Palmered Wooly

The Palmered Wooly - Will it Work?

When simple might be better...

David Hutton Palmetto Fly N Fish©
May 21, 2018

I'm not really sure where I got the pattern described below. It may have been something off the internet, or something I tied and recorded with an eye towards posting at some point.
I expect it was the former case.

Adios Internet

See, there was a time not too long ago that I didn't have the internet. Well, for a long time really. When we moved to our current place, we got a culture shock. To say its in the middle of nowhere might be an understatement. 

You leave town miles behind, and you cant help but notice there are no power lines or poles along the way.

When you finally reach our little shack in the woods, you realize that electricity has come a very roundabout way to our crossroads - and there's no room for internet. 

At least not the hard-wired, unlimited gigabyte sort every body else enjoys these days.

So for a long time, I was a collector of internet information... an info-miner, you might say. 
Every chance I got, I downloaded whatever I found on fishing and fly fishing to a memory stick. 
I wasn't concerned about where it came from, and I wasn't scrupulous about capturing those details. Just get it on there and go for more.
Subsequently, my files are a big repository of Universal Fishing Joy and Goodness, but I don't always know where I got the content. This is most likely one of those items.

Simple Is The Word

Its the simplicity that I wanted to present here. This is really just a Wooly Bugger variation. But it lacks much in the way of embellishment. This isn't a fly pattern gypsy wagon.

I imagine some of you may wonder if something so basic can catch fish. Most pages are full of Wooly Buggers that are anything but simple. The gaudier the better, it seems. 

I saw one guy recently asking for opinions of his; it had a huge, golden bullet head, three colors of body and tail, tastefully contrasting hackle.... well, I was tempted to offer my opinion, but held my tongue. 

This has gotten easier in my older years. 
Funny how that works.

My First Wooly Bugger

But, can simple work? Well, for a long time I didn't fish a Wooly Bugger - ever. I knew of the fly, but I never got around to fishing one, and it was kind of a personal rebellion to resist its siren call. 

So, one day at the vise, the planets aligned. I grabbed a #6 hook, some scrap feathers and well, I caved in. 

Cosmic forces had risen - and I tied a Wooly Bugger.

As I recall it had a short tail of marabou fluff from the base of a feather. The body was more of this marabou stripping dubbed on, and a non-descript hobby store hackle completed the outfit. 

It was drab, grey-brown, and honestly, it looked like a turd. 

It was a passable Wooly Bugger, yes, with all the right stuff.

But it looked like a turd. A Wooly Turd.

I didn't expect it to do much.

The Proof Is In The Turd Pudding

It got its baptism one day while fishing with my friend, Donald Schmotzer. We were at the west end of Wessinger Island on Lake Murray, when I tied on that Basic Bugger and started creeping it along the bottom. I remember it like it was yesterday; I can take you to that same spot today.

I hadn't mentioned the Wooly Turd to Don, because I'm always changing flies. I fish a while with one, then try another. It's like a ritual with me. 
And since I have a lot of flies I've tied, I may as well use them, right?

Because of this, he's come to expect me always fussing with something. 
So, when I let out a whoop, he turned to see what all the commotion was about. 

The rod bent in a way I wasn't expecting, arching over into a hoop that nearly touched the water.
"What you got there?" he asked.
"I don't know, but its something..." (A loss for words, I guess)

Surprisingly, it turned out to be a stout ol' shellcracker, about a pound. It gave my little 5 wt a tussle, and it was a bit of a triumph for me. 
Up until then, I had never caught shellcrackers on anything but worms. 

Once that fish was landed and released, I spilled the beans.

"That was a Wooly Bugger of all things, Don. 

Can you believe that? 

Of all the zillion patterns, I got that on a Wooly Bugger. 

And it was the first one I've ever fished!"

"Really? Your first ever?

Man, I use to use those things some years ago, and caught a lot of fish on them. But I kinda got away from 'em, for some reason. They'll catch fish, that's for sure."

That was sort of Epiphany Moment for me, and I guess for Don, too. I've noticed he's been catching a lot of big bluegill and bass on a small, black Wooly Bugger these days. 

I've also seen him get at least one big 7lb. catfish that way. 

Another we only imagined was a catfish, as we never got to see it before it broke off... also on that same black a Woolly Bugger of his. 

I should say here he ties one of the tidiest Wooly Buggers I've ever seen. Mine never come out so neat.

They always look kinda like turds.

So here is the simple, basic Wooly Bugger pattern that popped up in my files. 
I closed my eyes, pointed the mouse and clicked.
This is what you get.

No pictures. 

No lengthy instructions.

Nothing but the basics.

Will it work? Try it, then let us now.

Materials

Hook	2xl or 3xl nymph hook, 6-12
Thread	Red
Tail	Black Marabou and a few whisps of pearl krystal flash
Ribbing	Fine Gold Wire
Body	Olive Chenille
Hackle	Grizzly Hen Neck, Palmered
Head	Black Bead