Seal Bugger

Seal Bugger, Olive

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Tying Instructions

1. Attach the .020 lead-free wire behind the eye and wrap 12-20 times on the shank.

2. Attach the thread to the shank at the rear of the lead wraps.

3. Secure the lead wire with thread wraps. Bring the thread back to the bend of the hook.

4. Clip the fibers off a marabou plume stem to tie in a tail. The length should be 1.5 times the shank length. Keep the number of tail fibers sparse about 15-20 fibers. Secure the marabou with 3-4 pinch wraps keeping the material on top of the shank.

5. Secure the butt ends of the marabou over the lead wraps with thread wraps and trim off the excess. Attach a copper wire ribbing to the bottom of the shank at the tail tie-in position. Bring the thread back to the tail tie-in position.

6. Attach a strand of Flashabou on each side of the tail. The strand should go the length of the tail.

7. Create a dubbing loop at the tail tie-in position and bring the bobbin thread up to the eye to keep it out of your way. Place the dubbing within the loop and twist into a rope. You can maneuver the material within the dubbing loop to distribute. Use your fingers to twist the material into the rope if it is too loose.

8. Wrap the dubbing forward. Bring the dubbing to just behind the eye. If you run out of material from the first loop, it’s okay! Just make another short one. Create the loop using a dubbing loop tool to separate the strands. Apply some more Simi Seal within the loop.

9. Spin the loop to lock the fibers in and you can use your fingers to twist to material into a uniform rope.

10. Wrap the dubbing about an eye width behind the eye and secure with thread wraps. Select a saddle hackle a couple sizes smaller than the hook. For instance, a size 8 hook would use a size 12 hackle. Attach the hackle just in front of the body by the base with thread wraps. The shiny side of the hackle should face forward so the the fibers sweep back.

11. Palmer the hackle back towards the tail with about 5 wraps. Wrap the wire around the tag end of the hackle to secure it and wrap the ribbing forward, taking care not to catch some of the saddle hackle fibers.

12. Secure the ribbing wire just behind the eye with thread wraps and trim off the tag.

13. Build a small thread head and Whip Finish. Brush the body with a piece of velcro or a dubbing brush. Tease the dubbing material so that it extends through the hackle fibers and tends to blend in.

14. Apply some head cement the thread head. The finished Olive Seal Bugger

Materials to Order Material, click the link
Hook	Daiichi 2220, #8-10
Thread	Danville Black 6/0
Head	Danville Black 6/0
Weight	0.020 Leadfree Wire
Hackle	2 wraps of Orange Grizzly Saddle Hackle
Body	Olive Simi Seal
Tail	Olive Marabou with 2 strands of Copper Wire

Denny Rickards

Stillwater guru, Denny Rickards, developed the Seal Bugger in the mid-1980’s at Upper Klamath Lake in Oregon. It is a variation of the Woolly Bugger utilizing some of the features of the Mohair Leech patterns.

Jigged Streamer

The Seal Bugger is fished as a streamer, usually from a float tube. It is weighted heavily to assist in a deep descent and give the fly a jigging action. Denny will use about 20 wraps of .020 lead-free wire at the forward portion of the hook shank. Angora Goat, a seal substitute, has very good pulsating qualities in the water and is often used as the body material for this fly. It gives a good translucency effect to the fly. Often Lite Brite or Ice Dubbing would be added to the body material for a reflective effect.

Simi Seal Dubbing

John Rohmer of Arizona Fly fishing developed a number of color variations with his Simi Seal and this material has proven itself as a great seal substitute material for the Seal Bugger. It’s already preblended and is easy to use within a dubbing loop. Denny uses dyed Grizzly hackle, often Burnt Orange, Burgundy, and Black, palmered through the body with only 4-5 wraps. He prefers the Nymph Hackle marketed by J. Fair. This is a Metz #2 hackle having the proper sizes for the pattern and colors that match the Marabou. The hackle is brushed well to blend with the body fibers. The color contrast provided by the hackle gives this fly some unique attractor properties as well as a segmentation look. The copper wire ribbing is necessary to protect the hackle from unraveling.

