StreamerbeginnerGreat Lakes
Woolly Bugger
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Regional source directory
Schultz Outfitters
Matched on Great Lakes, streamer flies, steelhead. Michigan and Great Lakes shop lead for steelhead, trout, and smallmouth patterns.
Fly Fish Food
Matched on streamer flies, trout, leech. Strong technical tying and trout catalog coverage, especially nymphs, dries, and stillwater flies.
Fulling Mill Flies
Matched on streamer flies, trout, baitfish. Large pattern house with broad freshwater and saltwater fly categories.
Orvis Fly Catalog
Matched on streamer flies, trout, woolly bugger. Broad retail catalog for standard trout, warmwater, salmon/steelhead, and saltwater patterns.
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If you could only fish one fly pattern for the rest of your life, experienced anglers would tell you to pick the Woolly Bugger, and they would be right. It looks like everything and nothing. A leech? Sure. A minnow? Why not. A drowned caterpillar having a bad day? Absolutely. It is the fly pattern that refuses to specialize and is rewarded for it with universal effectiveness.
Quick Facts
Where to Fish It
Au Sable River
MI · Freestone River
Manistee River
MI · Freestone River
Brule River
WI · Freestone River
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Related Reading
hatch guide
The Hex Hatch: After Dark on the Great Lakes
The Hex hatch is the defining event of Great Lakes fly fishing — a massive emergence of North America's largest mayfly that happens after dark and brings the biggest brown trout of the year to the surface. This is how to prepare for, find, and fish the most anticipated hatch in the Midwest.
technique
After Dark: The Night Fishing Guide
The largest brown trout in any river feeds almost exclusively at night. The biggest smallmouth in your favorite river moves into the shallows after dark. And the redfish on the marsh flat feed through the night on every tide. Night fishing is where trophy hunters go when they get serious — here's how to join them.
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