Dan’s Ugly Wooly Bugger. Dan Ditzler, MTFA Member, has a unique way of tying this fly. It is one of his favorite and it catches fish. Following the material list he gave me and tying like I normally for a wooly bugger, my first attempt look nothing like this fly.
Material list
- Hook: Standard size 10 or 12 hook with either eye straight or down
- Head: 1/8″ or 3.2mm (see bead chart below)-Dan used a lime green bead
- Thread: UNI-Thread 8/0 olive (color thread to match color of your fly.
- Tail: Olive Marabou
- Body: 3 or 4 Peacock Herls
- Hackle: Olive Marabou
Dan said, ” Don’t get stuck on colors, mix it up a little. Use some imagination.” He also said that a 6# mono weed guard is optional. A couple of helpful hints are needed. Get a nice marabou feather and set up the feather like the example below. Tie on the feather, pull the part of the feather that will be palmer back over the tail and tie in your 4 peacock herl. Now carefully twist the feather and the herls together, then palmer forward, tying everything down behind the bead. Use a wire hackle brush and your bodkin to pull out trapped hackle.
Fish this on a sinking line and strip back. Because you are using a sinking line, you do not have to add weight when tying this fly but feel free to add weight if you like.
