Black & Blue Bugger

by Tim Flagler

For far too many years I believed that fishing streamers during the winter months was basically a fool’s errand. Nearly everything that I was told or read, suggested that trout would only take precisely drifted, subsurface patterns or diminutive midge imitations fished on, or near, the water’s surface. Boy, was I wrong. Yes, trout tend to be more lethargic during the winter months and don’t eat as aggressively. But, here’s the deal, even on the darkest and coldest of winter nights, they’re out in the river or stream, paddling their little fins off. Such activity demands fuel, and fuel for trout comes in the form of protein. In simplest terms, they have to eat to survive, no matter what month of the year.

The realization that I could effectively fish streamers during the winter came quite by accident, one February evening, several years ago. I had recently purchased a wonderful little 10.5 foot, 4 weight trout spey set-up and was really dying to give it a try. So, down to my local river I went, tied on a Squirrel and Herl Bugger just to have something on the end of my line, performed a less-than-stellar snap T and let the Skagit head carry the light sink tip, a few feet of tippet and the fly downstream and across. The fly swung only about six feet before I felt a bump then, as it approached the dangle, a full take followed by a somewhat less than spirited battle. I quickly released the 14” rainbow, kind of perturbed that it had interrupted my casting practice with the new rod. As I continued casting, I got several more bumps and landed a couple more fish. It was only when I got home and I was warming myself in front of the wood stove, that I truly realized how well I had done fishing streamers near dark in the winter, it really was an eye-opener.

This pattern, the Black and Blue Bugger, is a slightly modified version of the Squirrel and Herl Bugger I was throwing that February evening. It’s sort of half Woolly Bugger and half Zonker. Blue has always been one of my favorite colors to incorporate into winter fly patterns, be they nymphs, emergers or dries. Here, the Grizzly Saddle Hackle dyed blue provides a nice contrast with the darker pine squirrel back and tail, thus imitating the darker back and lighter belly of nearly all baitfish. Why would a trout chase down a baitfish during winter? Well, probably because a baitfish provides them with a heck of a lot more protein than even a few hundred midge larvae.

I know many of you are going to ask about weight with this fly and suggest a bead or conehead, or even wire wraps around the hook shank. I have tried it with weight incorporated but feel it performs much better without. With a single-hand rod, I fish it at the end of a sinking poly leader, either 3” or 5” per second. With a two-handed trout spey set-up, I fish it off a sinking tip with only about three feet of 2X tippet. In both instances, I believe the fly behaves in a more neutrally buoyant manner, just as normal baitfish do.

Recipe:

Hook: Lightning Strike SN3, size 10.
Thread: UTC 70 Denier, black.
Back/tail: Pine squirrel zonker strip, black.
Body: Chenille, black, medium.
Hackle: Grizzly rooster saddle hackle feather, dyed fluorescent blue.