Flieguy's guide to booby fishing

[Flieguy]

A couple people have asked me about booby fishing since I tied some for the stillwater fly swap (headed out the day before yesterday Crawdad), so I've decided to share my knowledge.

Boobies are a great fly (more of a lure really) for fishing in stillwaters on a sinking line. They're usually one of the first flies I tie on, and if the fish are aggressive they usually hammer them.

generally I fish them on a di 5 or di7 sink line, depending on depth, and about a 6' leader of 8lb fluoro. My retrieve is usually a roly-poly (double hand) retrieve or a rip strip. Fish the fly fast, almost like you're casting a spinner, they don't really imitate anything for the most part but they can sure generate curiosity/aggression strikes. Pausing in the retrieve will let a well-tied booby begin to float up to the surface, an action that doesn't really happen with conventional stripped flies, and this can often cause some good strikes.

There are tons of good colour combos, one of my personal favorites being the cat's whisker booby on about a #10 wide gape hook with 7mm eyes.

sometimes, you can't even buy a fish on a booby, and when this happens I switch to matching the hatch. But other times, matching the hatch doesn't work and boobies will put a bunch in the boat, don't be afraid to try one.

good luck ladies and gents, and remember, fish are like boobies, even the small ones are fun to play with!

[Mr Flyguy]

Looking forward to receiving your version in the fly swap.

I received some Gel Core Fritz in Sunburst orange the other day so tied up some tequila boobies per Phil Rowley's recipe. The "eyes" look a little small though (I used 5 mm foam cylinders) so maybe I should start with the 7 mm diameter before cutting and smoothing to shape?

[Flieguy]

depending on your hook size 5mm eyes will work, it just won't float up as fast. tie one and try it in the sink. The ones I sent to the swap are on 5mm eyes but I believe they were a #12 hook with a smaller body

[RavYak]

So you just let them sink fully then retrieve them quickly?

I have always let them sink then retrieved in slow jerks so they bounce up and down just off the bottom. I have also read how some people fish them almost like bait just leaving them out to float just up off the bottom.

[Bobdep]

This is totally new for me , can't wait to try them


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[spurly]

Wonder if these would work , jiggled under the ice?

[Swede]

Guys I've done a lot of booby fishing. I would just like to share what I've learned. First off it can be absolutely brutal on the trout If fished the wrong way
Trout tend to inhale it if the fly isn't moving. When I was first learning to fish boobies I had a few good sized trout suck the fly right down there throat and into there stomach. So never ever let it just sit there unless you enjoy killing the trout you catch.

Fish the way that was mentioned. I love bombing mine as far as I can which is really fun in itself because sinking lines cast and shoot like a dream
Ok get tight to it and let it sink on a tight line because lots of times you will get a fish when its sinking If your not tight to it you wont feel the strike and nine times out of ten the trout will suck the fly deep, More than likely killing it on release.

Second and I cant stress this enough keep the fly moving at a moderate pace and if you pause which I do myself stay tight to it and strike fast when you feel the take or the fish is going to inhale the fly.More than likely killing it on release.

Third its not always a jolting strike lots of times the fish will pick the fly up as your retrieving and swim with it towards you So when retrieving and it just doesn't feel the same like there's a little less resistance set the hook. You will be surprised how many times there's a fish there.

Plz if you tie your own boobies or even buy them take the time to de-barb them. Myself I like to bend the hook away from the shank just a little to make it easier to get the hook out when one does take it a little deeper.

I hope this helps you avoid some of the mistakes I made the first few times I fished boobies

[Don Andersen]

I'm with Swede on the speed of boobies. I've been fishing floating flies with sinking lines for many years. I found very quickly tbat slow moving flies were deeply inhaled resulting in fish death.
Further, I fish boobies mostly on type 4 lines in waters often less than 6' deep. I use 3' leaders of 8 lb. Rio. Cast the booby out, let it sit till the line carries it below the surface and retrieve FAST OR KILL TROUT.

Don

[Flieguy]

I might try tying some on circle hooks, I use them for ice fishing with bait and I've also tried tying them on nymphs and static leeches, they work pretty well and never deep hook

[spurly]

Originally Posted by Flieguy

I might try tying some on circle hooks, I use them for ice fishing with bait and I've also tried tying them on nymphs and static leeches, they work pretty well and never deep hook

I have never used circle hooks, what are the benefits of them?

[Swede]

Flieguy
I don't use circle hooks but ive thought of trying them also. I just look for hooks that have a good gap between the point and the shaft also like i said i bend the point away from the shaft,not to the side opening up the gap a little more. Seems to work pretty good

I would like to clarify that when i say i pause on my retrieve its only for about one second it never really sits there Sounded kind of contradictory the way i said it before.

