Booby flies are one of the strangest looking but
most productive flies you can use in still or slow moving waters.
There are no prizes for guessing how the fly got its name, once
you see the fly, and also no prizes for those who think that these
flies are sometimes called "Dolly Partons".
The combination of its bobbing action as the foam
beads of the head struggle to lift the fly, and the seductive
wriggle of the marabou tail often proves irresistible to trout.
But it is one of the most misunderstood flies being used in New
Zealand today.
First a bit of history.
The first references I can find about Booby flies
is from English magazines published about 35 years ago. Back then
they were called Booby nymphs, and you still see this fly called
Booby nymph in today s U.K. magazines.
The name Booby nymph reveals the flies origins.
English lake fishers observed that many emerging insects used
a bubble of air to move from the lake bed and weeds to the surface.
This bubble of air held the insect in the surface film while it
changed from its nympha form into a flying insect. Nymphs with
bubbles of foam attached to the head became a proven fish taker.
These nymphs were used with a floating line.
Then someone added some marabou to the tail to simulate
the waving legs and wings as the nymph emerged. This addition
of life to the Booby nymph increased catch rates significantly.
We have to suppose that the jump from fishing the Booby nymph
on the surface to fishing it under the surface was as a result
of observation.
Soon bigger Boobies were being tied, this time to
imitate fish fry, and fished on fast sinking lines. The results
were dramatic. Dramatic enough to persuade many lake owners in
the U.K. to ban the fly. In some lakes this ban still applies.
I first came across Booby flies fishing alongside
an Englishman on a beach at Taupo about 1988.
His success rate was extraordinary. He gave me a couple of the
flies which I promptly filed away in my fly box and forgot about.
Forgot until I read about three months later an in-depth article
on the Booby fly in a U.K. magazine.
I tried the Booby at a river mouth at Taupo and
caught trout alongside the rip , when no one else using the traditional
methods was getting a touch. There were a couple of guides on
the rip that evening and they were quick to notice the efficacy
of the Booby fly and they swooped on my fly box.
Suddenly the Booby began to pop up in Taupo, Rotorua
lakes and further afield. A couple of articles in fishing magazines,
and the Booby was suddenly flavour of the month, for a while.
My guess is that many anglers have tried the fly
once or twice and then given it away. I still watch in some amazement
groups of anglers standing in the rip swinging standard lures
catching no fish. When in plain sight one or two anglers using
Booby flies off to the side of the rip (where a stream or river enters a lake) are catching
fish. My belief, based on observation and discussion, is that the anglers who give
up on the Booby do so because they do not fish the fly correctly.
Today’s Booby
Today’s basic Booby flies are all built around the
same principle. A pair of eyes made of some kind of plastic foam
at the head of the hook, some chenille wound round the shank of
the hook to form a body, and a big tuft of marabou to form a tail.
This basic fly has a myriad of derivations and colour combinations,
each of which seems to work at some time or other.
The Booby fly, and there are no prizes for guessing
how it got the name, looks very strange in the fly box. A pair
of round boobies at the head, a big feather duster of a tail.
It is the view of the fly when it is dry that seems to put people
off. But wet the fly and look at it again. The overall shape is
a great imitation of smelt (baitfish).
Put it in the water, and the tail moves just like the sinewy movements of a fish. It
is no wonder trout hit the thing so hard.
Basic fishing method
The basic method of fishing the Booby is very simple.
Use a fast sinking line, I find a shooting head best, no more
than 500 cm of leader to the Booby and cast it out. Give the line
plenty of time to sink and pull the fly down to the bottom. Even
in only 2 or 3 metres of water this can take 30 seconds or more.
If there is any current at all it will take longer.
Once the fly has settled retrieve the fly in short,
10 to 20 cm tugs, pausing between each tug. The pause is important,
the fly must be allowed to float back up, because tugging on the
line pulls it down. That pretty much is that, except for the following
advice.
