Calico Bugger

The basic Woolly Bugger pattern. I designed this pattern some ten years ago for Salmon Lake at the Douglas Lake Ranch (an excellent non-pay lake at the East end of the ranch) in BC. I had had excellent results the year before with a brownish woolly bugger with grizzly hackle and a black tail. At a local craft store, I came upon a boa that incorporated black, gray (grey for the Brit’s), tan, brown and creme marabou feather fibers. I started cutting off clumps from the boa and creating the tail of the bugger from the boa. The body was either a mottled/varigated brown chenille or rug yarn or here a black/purple/maroon dubbing blend with the grizzly palmered hackle. The Calico (like a cat) Bugger has always produced. I either start with a Calico, Little Fort Leech or a Minnow Bugger. Between the three, the traditional color spectrum of black, brown and green are covered and these flies are more appealing to the flyfisherman…an important consideration to me. With the Calico Bugger a mottled affect is created, especially with the tail. The boa makes blending of marabou fibers easy.