The Woolly Bugger is a wet fly and streamer that is fished subsurface. It imitates a wide range of aquatic insects and natural forage species such as baitfish, minnows, sculpin, crayfish, nymphs, leeches, and salamanders—all food sources for trout and other game fish.

It can be fished in variety of freshwater and saltwater environments including rivers, lakes and tidal flats. The Woolly Bugger is a classic streamer fly pattern that may quite possibly be the most commonly fished streamer fly of all time. It’s certainly a fly fishing favorite, and is a must have for any serious fly angler.

Colors and Configurations

The Woolly Bugger is a versatile fly that comes in a variety of patterns, colors and sizes. Common colors include black, brown, olive, burnt orange, purple and white—but black with a olive-chenille tends to get the bite a little better in our opinion.

For fishing stillwaters or deep rivers a beadhead or conehead will allow you to fish your Woolly Bugger a bit deeper without the need to add a cumbersome split shot on your line. The slightly heavier head design also produces a diving motion that really attracts strikes.

Fishing Technique

The Woolly Bugger is such an effective fly it’s really hard to fish it incorrectly. When fishing stillwater, short, quick strips, followed by intermittent pauses to allow the streamer to settle is one of the most effective techniques. The stop-and-go motion really accentuates the natural appearance of the fly.

When fishing rivers, we recommend dead drifting the fly with the current. A strip-strip-pause retrieve, similar to the techique outline above, can also do the trick if the current isn’t too strong. Fishing Buggers subsurface along river banks and undercuts will pull even the most leery trout from hiding.

The Woolly Bugger can be fished day or night, but tends to really shine when the light is at its lowest. Early morning, late evening, or even after dark, the Woolly Bugger gets fish biting.