[32-40win]

This year was the first time I bothered seriously trying a booby, had them in the box for 4-5 yrs already. Used a #6 sink rate line to get it down in 18ft with a heavy chromie on a washing line. Long countdown, then to a slow hand twist, then a stop for maybe 3 seconds, and a fast strip about a foot long, a stop again and back to a hand twist. All the hits were on the boobie as I stopped after the fast strip. That was in MB Parklands on Persse and Twin. I was impressed.
Going to tie a few more of them this year, and some blobs and squirmie worms, maybe some chronies. Smaller circle hooks such a s 10,12 and 14 are a little harder to acquire, got some direct from Fulling Mills last year, be using them for a lot of stuff this year. I'll do some mini-leeches, the squirmies, and the boobies on them, used them for years already, on deceivers, wooly buggers and leech patterns. They were mostly #8 and # 6 as that was what was around, to be had at the time. I like using them, they work.

[fishman]

I fish boobies out here sometimes in 30+ feet of water I use sink 7 with 18 inches of tippet let sink to bottom and start to strip and pause. It can very on the day Fast strips pause and repeat can be steady slow strips
The length of the tippet will dictate the depth of the fly. I have just dead drifted with the flu and did well. I have cast and started stripping right away. I have trolled with them. There is not a set way change it up for that day and also the depth of the water. My buddy and I were fishing a lake with steelhead in it with a tequila boobie they were hitting it so hard it was unreal and were r talking about fish 10+ pounds

[Flieguy]

Originally Posted by spurly

I have never used circle hooks, what are the benefits of them?

they never deep hook, the point circles inward towards the shank, so it can be difficult to get hookups if you use them improperly, but even if a fish swallows one it will pull out of the soft tissue in the throat and stick in the mouth (unless you set too fast and just pull it right out)

[RavYak]

I too noticed that fishing boobies slow you do deep hook some fish.

Circle hooks work great for some species but I don't know how they would work for this. The thing with circle hooks is you have to use larger hooks because the gap of the hook is key and must allow the hook to curl over the lip/mouth of the fish. I am thinking a fly would look awkward using a circle hook which would have to be like 3 times the size of the regular J hooks used.

[32-40win]

No necessarily a bad thing to tie a small fly on a larger hook. But, to give you an idea for comparison, second from left is a #10 circle from Fulling Mills, the last one on right is a #8 from Mustad, with an 1130 #10 in the middle.

[professori]

Originally Posted by 32-40win

No necessarily a bad thing to tie a small fly on a larger hook. But, to give you an idea for comparison, second from left is a #10 circle from Fulling Mills, the last one on right is a #8 from Mustad, with an 1130 #10 in the middle.

Nice to see another Canadian Llama customer.

[RavYak]

Originally Posted by 32-40win

No necessarily a bad thing to tie a small fly on a larger hook. But, to give you an idea for comparison, second from left is a #10 circle from Fulling Mills, the last one on right is a #8 from Mustad, with an 1130 #10 in the middle.

Are those considered a wide gap circle and have you tried them on flies? That looks like a wide gap but every manufacturer is different in their terminology, a wide gap circle is definitely the way to go on a fly.

Another thing to remember about circle hooks if people are going to try them is you have to tie the line on the right way means you need room on the shank to tie a snell knot. If you tie the snell the wrong way or just loop/clinch knot to the eye you will miss lots of strikes.

Also with a circle hook you don't set the hook, you have to apply slow constant pressure. Just some things to know for people that haven't used them before.

Still not sure how they would work on a fly but they worked wonders bait fishing in Florida when I was down there.

[32-40win]

I've used the #8's on leech patterns and wooly buggers. This next spring will be first try on the #10's and 12's, I have some 14's as well. What I always liked with the circles, was a fish is either on or off. If it is on, it will stay on, is my experience, and I can't say as I have missed any more initial hits with them, may even have picked up some. Certainly don't seem to have the hook flings, as with regular hooks, thru the course of the initial fight sequences.
With these, I think, that the short shank is good for tying smaller stuff on the bigger hooks, say a 14 on a 12, 16 on a 14. It is something of an experiment with the small ones, but, if they work as well as the bigger ones, great, if they don't, so be it, I tried it. They are nicer to use, in that they let the fish do the work, on setting them. And they do have closed rings, work fine with loops.

[RavYak]

I'm not good with hook sizes but if the gap is big enough that the hook can rotate about the lip of the fish then they will work. If you go smaller then that they won't catch. With circles bigger is often better as long as it doesn't stop the fish from biting.

[32-40win]

This will be the starter pack for this season, I picked up most of these when I ordered the hooks,some floozies, FABS and boobies. See what works, and go from there, to tie some more of them.

[Coulee]

Pink and purple boobies are my absolute favorite go-to fly for rainbows and brook trout in the Kootenays. Can't beat them. Sinking line and a slow strip back in.