wooly bugger

[drifter]

Aaron do you think that a big # 10 or 12 size bugger would be good on the Little J today and if so what color would you go with in semi clear water?

[AaronJasper]

I would use a size 4 or a 6! I would say olive would be best there given the bottom color. Try various deer hair head patters like the zoo cougar as well.

How did you make out the other day?

[drifter]

The river was really up, but I managed to catch 4 small brownies, I had a blast though. I cant wait for the weekend, I never thought I'd be hooked on Fishing as bad as I am its all I've been thinking about HAHA.

[Nymphmeister]

I second the vote for olive, but try brown also as their are many crayfish in the Little J. If you want to be really slick, fish a big bugger (#4-6) with a #10-14 behind it, and use a different color for each. Try tying some in tan (molted crayfish color), and also try this color combo: black over brown tail with copper or gold crystal flash, dark olive body, grizzly hackle- deadly! Also, small peacock bodied ones with black tail & hackle and one strand of pearl flashabou on each side of the tail.

[alanb_ct]

Kierran, oh boy has this happened to me! It's good you were getting so many strikes. With a big streamer hook, it is harder to set the point in the fish's jaw firmly. You need to strike low and hard at least one more time when the fish is on. That's what is nice about the small nymphs by contrast, the hook point goes right in. Also consider using a TMC 8089 size 6 hook instead. Hope this helps.

[alanb_ct]

A shorter wide gap hook like the 8089 increases positive hookups. It's about 3X long. I used to use 6X long a lot, but Galloup steered me away from that line of thinking.

[AaronJasper]

Kierran,

The problem could be the long shank hook. I think that when using hooks that size the fish can tend to twist the hook out. I have been thinking about using tube flies. The shorter shank hook tends to twist out of the fish less. This might be the answer. However, at the same time I am talking about a different type of fly tying all together. This has also been something that I have been thinking about as well.

[Dave]

That a great topic. I was just going to inquire as to the best short-shank hook for streamers. Is the 8089 the best?
Leonard, I've notices that you use a lot of short shank hooks on his streamers.

This seems also to raise the question of tube flies. The Scandinavians seem decisive that these are the most productive in terms of fly preservation and hook-up percentage.