Bow River Bugger - Heavyweight Streamer
Similar to the Woolly Bugger but with added lots of weight in the head, perfect for fishing in the faster flows. This streamer was originally devised for fishing the Bow River in Alberta, Canada. We've taken the original design (which is much bigger), slimmed it down and created a version perfect for UK rivers and stillwaters. This fly with its heavyweight head and clipped deer-hair body moves lots of water and is a great searching pattern.
It is often said that to catch a big fish you need a big fly – that’s not necessarily the case – but usually in the late trout season, in my experience the one fly fishing method which more often produces the bigger fish is streamer fishing. Streamers are large lures that are tied in various patterns – but they all imitate one thing, small fish. Not much can compare to the adrenaline rush when you see a large trout chasing your streamer!
A streamer is a lure which usually represents a minnow/fry, which are present in both rivers and stillwaters from August onward. They particularly come into their own for rivers in September and October, and for stillwaters from September to December. To a trout these patterns seem very much alive when any action is imparted to them - therefore these are fished quite actively (try twitching them down and across through any deep holes!).
These heavyweight streamers are tied to represent small fry. These streamers measure 5cm in length and are tied on size 10 heavy gauge barbless hooks.
Hook Size: 10 - Heavy-Gauge Barbless
Length: 5cm
Weight: 2.2g
How to fish them:
High Water - When the rivers are running higher than normal or coloured, try running a streamer through the back eddies. Keep out of the main flow, and think like a minnow! Also try dead drifting the streamer downstream, then retrieve it back (across the flow) with the odd twitch.
Low Light Conditions - With trout feeding more confidently in low light conditions, try a streamer after the evening rise has finished. You will be surprised and what you can catch (even in just a few inches of water). Concentrate on fishing the tails of pools and shallower riffles. It's also worthwhile pulling a streamer through any flat water just as nightfall starts, again, trout are a lot more confident after dusk.
These flies are only available individually in size 10. Just click on "Add To Basket" and then adjust the quantity in your shopping basket.