Wooly Bugger

[piri]

I was thinking this weekend about a Wooly Bugger for tigerfish. Anybody thinks it will work?

What patterns?

[Gerrit Viljoen]

It will work ito hooking fish yes but make sure you have about 200 of them flies. Synthetics are way better.

[pieterkriel]

It will work ito hooking fish yes but make sure you have about 200 of them flies. Synthetics are way better.

aye..second that

[chris williams]

Third that, W-Buggers will catch fish but don't have the resilience to tigers' teeth like synthetic Lefties etc

[Shamwari]

Stop Woooly Buggering around and fish a nice clouser pattern or three

[C J]

Stop Woooly Buggering around and fish a nice clouser pattern or three

.........or some polar fibre baitfish patterns.

[Scythe]

Stop Woooly Buggering around and fish a nice clouser pattern or three

Ja but synthetic clousers, otherwise you're going to end up going through a LOT of bucktail

[Shamwari]

Ja but synthetic clousers, otherwise you're going to end up going through a LOT of bucktail

He He.,..this could go on for hours...

[jock0]

Small tigers teeth interlock almost perfectly and are far sharper than their bigger sisters teeth... What's the average size fish in the okavango or kaprivi compared to say the lower zambezi or the barotse floodplain?

I wouldnt go so far as to use marabou, but make sure you tailor your flies to suit the area you're fishing in. If there are lots of razor gang members around, then go full on synthetic. If you're fishing in an area with less fish, albeit much bigger fish, I wouldnt hesitate to use bucktail as the action/taper is far superior to any synthetic.

[Andre]

I think you might also be forgetting the type of hook. A standard woolly bugger hook, ie a size 6 to size 4 streamer hook, will not hold up to a tigers bite. His teeth will go right through the hook. For tiger flies, you need a serious hook, like a size 0 or 1/0, heavy guage, chemically sharpened steel hook. Also, the manner with which you need to strip strike the fish, and hold onto the line, if the hook doesnt' break, it will straighten. I would abandon the idea of a wooly bugger, and go for something that will do the job properly, with a hook designed for the purpose.