About Woolly Streamers

The Fly Crate's Woolly Bugg'er Streamer Assortment is one of the most simple, versatile, and effective flies in fly fishing history. Trout, panfish, bass, carp, redfish, bonefish; you name it, it will eat a streamer. With that said, the woolly is essential for all fly fishers, especially beginners.

Wooly streamers are a type of wet fly streamer used to fish beneath the surface. They are commonly handmade out of chenille, yarn, hackle, thread, flash tinsel, and marabou. Streamer flies are bigger sinking fly fishing flies that imitate minnows, crayfish, leeches, large insects, etc. that are usually retrieved for movement.

What makes the Woolly such a popular fly pattern across the United States is its versatility across all types of fly fishing from freshwater to saltwater. Woollys can imitate a wide range of baitfish, leeches, crayfish, large nymphs, drowned terrestrial insects, shrimp, and crabs. Without any weight, the woolly fly rides in the upper water column, which can be great for trout feeding higher in the water or feeding in the shallows. If you need your fly to get down deep, adding a bead head or some wire to the fly does the job without compromising the presentation of the fly. I like using a weightless streamer when I’m swinging my fly through a shallow riffle, and a weighted one when I encounter any pockets and pools. This versatility allows it to be fished in many different situations while targeting trout.

• Quality stainless steel hooks.
• Weighted bodies and beaded.
• Finished with head cement and wire wrapped.

Unlike other cheap fly fishing assortments, The Fly Crate fly assortments are crafted from premium steel and hand-tied by high-quality craftsmen. Our flies will not only look good but will stand up to high-volume daily use.

The Fly Crate is a small Pennsylvania company dedicated to promoting and teaching the amazing sport of fly fishing. Our goal is to provide the best fly fishing products and teach all levels of fly anglers something new. This kit is a must-have for beginners, intermediates, campers, or anyone who just needs to restock for the season.

How To Fly Fish Streamers

Streamers can be fished in many different ways. It can be stripped, swung, and even dead-drifted like a nymph.

A favorite way to fish a streamer is to use it as a baitfish imitation. For this, cast your streamer a few feet upstream from where you think the fish might be holding. Typically, when casting a streamer – you’ll want to cast downstream at a slight angle.

Target banks, structures, shelves, pocket water, slack water, deep pools, and runs. Try and cast upstream of where you want your streamer to drift through. Then has your line flows downstream, try to time your stripping so your streamer fly swims through directly past where you think fish are holding. I like to have it so my streamer practically hits the side of the rock and swims right through the pool directly behind it.

Once the fly hits the water, give it quick, short strips to act like a scared minnow as your line and fly swing across the stream. Have it appear as if it’s fleeing from the fish. To give it more action, toy with the rod as if you’re playing with a cat by twitching your rod tip back as you retrieve it. Use your wrist to flick and twitch the end of your fly rod as you continue your short fast strips. Sure, it does seem like too much to be doing to attract a fish, but it sure does work.

You can use an active retrieve when streamer fishing with short strips, irregular erratic strips, and even long slow strips depending on the fishing situation and water conditions. Winter and early spring will call for slower strips, and summer and fall will require more movement as water temperatures are warmer and fish are more prone to chasing streamers. Another great way to fish streamers is to imitate leeches and large nymphs. To do this, use a smaller streamer (size #10 or #8), such as a bead head streamer. Unlike the previous method, for this, strip the fly very slowly or dead drift it under an indicator. Most leeches and nymphs can swim to some degree, but can’t fight a strong current, so let the water do most of the work. This method is very effective on tailwaters where baitfish can sometimes get churned up below the dam.

If you see fish chasing your streamer, that is a good sign. If they won’t commit to eating the fly, then change fly size, retrieve pattern, or fly pattern. If I am not actively moving fish and have changed things up a few times, then I give up and go with nymphing or a dry dropper rig.

For every order, we donate 2% to disabled veterans.

Through our Healing Flies Program, 2% of all sales are committed to the rehabilitation of disabled USA veterans via our partnership with Project Healing Waters, Inc. This has been a commitment of The Fly Crate's since day 1 of operations and is an important value we uphold — to positively impact as many Americans as we can. Our Healings Flies program is our way of enabling every-day Americans to directly support our beloved veterans by purchasing the flies they need.