sometimes drift buggers but usually treat them as a streamer. Sounds like a gimmick to me, not to say it wouldn’t catch something.

 

[Tigereye]

Looking at bottom of tail, it looks like a piece of rabbit strip, ie zonker strip with Marabou on top. It may also be incorporated in the body some how.

Are they trying to build a better mouse trap here? Also of fuss for what essentially is a wooly bigger.

 

[sandfly]

that is the orvis pattern, the pic is a copy and its as I said above with raffia. penkev it is coated in the pic with laquer
I still have a few from when I worked at orvis look just like that

 

[PennKev]

Where can you get rafia thst is mottled light and dark like a turkey quill? Im confused as to whether you stated the materials for the pictured fly or the ones you have. Either way, I stand by my assessment of the materials used in the pictured fly.

 

[sandfly]

pennkev, you are not seeing mottled raffia but coated brown raffia to protect it from shredding.

 

[sandfly]

A few I do

 

[PennKev]

sandfly wrote:
pennkev, you are not seeing mottled raffia but coated brown raffia to protect it from shredding.

Nope.

That's turkey in the OP picture.

 

[tomgamber]

I'm with PK on this. You can see the individual quill fibers. The mottling is too perfect as well. Not that you couldn't use Swiss straw or something similar.

 

[Steeltrap]

Well, I tried to get a turkey feather to "fold" like that and keep together. I could not do that. I applied head cement to the feather first to help keep the fibers together. Still no luck.

I'm sure there is a way to fold turkey feathers like that.....I just don't have that knowledge.

 

[tomgamber]

Steeltrap wrote:
Well, I tried to get a turkey feather to "fold" like that and keep together. I could not do that. I applied head cement to the feather first to help keep the fibers together. Still no luck.

I'm sure there is a way to fold turkey feathers like that.....I just don't have that knowledge.

One coat of flexible head cement is all you need. There is also something called SOFTEX but you probably have grown fond of your brain cells.

 

[Steeltrap]

Thanks Tomgamber. I actually purchased some Softex a few years ago. I opened it up and about passed out. It sat on my bench for a year or so then found it's way to the round file.