The Deadly Booby

[Dejon Hamann]

Love em', hate em', or maybe you've never heard of em'.  Booby Nymphs are often at the center of a lot of controversy, but the bottom line is when utilized correctly they are completely ethical and extremely deadly.  On still or slow moving water these little foam eyed monsters can't often be beat.


The standard dressing is a size 10 hook whip lashed with a short section of foam, chenille, and marabou tail.  Pretty easy.  Color variations abound. 

Methods and lines utilized can be endless, but 2 popular methods are:
1) Washing line.  A 3 fly team spread across 20 odd feet of level 3 or 4x leader.  Booby on the point, and 2 weighted nymphs between.  Basically, the idea is a floating point causes the nymphs to bounce ever so enticingly at what ever water level you are targeting.
2)DI7 and a Short leader.  In this scenario a super fast sinking line is taking your single Booby or team right to the bottom.  From there the Booby floats upward just off the bottom hovering over vegetation.  Each strip of the fly line brings the team back toward the bottom in a reverse jigging, trout devastating motion.

If you fish still-waters for trout or have some pseudo-still river water in your area try the Booby. 

The tough part is finding proper Booby foam in the states.  There are certainly alternatives though and any closed cell foam will get you started.  I continue the search for a good State Side dealer of the little foam cylinders.  If you can't wait - just do a search through UK web-waves.

[Mark Hanes]

I like It and i can see it may be deadly on stockers in still water.  I will have to get some of that foam.  I am guessing the colors you show are more for rainbows?

[Dejon Hamann]

Yeah, the bright colors usually pull the bows and brookies.  More drab colors work well on browns and generally holdover/wild fish.

That foam is hard to find.  I just ordered up this batch:
http://cgi.ebay.com/FLY-TYING-MATERIALS-6MM-BOOBY-EYES-SELECTION-BOX_W0QQitemZ110345798488QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_SportingGoods_FishingAcces_RL?hash=item110345798488

Kind of ridiculous price to pay for a box of foam, but I wanted the good stuff.

[Mark Hanes]

Nah that is not too bad all it will take is one Lunker to make it worth wild!

[Dejon Hamann]

Yeah, guess your right.  Hopefully someone stateside starts carrying this stuff though. 

Looking forward to this spring when the local lakes start clearing.  Should have a new Pontoon Boat by then.  Put some real work in on the stillwater techs before the warmwater fish start to take over again.

[Mike Norton]

Here I thught you talking about something else .... The only time I have seen this fly it was by Dick Talluer..do not see them too often in our local shops...might have tie some and give it  try....

[Dejon Hamann]

Yeah, many state side fishers get all excited because they misconstrue what you are referring to:)

A lot of the Canadian National boys that I fished with, these are competitors from the old school that compete all over the world, have boxes chalk full of boobies in tons of color and size variations.  I had to order up some boobie foam from England to get the good stuff.  Now it's just sitting idle in the back of my tying desk because I have ZERO lakes on the horizon.

[Paul Bourcq]

Can you post that link to the booby foam?  the one below doesnt work.  Do you know any places to order some to get a reference as far as tying them?  Im looking for somewhere to find boobys, comorants, thrashers ect.  thanks......good foam is hard to find.

[Dejon Hamann]

It's the search term "foam" that's throwing it off.

Do a search for "booby eyes" on ebay.  There are a few auctions, not from the exact ebayer I bought mine from, but this looks very similar:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Booby-Eyes-96-Assorted-in-Dispenser-6mm_W0QQitemZ370216157339QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_SportingGoods_FishingAcces_RL?hash=item56329a409b&_trksid=p3286.m63.l1177

[Mark Hanes]

Dejon,

How long did they take to ship I know I have had fly tying materials get stuck in customs for a week or two.

[Dejon Hamann]

I think it was 2 weeks. Not too long considering.  Wish I had some of the 8mm too though.

[Mark Hanes]

Thats not bad.  I really don't still water fish enough to try these.  Have you tried them shore fishing?

[Dejon Hamann]

Yes.  They can be deadly from shore too.  I've even been getting a few lake runs in the rivers on them.  I mean, think about it: it's basically a tricked out bugger/egg/clouser: marabou tail, estaz body, boyant big eyes!   

[Mark Hanes]

Sounds more like a busty hooker than a fly.

[Todd Oishi]

Boobies are extremely effective and are often taken right beside the boat, as the trout become so affixed on them that they put on blinders at times.




When used properly they are just as "fish-friendly" as any other wet fly. They should however be retrieved with a medium- or fast-paced retrieve to avoid allowing the trout the opportunity to swallow them deeply (trout absolutely inhale them if given the opportunity).

Here's a photo of a larger trout that I caught while fishing Boobies on a reservoir in England last year. This particular trout took the Boobie as it sat "static" on the water's surface, while I waited for the sinking line to pull it beneath the surface. Note how deeply the trout swallowed this particular Booby in comparison to conventional stillwater patterns (this fish was dispatched and consumed, as is the custom on this particular body of water)...

[Boris Huguenel]

the boobie can also be fished on a floating line as a washing line , when you pull the boobie it often attracts the trout attention
and if it is not crushing on the boobie it often has an interest on the nymph while passing the boobie , try it it is a killer
especially if nothing else works ,when the trout is taken by feeding on the bottom. tight lines

[Mark Hanes]

Great info added!  it is nice to see all the new blood adding to the old post.

[Brandon Alexander]

I'm going to try to whip up a few and toss em' at the Res. The big bulging eye silouhette and flash body are surely trigger points on a struggling baitfish on the surface. I can see the take and hear the drag now!!!

[Chris Smorul]

Here I thught you talking about something else .... The only time I have seen this fly it was by Dick Talluer..do not see them too often in our local shops...might have tie some and give it  try....

There is a recipe with step to step photo's for this fly in a book I have-The Fly Tying Bible by Peter Gathercole.

[Mark Hanes]

good book I have it as well.

[Mark Hanes]

Just order some stuff for my Booby flies on ebay.  6mm and 8mm eye assortments and a bunch of fritz.  The time to fill the lake boxes will soon ber here.

[Dejon Hamann]

Nice! What fritz/straggle did you go for?

[Mark Hanes]

I got a few different mostly 10mm for Blobs.  i got a lot of colors to start out with to.

[IHPGFY]

Always liked boobies, but now that I have found they have a use in flyfishing me likey even more!  LOL

But seriously, are the materials to tie these flies hard to come by?

[Dejon Hamann]

You can easily use regular terrestrial foam, estaz, and marabou.  But the really good boobie foam, fritz, straggle, and such just can't be found here in the states.  you can get it easily on ebay though.