Hi Chuck:
The Wooly Bugger is perhaps one of the greatest all purpose flies of the Century. The purist hate them ( because they are generic, effective but does not have a Latin name) but they are extremely effective for all kinds of fishing and fish. Like Ninjata said it works for all kinds of species and are relatively easy to tie (your next project!
) They come in all sizes and colors and some of them are even made with rubber band legs to give them more lively action under water. All the flies that you have are known as streamer/attractor flies. The streams of course imitates a minnow while the Wooly Bugger imitates all kinds of things swimming under the water surface. A large swimming nymph, a little crawdad,etc. These flies are usually fished under the water surface and retrieved in a slow but rhythmic jerky motion. You would cast the fly into the water, hopefully some distance from you (20-30 feet would be OK, further would be better), then you do nothing and allow the fly to sink slowly to the bottom where most of the fish would be, after the fly reaches bottom you make it come to life with a series of jerks and pauses. When you do this the feather or the hair will pulsate under the water and the fly will rise slightly towards the water surface as you pull on it, then sinks back down when you pause. You can attach a leader to the fly and try to work it in you bath tub or kitchen sink and you can see what you will need to do to turn these flies into something that seemed to have life to it.
It is generally belied that fish are color blind and they don't actually see the colors like we do, they see spectrum of grey so the darkness and the lightness of the fly matters the most in fly construction. Bass are weird and they are attracted to black, purple, green and sometimes red. (in their respective spectrum) The bright coloration is mostly for the fishermen's own psyche! The White colored streamer would be very effective for fish like Crappies and sometimes Bass and sometimes even Pikes as they are voracious minnow eaters. Many Pikes are hooked when you are fishing for Bass but they are seldom landed. The reason for that would be the leader you would use for Bass fishing would be nylon, around 6 lb test and the Pike will chew through it like a piece of noodle with their sharp teeth and get away. To catch a toothy Pike effectively you will need to put on a length of wire leader and attach you fly to it.
A good rule of thumb is to use a light color fly when the light is dim. e.g. rainy and dark days. One would use a darker color fly when the light is good. I personally don't think this makes as much difference as one may think but this combination will give the flyfishermen better visuals of their flies working under the water surface.
I do have a good suggestion for you for starters. Go to a local flyshop in your area and talk to the owner about flies for bass and panfish fishing. He will be able to show you the many types available and you will get a good idea as to what they are and how these flies work in a real fishing situation. If a corked body popper is not included in your flyrod kit you should get some from either the flyshop (more expensive) or a large department store sporting goods department that would have them. (much less expensive but probably less well made) Another suggestion I have is for you to get a starter flytying kit and make your own flies. This will enhance your flyfishing experience no end and you can make your flies quite inexpensively by yourself. Not to mention the fact that it is very satisfying to catch any kind of fish with a flies that you have made yourself.
Enough for you to digest for now.
By the way, included with the great RWFF software is a fantastic flytying tool. You can try using that and create your own version of Bass flies. If it looks good to you then you can pull out your flytying kit and do the same thing! How great is that?
Regards,
Stanley
