# Wooly Buggars



## drJake (Oct 11, 2008)

I went to red creek today and some guys were knocking them dead, from the bank, with small black wooly buggars. I've never really fished with buggars, so I am wondering how is the best way to fish them? Do you need sinking line or can you use floating line with a long leader? What are they imitating? Do you need to strip them or can you just dead float them? I've had the worst luck fishing this spring so any help with this would be greatly appreciated.


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## Flyfishn247 (Oct 2, 2007)

It all depends on the depth of the water. For shallow still water and some streams, long tippet or a sink tip should suffice. Flies with beadheads will sink faster too. I prefer an intermediate sink line (type II) for most of my stillwater or streamer river fishing. For buggers you can mix it up with anything from a slow retrieve to fast strips. The fun thing with stillwater is all the types of retrieves you can experiment with. I hae caught fish dead drifting buggers in a stream. This time of year you should concentrate on fishing shallow water close to shore. Black, brown, and olive buggers and leeches with and without beadheads are my got to flies right now with chrinomids occasionally in the mix. You can also pick up fish in still water with a BH prince or pheasant tail fished the same way. Good luck.


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## Nueces (Jul 22, 2008)

A sink line may help, but you can fish them without and do fine. A bead head or a tungsten will get them down faster.

If you aren't catching them on a strip, let them bounce on the bottom. You can drift them, fish them a bunch of ways until you get a strike. Olive and black are great colors.

What do they look like? Maybe a sculpin, or not telling but all kinds of fish will nail them.


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## neverdrawn (Jan 3, 2009)

Spring is my favorite time of year because you can target shallow cruising fish with a buggar under a strike indicator. I generally use less than 18" of leader under the indicator and fish close to shore. Small strips and subtle movements seem to draw the most strikes for me. I've fished Red Creek with huge success this year and last but there are a few keys. Think small, even with buggars, and be patient. A quick retrieve doesn't seem to work until dark and just before first light. As the water warms and the fish finish spawning they seem to move deeper and a sinking line works better for me.
As for what the fish see them as, I would guess leeches, scuds, minnows, and other bugs that just look tasty.


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## troutscout (Feb 12, 2009)

You don't need sinking line. The trick is first finding the depth the fish are at then finding what retrieve works. I cast out and will count out in seconds, say to like 5 and then start stripping in. This will give you a nice reference point when you find the fish. I start off shallow and slow and work my way down and faster from there. I start ridiculously slow at first, slower than you'd think necessary. I usually will get hits when I'm going slower than I think I should. A whole new world is about to open up to you. Once you get the hang of this things can really take off for you. 

During the spring the fish often times come to the shallows to feed. Buggers imitate different things, from minnows, sculpins, leeches, crayfish, littler fish, etc. To cover just the basics I carry black, brown and olive buggers with and without flash and the same in a traditional marabou leech patterns. You can get a lot more specific from there but often times don't have to. 
Good luck!

^^ike


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