Mossback Olive Woolly Bugger
by @dekasso
Woolly Bugger · Streamer
Soft olive breathing over cold stones
An olive Woolly Bugger streamer on a size 8 hook, with marabou tail and gold wire rib, for trout and bass in stillwater and slow pools.
An olive Woolly Bugger with a long, soft tail and a bushy body held up against stony shallows. It is built from olive marabou, olive chenille, an olive saddle hackle and a fine gold wire rib.
- Pattern
- Woolly Bugger
- Imitates
- Damselfly nymph migration, typically late spring into early summer
- Hook
- size 8
- Tippet
- 3Xrule of three
- Olive marabou tail moves on the pause
- Gold wire rib protects the hackle
- Bushy olive chenille body
- Size 8 streamer hook
- Imitates leeches and damselfly nymphs
On the water
Olive all the way through. A plume of marabou trails off the bend, the chenille body wears a few bright turns of gold wire, and the hackle flares long and loose behind a neat olive head.
Fish it where weed beds meet open water, or along the slow edge of a pool. Let it sink, then strip in short, uneven tugs with pauses. The marabou keeps moving when the line goes still, like a leech or a damsel nymph swimming for cover.
Counter-wrapping the gold wire is the bit to get right. Run it forward in the opposite direction to the hackle so each turn crosses and locks the stem, and the fly holds together after a few bites.
Rigging
- Tippet
- 3Xhook size divided by three
- Leader
- Nine feet, with fluorocarbon tippet to get it down
- Tie on with a loop knot to 2X–3X tippet so the tail swims freely.
- On stillwater, count it down near the weed tops before you start the retrieve.
- Mix slow hand-twist retrieves with short strips and long pauses until something works.
Where and when
- Hatch
- Damselfly nymph migration, typically late spring into early summer
- Target
- Trout, Bass
- Water type
- Stillwater, slow pools and weedy margins
- Also fishes
- Also swings well through slow runs and stained water after rain, and works on a sinking line along deep lake drop-offs.
Make it yourself
Beginner5 materials · 10 steps
- Pattern
- Woolly Bugger
- Style
- Streamer
- Hook
- Streamer 3XLsize 8
- Thread
- Olive 6/0
Materials in the order they go on the hook
- TailOlive marabou
- RibGold wire
- BodyOlive chenille
- HackleOlive saddle hackle
- HeadOlive thread
Details
- Imitates
- Leech or damselfly nymph
- Colors
- Olive, Gold
How to tie it
The steps, from first wrap to whip finish (10)
- Mount the size 8 streamer hook in the vise and start the olive thread behind the eye, wrapping a base back to the bend.
- Tie in a clump of olive marabou at the bend, about one shank length long, and bind the butts along the shank.
- Tie in the gold wire at the bend on the near side of the hook.
- Tie in the olive chenille at the bend, strip a little fibre to expose the core, and bring the thread forward to just behind the eye.
- Wrap the chenille forward in tight, touching turns to form a full body, and tie it off leaving room for a head.
- Prepare an olive saddle hackle with fibres about one and a half hook gaps long and tie it in by the tip behind the eye.
- Palmer the hackle back to the bend in four or five open turns.
- Counter-wrap the gold wire forward through the hackle, wiggling it to avoid trapping fibres, and tie it off behind the eye.
- Trim the wire and hackle tip, then build a small, tidy olive thread head.
- Whip finish and add a drop of head cement.
Proportions (4)
- Tail: marabou about one full shank length beyond the bend.
- Hackle fibres: roughly one and a half times the hook gap.
- Body: chenille covers the shank from bend to about two eye-lengths behind the eye.
- Head: small and neat, no wider than the hook eye.
Tips (3)
- Wet your fingers and stroke the marabou before tying in to judge its true length.
- Choose a saddle hackle with a thin stem so it palmers without twisting.
- Keep the thread wraps over the tail butts smooth so the chenille body stays even.
Common mistakes (4)
- Tail too long fouls on the bend when cast; keep it near one shank length.
- Crowding the eye leaves no room for the head; stop the body two eye-lengths back.
- Wrapping the wire the same way as the hackle lets it slip; always counter-wrap.
- Too many hackle turns make a stiff fly; four or five open turns is enough.