If you are trying a Booby for the first time, and
you take no notice of anything else in this article, follow this
piece of advice. Before you make your first cast with the Booby
throw the fly out into the water where you can see it. Allow the
line to pull it under, and then watch the movement of the fly
as you tug the line. Only by watching the movement of the fly
as you tug will you learn how to work the fly. Remember in still
water you have to provide the movement to the fly to make it live. The subtleties of
the movement you provide can add and enhance the life of the lure.
The basic Booby method works well in most situations
but there are many variations that can be used.
In summer on still days, especially if there are
fish working on the surface try using a very long leader, at least
the depth of the water and then a bit. This method really requires
that you can see the fly. Cast out and allow the line time to
sink. Then tug on the line, you may need to pull about 20 cm,
then pause. The Booby will sink under the surface then bob back
to the surface and send out little ripples. The takes of trout
when using this method resemble kingis whacking poppers. Exciting
stuff.
If there is some current where you are fishing,
lengthen the leader, this will allow the fly to swing as well
as bob. But remember that it is probably better for the leader
to be too short than too long.
Tying a Booby is not difficult.
When tying the Booby fly it is important to look at
the fly in profile to judge its appearance. (See photo top right.) It is equally important
to think about what it looks like when wet, (the bottom fly).
The proportions of the flies above are about right. Maximizing the ‘wriggle’
of the tail is important. They can be tied on a range of hook sizes from around 12 up
to 6 or 8. The key thing to remember is the flies’ proportions
when wet.
The Head:
Always tie the head on first. This has two advantages.
It allows you to judge the body length much more easily, but more
importantly it allows the head to sit down and around the hook
shaft. This gives the lure a much more natural profile.
The usual method is to use polystyrene balls. These
can be obtained from plastic suppliers as bean bag fillers. Take
a piece of panty hose or clear pliable plastic about 10 cm square,
not Gladwrap or similar it stretches too much, place the two balls
in the centre and pull the ends in to tightly enclose the balls.
Tie down the collected ends of the plastic or panty
hose to the shaft and trim, then bind down the balls by winding
in a figure eight pattern between the balls, then take the thread
to the rear of the hook shaft.
There is a better method of forming the head. There are a number of problems
associated with using styrene balls. Firstly they are not durable, one fish and the
balls can often be crushed and torn. Secondly I have yet to find
a head cement or glue that does not dissolve the balls. Thirdly,
panty hose and plastic tears easily and the balls pop out when
casting.
If you can obtain some Ethafoam or Plastizote, same
product, different brand names, grab it. I found some sheets about
one inch thick in yellow, white and black. A plug cutter made
out of sharpened sections of an old car aerial forms one inch
long cylinders of various diameters.
Lay the cylinder across the hook shaft and tie down
by figure eight binding. I usually leave it at that but some go
the drama of trimming around the ends of the cylinders to form
a more rounded shape. I have found no difference in fish catching.
Dipping a match stick in black head cement and gently
dropping a blob onto the ends of the cylinders forms eyes .
Head Variation
Using Ethafoam or Plastizote cylinders allows you
tie a Booby head variation. First tie on the cylinder and take
the thread back down the shaft about .5 cm. Take the ends of the
Ethafoam and pull them back towards the tail. As you pull the
head back gradually pinch in with the finger nails until the ends
meet the hook shaft. Then still holding the head ends tightly
pinched push the ends slightly back towards the hook eye. This
bulges the sides of the foam. Take the thread in the other hand
and tightly bind down the foam hard up against the pinched finger
nails.
This head is useful to form a very lifelike profile,
or to form a smaller head where you are fishing in any current
or need a faster retrieve. Standard heads tend to spin in a current
or when retrieved quickly.
Tie in the tail.
Take a good clump of marabou, and this is one case
in fly tying, where more is better than less, and tie onto the
shaft. The marabou should be at least a hook length and a half
off the bend of the hook.
A good tip when handling marabou tufts is to wet
the thumb and forefinger and roll the end of the marabou between
them. This makes it much easier to tie in the marabou.
Tie in a bit of tail flash.
A piece or two of pearlescent flashabou tied on
top of the tail adds some extra attraction.
Form the Body
The body is formed with chenille using two methods.
When using standard chenille first tie in tinsel,
then chenille. Wind on the chenille to form a body tie off, and
then wind on the tinsel to form the rib. Tie off.
