Bodkin / Patterns

Kerri's Bugger Jig

Streamer · Nymph · Trout · Advanced · 1 version

Tyer Recipe

  • Hook 60-degree jig hook, standard length, barb pinched, #12
  • Thread Tan 70 denier

Materials

  • Tungsten bead Hot orange bead (One, 7/64 inch)
  • Lead-free wire Silver lead free wire (Several wraps jammed up behind the bead (optional but recommended))
  • Marabou (tail) Ginger marabou (One tuft, about a body length)
  • Krystal Flash Pearl flashabou (Two thin strands per side)
  • Cactus chenille (body and head) Not stated in the video; a color to complement the ginger marabou (One length)
  • Palmered hackle (rib) Not stated in the video; a saddle hackle to match the fly (One feather)

How to tie it

  1. Pinch the barb, slide the hot orange 7/64 tungsten bead on, and add several tight wraps of lead-free wire crammed up behind the bead to make the fly front-heavy so it rides hook-point-up.
  2. Start tan thread with a few wraps behind the bead to lock the wire, then run it back to the start of the bend.
  3. Tie in a good tuft of ginger marabou about one body length long: long enough to move, but not so long that it fouls or draws short strikes. Snip the excess butts up front and add a few wraps to lock it in.
  4. Tie in two thin strands of Krystal Flash on the near side, then fold two more back to catch them on the far side; take several wraps and snip all four just past the tail.
  5. Tie in the hackle first and then the cactus chenille (tie materials in the opposite order to the one you'll wrap them). Catch the chenille in just behind the lead wraps and snip the hackle stem.
  6. Spin and crinkle the cactus chenille so it isn't flat off the spool, then wrap it forward in touching turns, roughing it up again as you go, taking one wrap over the front of the lead. Tie it off, leaving the tag for the head.
  7. Palmer the hackle: one full wrap at the back, then open spirals up to where the body stopped. Tie in the feather the way that suits you: as tied here the barbs point slightly forward for extra disturbance, or tie it in the other way for swept-back barbs. Tie off and trim.
  8. Take two or three more wraps of the same cactus chenille right behind the bead to form the head, snip it as close as you can, and whip finish.

Tying videos

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