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The Woolly Bully


Michael T

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Over the weekend I was surfing the web and found several interesting flyes. I tried to remember the steps of each, but found myself getting confused and mixing the patterns. Anyway, what I came up with this afternoon is what I call the Woolly Bully. It's got 2 different colors of wool making up the head, an olive marabou plume palmered, estaz, and a rabbit strip tail. Red dumbell eyes should make it ride hook point up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Wow! Very nice looking fly!

Great looking tie.

 

I am inspired too though I wish there was a quarter or dime in the picture to give a sense of scale. It looks like a #4 or 6 hook with the total length about 3." How close am I?

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I've never fished a wool headed fly before. Does it fish "heavy" or does casting shake the water out of the wool head?

 

Most of the wool head I've tried have sorta suspended. They don't get waterlogged and sink unless there is an insane amount of weight. How does this one fish Michael?

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Thanks for the compliments everyone.

 

I hate to say it, but it hasn't seen the water yet. I think I'll head to the local pond tomorrow and test it. Insofar as it's size, it's tyed on a #2 3x-long hook. The back of the wool head is about 1/8th of an inch from the hook point. The length of the fly from the hook eye to the hide of the rabbit strip is 3.25 inches and if I measure from the hook eye to the end hairs of the rabbit strip it measures 4 inches long. The dumbell eye is either a small or a medium, so not very heavy at all. I just hope it'll swim as I planned with hook point up and no spinning. I was thinking today that I might tye a couple more using 1/0 worm hooks for spinning gear. I wouldn't make the head any longer, but I'd palmer more than 1 marabou feather to give it a longer body profile.

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I fished the Woolly Bully yesterday late morning in a local pond. It's a little heavy after it gets wet, but I think this is more from the rabbit strips than the wool head. I fished one of the earlier versions I tyed which had the rabbit strip tail and a piece of crosscut palmered up the shank a little. I was getting a lot of hits, but those ugly green fish would never committ.

 

The action of this fly looked great. If anything, maybe a little nose heavy because it had more jig like action than I anticipated. I'll tye a few more with a x-small to small dumbell eye and maybe a few turns of lead wire infront of the hook point to get it to swim more and be less jig-like.

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Guest Mark P
I fished the Woolly Bully yesterday late morning in a local pond. It's a little heavy after it gets wet, but I think this is more from the rabbit strips than the wool head. I fished one of the earlier versions I tyed which had the rabbit strip tail and a piece of crosscut palmered up the shank a little. I was getting a lot of hits, but those ugly green fish would never committ.

 

The action of this fly looked great. If anything, maybe a little nose heavy because it had more jig like action than I anticipated. I'll tye a few more with a x-small to small dumbell eye and maybe a few turns of lead wire infront of the hook point to get it to swim more and be less jig-like.

 

Michael:

 

The wool will hold alot of water and won't disperse on your false casts as the rabbit strip will, its one of the drawbacks to using it. Another problem with flies that incorporate rabbit strips off the rear is short strikes (as you have experienced). There is a solution for that. Snell one of your egg hooks to a piece of #20 mono and tie it to the hook shank before dressing the fly. Position the "stinger" hook 2/3s the length of the strip as measured from the main hook bend and punch it through the bottom side of the strip and back out again when its in place. Its important to place the hook in the strip as you don't want it flopping around off the back of the hook. This "add" will cure any short striking. This problem is common with Madonna, Rattlesnake, Bunny Leech etc... type of flies that incorporate the use of long(ish) rabbit strips.

 

Also remember that the use of wool is primary in tying Sculpin and some Crawfish patterns which are designed to get to the bottom quickly. If you want the fly to swing closer to the surface tie a Muddler or Zoo Cougar style head using the upper half of the deer hair which is less hollow but will still spin/trim nicely. Stay away from the Elk hair, it floats even more than Deer, but is dependent on where the hair is taken from the animal.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Immitation is a high form of compliment. This Bohemian Bully was inspired by Michael's creation. It is on a size 4 3xl streamer hook about 3" long. The body is a tiger weave.

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