Seal Bugger (Black and Red)
by Ron Proctor

The Seal Bugger is a variation of the wooly bugger, a popular and productive pattern that simulates a lot of different food sources that trout eat - including leeches, dragonfly nymphs, damselfly nymphs, and baitfish.

Ron's favorite color for this pattern is black with red accents, but other colors and color combinations work well, including Black/Purple, Olive, Brown, Rust, Cinnamon, and White.  The fly can be tied with or without hackle; hackled versions provide a buggier look while hackleless versions give a more streamlined leech like profile.  Ron usually leaves the hackle out.

Although they can be fished in moving water, these flies are most often used in stillwater.  Ron typcally uses a clear intermediate sink line, but faster sinking lines may also be used.  A variety of retrieves may be employed, including short, rapid (2 inch) or long, slow (24 inch) pulls, and anything in between.  Try different methods of stripping and different lengths of pause between strips until you find something that works.  Kick trolling the fly from a float tube or wind drifting from a boat are also effective methods of fishing the seal bugger.

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