Sparse Marabou Tail

The marabou tail should be sparse with fewer than 20 fibers and somewhat long, about 1.5 times the hook shank. Clip the strands from the quill of a marabou plume so that the strands have a freedom of movement. The sparseness of the material allows the tail to move with a sinuating action. You should select marabou that is fully barbed to the tips.

Denny uses many different color combinations of the body, tail and hackle. The major body colors are Olive, Brown, and Black. The darker colors work especially well under low light conditions. The lighter Olive colors work well late-morning and midday. Hackle colorations include: Burnt Orange, Burgundy, Grizzly, and Black. Tail colorations are: Burnt Orange, Burgundy, Olive, Black, Brown, and Dark Olive. Denny has developed some recent variations, particularly by adding two colorations to the tail.

Presentation

Denny prefers to use intermediate sinking lines with most of his stillwater action to give more time to the fly to remain within the strike zone. The sink rate of this line will compensate with a slow retrieve to maintain a uniform depth. Count-downs to reach the proper depth are critical. He is also a strong proponent to fish his seal buggers from a 360 degree exploratory position within the float tube. He prefers this over the more common method of “trolling” the streamer throughout a stillwater.

Once the fish have been located, Denny will fish that area through a cast and retrieve method. Count and Retrieve Methods will vary from a long slow pull to short rapid pulls, depending upon the food source the fly is imitating. For instance, as a Leech imitation the Seal Bugger is best retrieved with long, slow pulls, whereas as a baitfish pattern the Seal Bugger should have a short rapid pull.

Variations

Seal Bugger, Black/Red

Hook	Daiichi 2220, #8-10
Thread	Danville Black 6/0
Head	Danville Black 6/0
Weight	0.020 Leadfree Wire
Hackle	2 wraps of Claret Saddle Hackle
Body	Black/Red Simi Seal
Tail	Black Marabou with 2 strands of Copper Wire

Seal Bugger, Burgundy

Hook	Daiichi 2220, #8-10
Thread	Danville Black 6/0
Head	Danville Black 6/0
Weight	0.020 Leadfree Wire
Hackle	2 wraps of Purple Grizzly Saddle Hackle
Body	Blood Leech Simi Seal
Tail	Claret Marabou with 2 strands of Copper Wire

Seal Bugger, Burnt Orange/Black

Hook	Daiichi 2220, #8-10
Thread	Danville Black 6/0
Head	Danville Black 6/0
Weight	0.020 Leadfree Wire
Hackle	2 wraps of Orange Grizzly Saddle Hackle
Body	Black Simi Seal
Tail	Crawdad Orange Marabou with 2 strands of Copper Wire

Seal Bugger, Black/Grizzly

Hook	Daiichi 2220, #8-10
Thread	Danville Black 6/0
Head	Danville Black 6/0
Weight	0.020 Leadfree Wire
Hackle	2 wraps of Grizzly Saddle Hackle
Body	Black Simi Seal
Tail	Black Marabou with 2 strands of Copper Wire

Seal Bugger, Burnt Orange/Black

Hook	Daiichi 2220, #8-10
Thread	Danville Black 6/0
Head	Danville Black 6/0
Weight	0.020 Leadfree Wire
Hackle	2 wraps of Black Saddle Hackle
Body	Black Simi Seal
Tail	Crawdad Orange over Black Marabou with 2 strands of Copper Wire

Seal Bugger, Burgundy/Black

Hook	Daiichi 2220, #8-10
Thread	Danville Black 6/0
Head	Danville Black 6/0
Weight	0.020 Leadfree Wire
Hackle	2 wraps of Claret Saddle Hackle
Body	Black/Red Simi Seal
Tail	Claret over Black Marabou with 2 strands of Copper Wire