Complex Twist Bugger

Complexity in a simple form

Complex Twist v2.0 

***UPDATE***

Do you have a fly that always ends up making it's way onto your line because it just plain works?  As many of you might know I really like trying new patterns and branching out to explore new patterns, but when the going gets tough, or if I need to have a fly on my line that I'm 100% confident in, it's the Complex Twist Bugger (CTB).  The brown and black CTB has produced when other flies have not, and I caught the biggest fish of my life this spring on it (caught and landed are two separate things right?)

The Complex Twist Bugger has been an absolute beast for us this year, and we have made a few changes to the pattern that we'll share here.  I have been using a cone head (both brass and tungsten) and a better hook, and I have even switched out one of the strands of chenille for another color of schlappen (yes, two pieces of schlappen for one fly.) Check out the secret recipes below the new video...

Material List

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Hook: Daiichi 2461 - Long Shank Streamer Hook - 2
Cone: Danville Flat Waxed Nylon Thread - 210 Denier - Black
Cone: Brass Cone Heads - Copper - Large (1/4")
Weight: Lead Free Round Wire - .025
Tail 1: Nature's Spirit Prime Marabou - Long - Brown
Tail 2: Nature's Spirit Prime Marabou - Long - Olive
Body 1: UV Polar Chenille - Olive Copper
Body 2: Schlappen - Olive
Body 3: Schlappen - Fiery Brown
Veil: Bruiser Blend Junior Dubbing - Hidden Treasure

Other tools from the tutorial:
    

Loon Gator Grip Dubbing Spinner
Stonfo Comb/Brush Tool

Buy Complex Twist Buggers (HERE)

Tools Needed:
Gator Grip BUY HERE
Turbo Dubbing Spinner BUY HERE
Stonfo Comb/Brush Tool BUY HERE

 Add all items to your shopping cart:


Cream Twist:
Hook: Daiichi 2461 #2 BUY HERE
Thread: Danville 210 Denier - white BUY HERE
Cone: Brass (or Tungsten) - fl. pearl white - large BUY HERE
Weight: Lead free wire - .025 BUY HERE
Tail: NS Prime Marabou - white BUY HERE
Body 1: UV polar chenille - gold BUY HERE
Body 2: Tinsel chenille - gold BUY HERE
Body 3: Schlappen - white BUY HERE
Veil: Bruiser Blend Jr. - cream BUY HERE

Brown and Black:
Hook: Daiichi 2461 #2 BUY HERE
Thread: Danville 210 Denier - black or brown BUY HERE
Cone: Brass (or Tungsten) - copper large BUY HERE
Weight: Lead free wire - .025 BUY HERE
Tail: NS Prime Marabou - brown BUY HERE
Body 1: UV polar chenille - copper olive BUY HERE
Body 2: Schlappen - black BUY HERE
Body 3: Schlappen - fiery brown BUY HERE
Veil: Bruiser Blend Jr. - brown BUY HERE

Black and Red:
Hook: Daiichi 2461 #2 BUY HERE
Thread: Danville 210 Denier - black or red BUY HERE
Cone: Brass (or Tungsten) - black nickel large BUY HERE
Weight: Lead free wire - .025 BUY HERE
Tail 1: NS Prime Marabou - black BUY HERE
Tail 2: NS Prime Marabou - claret BUY HERE
Body 1: Senyo's Aqua Veil chenille - chocolate covered cherry BUY HERE
Body 2: Schlappen - black BUY HERE
Body 3: Schlappen - Nature's Spirit dyed claret BUY HERE
Veil: Bruiser Blend Jr. - black/red BUY HERE

Black and Blue:
Hook: Daiichi 2461 #2 BUY HERE
Thread: Danville 210 Denier - black or fl. blue BUY HERE
Cone: Brass (or Tungsten) - black nickel large BUY HERE
Weight: Lead free wire - .025 BUY HERE
Tail 1: NS Prime Marabou - black BUY HERE
Tail 2: NS Prime Marabou - royal blue BUY HERE
Body 1: UV polar chenille - black BUY HERE
Body 2: Schlappen - black BUY HERE
Body 3: Schlappen - Nature's Spirit dyed royal blue BUY HERE
Veil: Bruiser Blend Jr. - black/red BUY HERE

