The Perfect Woolly
The Woolly Bugger is a universal fly, but tied as the Perfect Woolly it's even more deadly!
I think sometimes flies are discussed too much. “Use a Polar Magnus in the spring-time and try the Pink Pig for sure. Make sure to tie in the bead chain very straight otherwise the fly is sloping…! Do not forget to add enough weight to the Pink Pig and also try the Grey Frede.”
Nearly every sea trout fisherman has his own variations of dozens of patterns in his box. But most of them do not believe in every one of their flies and they try to tune-up older and develop new flies. If you go with this for some time your boxes will be overfilled and you will waste your time in changing flies on your next coastal trip.
I gave up. For me sea trout fishing in the Baltic Sea is some kind of search fishing and the pattern is a minor matter. If you found active fish your chances are very big to catch – never mind the pattern. For me the effect of a fly is most important. And in most cases it is the jigging effect. This is why a lot of Sea trout flies are tied for example with bead chain eyes. A concentrated weight close to the hook eye combined with a loop knot causes a nice jigging effect. For me an essential fact of the most successful coast flies.
If you generalize the style of a Magnus and all the variants (like the Bjarke, the Copper Frede and so on) it is nothing more than a Woolly Bugger with bead chain eyes. As a big range of flies – especially coast flies – were developed from the Woolly Bugger, I got back to it and created a very simple pattern which is extremely durable and very easy to tie. Only a few materials are needed to tie a great universal pattern which is highly recommended. The perfect Woolly Bugger!
About Perfect Woolly
| Type | Wet fly |
| Originator | Raoul Kempkes |
| Difficulty | Easy |
| Target species | Brook trout Brown trout Cod Largemouth bass Perch Pike perch (zander) Rainbow trout (landlocked) Sea trout (sea run) Smallmouth bass |
Materials
| Hook | VMC PS Streamer Hook: Size #6; for me the best saltwater streamer hook out there! |
| Thread | UTC Ultra Thread 140 Denier: A very good thread! Very tear-proof and there is a whole range of colors available (fits to the colors of Krystal Dub & Soft Hackle with Chickabou). |
| Bead | I use 4 mm tungsten beads in various colors which weight and size fits great for my Woolly’s! They do not give too much weight but cause a nice jigging. |
| Tail and body hackle | Whiting “Soft Hackle & Chickabou”: The Woolly Bugger I tie is definitely living from its materials. The “Soft Hackle & Chickabou” from Whiting is a quiet rare material but very economic and giving perfect results. The Chickabou replaces the Marabou of a t |
| Tail | I use two strips of pearl colored Krystal Flash for the tail. Less is more! |
| Body | Krystal Dub: The Krystal Dub is used because it is a very fine natural (rabbit) dubbing with a minimum of shiny fibers. The small amount of fibers gives a nice little glimmer when the fly is brushed with Velcro after tying. |
Well done, this is a perfect Woolly!
Coloring:
As all materials – Soft Hackle & Chickabou, Krystal Dub and Ultra Thread are available in different colors – you can easily create a single-colored fly. I personally love to create a color-contrast with colored tungsten beads since this is great looking and can be a key stimulus for fish to bite (especially red or orange). The coloring of the Woolly Bugger should fit to the actual conditions at your water.
I use colorful Woolly’s (like pink) in muddy waters and in the winter and natural-colored Woolly’s (like grizzly brown) in clear and calm waters. In-between of those conditions a natural-colored fly with a high-contrast tungsten bead is my first choice (particularly a black Woolly Bugger with an orange tungsten bead)!
I also tried luminous tungsten beads on the black Woolly Bugger for the coastal night fishing. This works well for sea trout and cod.
Statement:
I tied this fly for a sea trout trip to the south Swedish coast in 2008 and I was quite lucky with it. Within my last trips this fly became my very favorite. The most vivid behavior of the fly is produced with a combination of a fluorocarbon leader and a loop knot. This is a very essential piece of advice regarding how the Perfect Woolly should be fished!
Since I started to fish with this fly I have caught sea trout, brown trout, rainbow trout, char, pike perch, perch, asp and roach with it.
Tie and try it. You will be thrilled…!
Submitted March 1st 2010
Frank,
the only source I know is K&HD in Hamburg (www.khdfishing.de).
Call Ralph or Walter (+49 040 43208697) and just ask for the special VMC saltwater hook. It is not a low-budget hook but it is solid, very sharp, really saltwater resistant and has got a good proportioned hook curve. Simply the best streamer hook I have ever tried.
Raoul