Say what you want, this fly catches fish, developed in the UK in the 50’s.
The booby is a trout fly that 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.
There are so many ways to fish this fly, the main two being 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.
