We have all read the list of the top 25 flies of all time and they usually include flies such as Pheasant tail, Elk hair caddis, Zebra midge and so on, but have you ever wondered what the top fly of all time is. It’s the Wooly Bugger!!! Yes, I pick a streamer as the best fly of all time. First I have never seen anybody’s top 25 leave it off, but that’s not the only reason. I believe it to be the most versital fly ever created for a variety of reasons.
You can use the Wooly Bugger to go after just about any freshwater species of fish and many saltwater fish as well. That means the fly has to come in a wide range of size’s. The Wooly Bugger is known to be tied from #20-#2. . The smaller sizes ranging from 20-16 are called baby buggers and are great in the fall when going after trout. If you like bluegill fishing these guys will fill your nets.
The larger sizes are where you find the real variety of patterns, and why I think this fly holds the distinction of being the top fly of all time. There are so many patterns of the Wooly Bugger and I have yet to count them. The major patterns are Olive, Black, Brown and White, but they don’t stop there. The Wooly Bugger is the top fly because it is one of the easiest flies to tie. A fisherman can read a recipe and make one. This helps individuals to tailor the pattern to fit their home water.
Finally it can be fished more ways than any other fly I have found. You can fish it on the swing, drift it with a indicator, strip it using sinking line or a floating line. The presentations are about as endless as the pattern itself. So if you are not a Wooly Bugger fisherman you should be because “the tug is the drug”