Olive and Brown:
Hook: Daiichi 2461 #2 BUY HERE
Thread: Danville 210 Denier - black or olive BUY HERE
Cone: Brass (or Tungsten) - copper BUY HERE
Weight: Lead free wire - .025 BUY HERE
Tail 1: NS Prime Marabou - olive BUY HERE
Tail 2: NS Prime Marabou - brown BUY HERE
Body 1: UV polar chenille - copper olive BUY HERE
Body 2: Schlappen - olive BUY HERE
Body 3: Schlappen - fiery brown BUY HERE
Veil: Bruiser Blend Jr. - brown olive BUY HERE

Fall (Autmn):
Hook: Daiichi 2461 #2 BUY HERE
Thread: Danville 210 Denier - black or Brown BUY HERE
Cone: Brass (or Tungsten) - copper BUY HERE
Weight: Lead free wire - .025 BUY HERE
Tail 1: NS Prime Marabou - sulphur orange BUY HERE
Tail 2: NS Prime Marabou - brown BUY HERE
Tail 3: NS Prime Marabou - fl. orange BUY HERE
Body 1: UV polar chenille - copper olive BUY HERE
Body 2: Schlappen - fl. orange BUY HERE
Body 3: Schlappen - Nature's Spirit dyed crawdad orange BUY HERE
Veil: Bruiser Blend Jr. - hidden treasure BUY HERE

Happy tying and catching.

See below for the original pattern.

Olive Complex Twist Bugger

The Wooly Bugger is the first fly that I learned how to tie back in 2000, and I bet it was one of the first flies that most people learn how to tie because of it's simplicity and effectiveness.  As my tying skills increased, like many of you, I started to add lots of variations to my buggers including flash, different chenilles, and dubbing loops...  For the past few months I have been in full mad scientist mode at the vise, and dubbing loops have been my main medium for my madness (even though I kind of ditched the whole idea of dubbing.. and loops).  The first complex twist bugger I tied really made me realize how endless the possibilities are for this twist.  Here are some of the items that I have put in this bugger...

- Schlappen

- Cactus chenille

- Palmer chenille

- Polar chenille

- Simi seal dubbing

- Small animals

- Unicorn mane fibers

- Pictures of Curtis' mom

Now you can see that you can throw almost anything in this bugger, but I have kind of settled on the materials that are listed in the video and recipe below.  One thing that I realized is that it was hard to get a grip on all of the materials that I put in these flies, so I made a very rudimentary tool that just so happens to work so well that I made a bunch of them to sell on our store.  It's not too hard to figure out what it is, and if you want to make your own go right ahead...  For those of you who want a cheechcrafted original, you may purchase these gator grips here...

~ Cheech

Material List

Hook: Allen S402 #4 BUY HERE
Thread: 3/0 Uni - white BUY HERE
Bead: Tungsten - 3.8mm BUY HERE
Tail 1: Wooly bugger marabou - olive BUY HERE
Tail 2: Senyo fusion dub - tobacco BUY HERE
Body 1: UV polar chenille - rusty copper BUY HERE
Body 2: Speckled chenille - lime olive BUY HERE
Body 3: Schlappen - olive BUY HERE
Veil: UV ice dub - olive brown BUY HERE

***Variations we use***:
Black: Wooly Bugger Marabou, Black; Senyo Fusion Dub, Midnight; UV Polar Chenille, Silver; Speckled Chenille, Midnight Fire; Schlappen, Black; UV Ice Dub, Black

White: Wooly Bugger Marabou, White; Senyo Fusion Dub, Rainbow; UV Polar Chenille, Pearl; Speckled Chenille, Pearl/White; Schlappen, White; UV Ice Dub, UV Pearl

Fall: Wooly Bugger Marabou, Rusty Brown; Senyo Fusion Dub, Tobacco; UV Polar Chenille, Hot Orange; Speckled Chenille, Halloween; Schlappen, Fiery Brown; UV Ice Dub, Gold