Every kit size
Materials only
Size 8 · Materials only · 12 flies
$41.45
$3.45 a fly
Includes Streamer 3XL · and 7 more
Every item in this kit · 8 items
Hooks & beads
- Streamer 3XL$6.50
Thread & wire
- Olive 6/0 thread$2.95
- Gold wire$3.25
Materials
- Olive marabou$4.95
- Olive chenille$5.90
- Olive saddle hackle$11.95
Finishing
- Head cement$5.95
Guide
- Printed recipe and tying stepsIncluded
Size 8 · Materials only · 48 flies
$116.42
$2.43 a fly
Bought separately $122.55 · you save $6.13
Includes Streamer 3XL · and 7 more
Every item in this kit · 8 items
Hooks & beads
- Streamer 3XL$13
Thread & wire
- Olive 6/0 thread$11.80
- Gold wire$6.50
Materials
- Olive marabou$19.80
- Olive chenille$17.70
- Olive saddle hackle$47.80
Finishing
- Head cement$5.95
Guide
- Printed recipe and tying stepsIncluded
Size 8 · Materials only · 144 flies
$303.82
$2.11 a fly
Bought separately $345.25 · you save $41.43
Includes Streamer 3XL · and 7 more
Every item in this kit · 8 items
Hooks & beads
- Streamer 3XL$35
Thread & wire
- Olive 6/0 thread$35.40
- Gold wire$13
Materials
- Olive marabou$59.40
- Olive chenille$53.10
- Olive saddle hackle$143.40
Finishing
- Head cement$5.95
Guide
- Printed recipe and tying stepsIncluded
With vise & tools
Size 8 · With vise & tools · 12 flies
$191.45
$15.95 a fly
Includes Streamer 3XL · and 16 more
Every item in this kit · 17 items
Hooks & beads
- Streamer 3XL$6.50
Thread & wire
- Olive 6/0 thread$2.95
- Gold wire$3.25
Materials
- Olive marabou$4.95
- Olive chenille$5.90
- Olive saddle hackle$11.95
Finishing
- Head cement$5.95
Tools
- Rotary pedestal vise$79
- Ceramic bobbin$14
- Fine-point scissors$16
- Whip finisher$9
- Hackle pliers$7
- Bodkin$5
- Bobbin threader$4
- Dubbing wax$4
- Canvas tool roll$12
Guide
- Printed recipe and tying stepsIncluded
Size 8 · With vise & tools · 48 flies
$258.92
$5.39 a fly
Bought separately $272.55 · you save $13.63
Includes Streamer 3XL · and 16 more
Every item in this kit · 17 items
Hooks & beads
- Streamer 3XL$13
Thread & wire
- Olive 6/0 thread$11.80
- Gold wire$6.50
Materials
- Olive marabou$19.80
- Olive chenille$17.70
- Olive saddle hackle$47.80
Finishing
- Head cement$5.95
Tools
- Rotary pedestal vise$79
- Ceramic bobbin$14
- Fine-point scissors$16
- Whip finisher$9
- Hackle pliers$7
- Bodkin$5
- Bobbin threader$4
- Dubbing wax$4
- Canvas tool roll$12
Guide
- Printed recipe and tying stepsIncluded
Size 8 · With vise & tools · 144 flies
$435.82
$3.03 a fly
Bought separately $495.25 · you save $59.43
Includes Streamer 3XL · and 16 more
Every item in this kit · 17 items
Hooks & beads
- Streamer 3XL$35
Thread & wire
- Olive 6/0 thread$35.40
- Gold wire$13
Materials
- Olive marabou$59.40
- Olive chenille$53.10
- Olive saddle hackle$143.40
Finishing
- Head cement$5.95
Tools
- Rotary pedestal vise$79
- Ceramic bobbin$14
- Fine-point scissors$16
- Whip finisher$9
- Hackle pliers$7
- Bodkin$5
- Bobbin threader$4
- Dubbing wax$4
- Canvas tool roll$12
Guide
- Printed recipe and tying stepsIncluded
The creator
Where this came from
fly pattern · made
2 remixes
50 — from 2 remixes, at the Derby's published weights, since . Views are not counted.
- woolly bugger
- olive
- streamer
- marabou
- chenille
- gold wire
- leech
- damselfly nymph
- trout
- bass
- stillwater