Otherwise use one of the sparkle chenilles and do
not tie in a rib.
In both cases it is important that the body is kept
slim. The best way to asses whether the body is slim enough is
to wet the fly and look at it in profile.
Night Boobies
Method one: Tie as above using black or dark olive
marabou. Use aurora luminescent skirt, as the body.
Method two: Tie a Booby using black or dark olive
marabou as a tail, black, red or olive chenille as a body. Then
using luminescent paint dab on eyes on the boobies.
Booby Variants
The list of variant ties for boobies could fill
quite a few articles. The most common ones are as follows.
Viva Booby: Then tie a Booby using black marabou
tail. Then tie in and wind on two turns of chartreuse (fluoroescent green) chenille,
completing the body with a dubbing made of black marabou. Use
a tuft of black marabou tied in behind the boobies to form a wing.
Try this fly in bright sunlight. Yes I know about dark fly theories
but this pattern works very well during the day.
Cat’s Whisky Booby: Use a white marabou tail, lime
green chenille, or chartreuse sparkle chenille body, and a tuft
of white marabou tied in behind the head as a wing.
Booby Bugger: Tie a Booby as usual to the tail.
But before starting tying in the body tie in a barred hackle by
the tip at the tail. Form the body of chenille then wind the hackle
forward to the head and tie off, in woolly bugger fashion.
Rabbit or Mink Booby: Tie a Booby head as usual, then wrap the hook down
to the tail with with silver or gold tinsel. Tie in a rabbit or mink strip at the tail
leaving at least a hook and a half of the strip as a tail, wet the fur above the shaft
of the hook, then tie down the strip with about 4 or 5 turns of the thread. (Wetting
the fur makes it easier to pull the fur apart to tie down so you do not tie down fur.)
Tie the fur down behind or in front of the Booby eyes accordig to your preference.
Booby Colours:
The list of colours available to the Booby tier
is just about as wide as all the colours in the spectrum.
Probably the most popular and successful colour
combination is a white tail, chartreuse chenille or sparkle chenille
body. Darker colours using olive tails work well in coloured water
or dusk and dark.
Recently I have been using a peach tail and body
to great effect. A yellowtail, yellow body and olive wing has
caught plenty of fish. But as the photo shows the colour range
is endless.
Hook size and shape:
Use a long shank down eye, or straight eye hook.
The most common size is probably a size 6 hook but I regularly
use size eight and ten hooks.
Barbs:
One of the first things you notice when using Booby
flies is how often fish are very deeply hooked. If you release
fish, it is a wise move to de-barb the hooks. Another tactic to avoid deep hooking is
to tie the boobys on the underside of the hook, which makes the hook swim barb up – this
seems to result in more lip and upper mouth hook ups.
Booby Ethics:
Booby flies have copped a lot of negative flack,
especially about some anglers using the fly on a ‘heave and leave’
basis. That is simply casting out the fly and leaving it until
some fish comes along and gobbles it.
At Lake Otamangakau (central North Island, NZ) I
once saw a guy cast out a Booby then walk back up the bank stripping
line behind him till he reached a seat and sat down to wait. This
made me angry. Then I reflected that this guy was no fly fisherman.
But to ban a fly that is effective for the many who fish it as
fly fishermen, for the sake of the very few who fish it as bait
fishermen seems to be a bit like using a sledge hammer to drive
a tack. Besides I have observed some anglers using a couple of
nymphs under a giant indicator on a heave and leave basis.
Any one who believes Booby flies should be banned
because they float underwater will I trust never use weighted
flies or nymphs for the same fractured logic in reverse. To decry
a fly because it is effective when fished as a fly seems to strike
at the very core of the inventiveness that has characterised the
fly tiers art since it began.
One part of the art of catching trout on the fly
is to select a fly that will induce a trout to bite it. The next
and perhaps most important part is to place the fly where the
fish are feeding. This is perhaps what makes the Booby so effective.
Designing and using a fly that floats just off the bottom is a
tactic equally as valid as using a fly weighted to fish right
on the bottom.