Zug Bug Nymph

Teimco 3671 Size 10 - 14

Black 6/0 or 8/0

Gold or Silver to match hook size

Lead or copper wire sized to match the hook.

Peacock Herl

Oval Gold or Silver Tinsel

A Wood Duck Feather Trimmed Down

6-8 Peacock Sword Fibers

Brown Hen Soft Hackle

This is an extremely popular stillwater or slowwater pattern and for good reasons. This is one of my favorite flies for fishing apline lakes in the Cascade and Olympic Mountains. I have also had amazing success using this pattern in beaver ponds or pools for cutthroat across the western US. I usually fish it with a series of short strips of varying speeds.

Click on the picture next to the corresponding step for a larger image.

Step 1: Place bead sized to match the size of the hook, and start the thread about 3/4 of the shank behind the eye of the hook and optionally add a few wraps of lead wire sized to match the hook.

Step 2: Tie in the tail with about 6 to 8 pieces of peacock sword feathers.

Step 3: Tie in three or four pieces of peacock herl at the bend of the hook. The tie in a piece of small round gold tinsel that is about 3 1/2" to 4" long. Then bring the thread back up to just behind the bead.

Step 4: Wrap the peacock herl forward to just behind the bead, being sure to leave enough room to tie some hackle in later.

Step 5: Wrap the gold tinsel forward as a rib and tie it off just behind the bead.

5. Tie in a brown hen soft hackle feather where you tied the peacock herl off at.

6. Wrap a couple of turns of hackle forward forming a collar and then tie the feather off.

7. Cut the center of the mid point a wood duck feather out. Make sure the the stem of the feather is thin enough to tie in. Then tie this in over the top of the collar.

8. Trim the wood duck feather back to about 1/8" long or a little long, then whip finish and head cement the fly.

On my excursions for different species of trout, this fly has taken coastal cutthroat, brook trout, bonneville cutthroat, humboldt cutthroat, and whitehorse basin cutthroat.