Woolly Bugger-Dead Drift - Lift - Joy

[marzrw]

Sero brings up a very interesting point about streamers or specifically woolly bugger fishing. Which technique works best?
All depends on the river you're fishing, current speed, depth of hole or run, water level, water temp, time of year, and any other number of reasons why salmonids will hit one fisherman's fly and not anothers.
No action - try different methods.
Sometimes a dead drift alone will work. Sometimes a dead drift and lift. Sometimes stripping the fly. Or sometimes just a slight twitch will do the trick.
Any other ideas?

[Nessmuk]

Wooly Bugger Retrieve

I was just out there today thinking the same thing....I retrieved my wooly bugger every which way and I got no response...its like the fish were not even there!! But I tell you what was around....I got 75' from a bull moose today...it was fantastic! It WOULD have been even better had I broken the secret of the infamous midge hatch! Itty Bitty bugs....is this even possible????

[wildbrookies]

Awesome Nessmuk!!!!!
I would`ve been just happy seeing a moose in the adirondacks.I fish in the East Br. Sacandaga River area.Are their any moose there?
As for the woolly bugger drifting speeds/techniques.I just dead drift probably 80% of the time.I do have to employ the twitch and strip technique from time to time to persuade uninterested fish to hit.Like a pair of 18" rainbows that I hooked in a run we like to fish.They hit the retrieve technique after unsuccessfully "deaddrifting" the run for a couple dozen casts.But, when they hit on the retrieve, they really slam it!!!.That was almost a skunked day last year.So,like you said, ya gotta try everything that comes to mind sometimes.
Good luck next time out. p.s....by chance did you catch that mooses pose on film?//

WB

[marzrw]

Well, I never went there. Never even attempted to decipher the midge hatch. Even if I had a fly that small I wouldn't be able to see it on the water. Water is cold for the trout. Some people (Sero & Creekwader) have success. But I never do well on flies in April. Back in the days of worming....well that's another story. But giving up the bait, except for a bit of icefishing, flyfishing in general in April is tough. At least you got out. And that must have been cool to see that moose. Have never seen one in this area yet, only in Maine.

[marzrw]

Hey WB are you online?

[wildbrookies]

Yeah, kinda.. But Alyssa wants to get on .

[Nessmuk]

Midges and Moose

I'm taking a crash course on them (midges) now...I think I have a 10 minute window if I was to try to fish this again...thats it. I got a good look at the cripples, I'm going to tie up a bunch for next time!

Here are some pics of the moose....imagine me taking these in flippers non the less!! I know of folks who have seen moose in that area WB....Believe me...they'll find you!

[wildbrookies]

Thanks Nessmuk,your my new hero!!!That photo is my dream!!!!Man, I hunt whitetail ,and to see an animal that large while trout fishing would blow my little mind!!!That is sooooo coool!.Thanks for the quick photo/reply.

WB

[Hugh]

wolly buggers hrmph, I couldnt catch a cold on one of them things,or a muddler,or a mickey finn all very sucessful flies........ in other fishermans hands

[marzrw]

So Hugh,
What do you use? WB used to say the same thing about buggers? He couldn't catch a cold either. He kept trying and trying after seeing how well i did. Finally he broke thru and caught some. Now that's not all he ties, but it's a vast majority of his flytying. So give one more try.

[marzrw]

Nice moose photo. Real nice. You must have good dexterity to tie midge patterns and to fish them. More like the patience of a saint. When I first took up flyfishing I said I was going to learn every fly in our area and learn how to fish them. Well...that certainly didn't happen. Just like a lot of flyfishing fishermen say you'll pick a few patterns you like and have success with and pretty much use them. I know I should be more flexible, and it's never to late to learn, but don't get out as much as I'd like so fish with what I like. I think when I first started I collected about 100 flies. 100 different fly patterns. Now have about 100 woolly buggers. I do need to try smaller patterns when the trout are rising, I know, but I do like the Ausable Wulff. Although I do fish small BW olives. Well, again nice photo, that must have been very cool.

[Hugh]

[QUOTE=marzrw]So Hugh,
What do you use? WB used to say the same thing about buggers? He couldn't catch a cold either. He kept trying and trying after seeing how well i did. Finally he broke thru and caught some. Now that's not all he ties, but it's a vast majority of his flytying. So give one more try. I use traditional Maine patterns that closley imitate the forage fishes of the water Im fishing,when I fish streamers a black bunny leech when I fish leeches which I guess could be considered a wolly bugger variation . Ive been trying to catch trout on them things since I first became aware of the pattern in the earliy 80s but nothing ,and I can count on one hand the amount of trout Ive caught on the muddler and mickey finn combined,but give me a Joes Smelt or a Joes Smelt Orange or a Cardinelle for the real tough days and I ll catch my share. Hugh

[marzrw]

Amazing isn't it. Just the reverse. Hardly ever caught a fish on smelt patterns. One nice whack on13th Lake once with a Sebago smelt. Haven't caught much on muddler either. One or two with a mickey finn. Gray Ghost has caught a couple also.

[Boreal Chickadee]

Nessmuk, Where did you see the moose?

Great shot, worth not getting any fish.

[Nessmuk]

In order to keep my favorite fishing waters "secret" lets just say I was on a remote hike-in pond somewhere on the Morehouseville Quad. Here is another pic: