Wooly Buggers

[rogeremeadows]

Which is most successful.....bead head wooly buggers or unweighted wooly buggers?

[glitchmo]

Depends on context. We would need more details to answer that.

[huntnfish2much]

Most of the time, when I tie a woolybugger, I add several wraps of weighted wire underneath everything, on the hook shank. If you leave it completely un-weighted, it rides extremely high in the water column, and for the first few casts, it will even float.

When I want to get deeper, I’ll add a conehead or a heavy bead. Stripping a bead-headed or cone-headed woolybugger more rapidly will make it dart up and down (assuming you’re using a floating line). This may trigger reaction strikes, as it imitates a dying baitfish.

Hope this helps.

JR

[jonbo]

A lightly weighted WB, as described by huntnfish2much, fished behind a sinking fly line can be very effective. Several years ago, when they were running pretty heavy water from the Spillway, I had very good luck that way. The sinking line kept it down in the water column as it swung out. I felt it bouncing against rocks, then bang-o!Fish on! But, for most of our wade-fishing, where you might be trying several different approaches and rigs, a bead head or cone head bugger's probably the most versatile thing.

[danimal]

Keep in mind you can always slip a cone or bead on the line in front of the bugger if you need additional weight.

[FlyAndStream]

Man, after a few drifts add split shot, then add more. Bouncing buggers along bottom can be fairly effective.