What fly angler doesn’t love boobies?
What is a booby?
The booby is a trout fly which has two very large round eyes made from buoyant foam. They’re large and round, so I guess you can use your imagination to figure out how they got their name.
The first rule about fishing a booby, please debarb the fly, fish eat this fly and swallow it, that’s why it is banned in most angling tournaments.
The reason its so effective is the movement it gives and the variety of ways this fly can be fished. It moves up and down the water column staying in the zone for the maximum amount of time.
The fly was initially designed to imitate nymphs surfacing where the foam was used as an alternative for the bubbles used by these nymphs as they emerged from the weeds and lake bed. This bubble of air held the insect in the surface film while it changed into a flying insect. They were originally used on floating lines.
Where are boobies used?
Boobies are a stillwater trout fly predominantly used on large waters such as lakes and reservoirs. Along with the blob, the booby is one of the most commonly used trout flies with competition fly anglers.
What makes boobies such effective flies?
Firstly, they’re buoyant, which means you can use them to suspend your flies at the surface if you’re fishing a floating line, or you can suspend them at a specific point above the bottom if you’re fishing them on a sinking line.
Secondly, the shape of the eyes means they move a lot of water and wiggle enticingly when pulled. The vibrations they give off attract trout, which can feel the tiny movements via their lateral line sensory system, which can make them very effective to fish.
Where on my leader should I use a booby?
Boobies are invariably fished as the point fly, whether you’re fishing them on a floating line, intermediate or full sinking line. Fish them anywhere else and they’re likely to tangle. For that reason, you’d never normally use one at a time.
How do you fish boobies on a sinking line?
If you fish a weighted fly on a floating line, it rises up when you pull. The obvious difference in fishing a buoyant fly, like a booby, on a sunken line is that when you pull the line on the retrieve, the fly heads downwards and then bobs back up. This is really enticing to fish.
Clearly, the length of your leader is going to be important. If your sinking line is submerged below the flies somewhere near the lake bed, the booby is going to be floating above it.
As it’s being pulled forwards and down by the retrieve, it won’t be sitting vertical and will probably be around 45°, so if your leader is six feet long, then the fly will be a couple of feet lower than this.
There are so many ways to fish this fly, the main two been on a fast sinking line with a short 30-40cm leader. Long strips with long pauses. The second on a sinking line forming a ?washing line? rig, use it as the point fly on a long leader with 2-3 dropper in between, covering a multitude of water levels.
Use the brighter ones in winter during the spawning season and the more natural ones in the warmer months.
Why do some fisheries ban boobies?
Some fisheries have banned boobies because some anglers have historically chosen to fish them static on a sinking line. Here, the booby is generally fished on a short leader and cast out on a sinking line which is then allowed to sink fully. The booby suspends in midwater above the sinking line and moves around naturally in the current, where the trout often pick it off.
The problem is, the angler can’t detect a bite easily (or at all) by which time the trout has swallowed the fly and ends up deeply hooked, which isn’t great for fish welfare, whether it’s being taken for the table or not. As a result, some fisheries have taken the drastic measure of banning them entirely, even when not fished static.
Why do boobies cause my leader to get tangled?
Boobies can cause some tangling and twisting of the leader. They’re very air resistant so aren’t always that easy to cast and this can sometimes cause them to twist around the leader.
They can also spin when retrieved quickly. This is said to be particularly bad when you’re using boobies which have had their eyes (or should that be breasts?) left flat, instead of being rounded off neatly to create little spheres.
Booby variations
The booby is one of those versatile patterns where you can effectively go freestyle. Since a booby is technically any fly to which a pair of booby eyes have been attached, you can create booby versions of any popular trout flies, from nymphs and crunchers to cat’s whiskers.