Paul's February 2014 Fly of the Month

Thin Mint Wooly Bugger

 

Hook:  3x or 4x streamer hook Size #4-#10

Tying thread:   Mono or 6/0 Thread.

Head:  Gold cone to match hook.

Weight:   Medium lead wire.

Tail:  Black marabou over brown marabou over olive marabou. Tail feathers are flanked with two thin pieces of Pearl Flashabou or tinsel.

Body:  Peacock Ice Dub. 

Rib:  Pearl Flashabou or tinsel; and mono thread (fine wire can be substituted for the mono thread-it’s what I prefer making the fly more durable)

Hackle:  Furnace saddle hackle.

Usually every couple of years I choose a Wooly Bugger as a Fly of the Month.  Buggers are a trout killer.  This one is no exception.  It is also very similar to a Bugger pattern that I posted about twenty years ago called “The Multibugger”.  Fellow HFFA member Will Stone turned me on to this fly after catching a nice brown on the Farmington River this past winter. 

Begin by placing your gold cone head on the hook.  Take your lead wire and make 6-8 turns of it on the hook shank.  Slide it right behind the cone head to lock and center it on the hook.  Cover it with thread and cement over the wraps.  Bring your thread down to the bend of the hook and tie in your tail of black marabou over brown marabou over olive marabou.  Place a couple of thin strands of pearl flashabou on each side of the tail.  Leave a long tag end on one of the strands to be used later as a rib.  Also tie in a piece of mono thread or fine wire to also be used as a counter wrap rib.  Next, dub a body of Peacock Ice Dub from the bend of the hook to the cone head.  Rib the body with the tag end strand of Pearl flashabou.  Tie off the rib and tie in your furnace saddle hackle behind the cone head.  Palmer the hackle, first creating a light collar adjacent to the cone head, then wrap it back to the tail.  Your tag thread will still be behind the cone head.  Use the tag end of the mono thread (or fine wire), and counter wrap it forward though the hackle.  Tie it off at the cone head.  Apply some head cement and the fly is finished. 

This fly can also be viewed at the Housatonic Fly Fishermen’s Association website at  www.hffa.net .  If you have any questions about this fly or would like to submit a Fly of The Month I can be reached at 203 305-3850 or e-mail me at pdinice@frontier.com .