Fishing with Boobies

Story & photos by David C. Kimble

Boobies are uniquely shaped fishing flies designed to bob seductively just off the bottom of a pond or lake, or in very slow-moving rivers and creeks. Invented in England during the ’50s for casting into the abundant ponds and man-made lakes of the English countryside, their basic components are marabou feathers for tails, sparkly chenille for the bodies, and large foam beads for the eyes (which gave them their name). English fly tiers tend to add stick-on eyes to their Boobies, something I haven’t seen done in North America.

The most common way to present them is to use a sinking fly line with a short one-metre (three-foot) leader. Cast out and let the line sink completely to the bottom. Retrieve very slowly using short pulls that will cause the fly, which floats slightly above the line, to bob downward with each little twitch.

Wet Booby flies look considerably more seductive than dry Boobies. This is because the marabou feather tails are sleek and thin when wet, and fluff out when dry. Wet or dry, they resemble nothing in the insect or minnow world in North America – but they really work. Obviously, Boobies are attractor patterns, and presumably, fish just like the look of Boobies either bobbing gently in still water, or slowly undulating down a slow-moving river. The problem for the fish is that in order to be certain it’s something good, they just have to suck it into their mouths. By the time they realize that it’s merely feathers and chenille, they also discover the hook, and then it’s simply too late for the fish.

In English ponds, anglers tend to cast them as far out into a pond as they can, place the rod in a rod holder, and then sit back in a camp chair until a fish bites. And they do catch fish that way. We impatient North American anglers prefer to constantly play with our Boobies, usually casting and retrieving (often far too quickly), and then casting again. Personally, I have found that after the line has completely settled on the lake bottom, a retrieve of about 10 to 13 centimetres (four to five inches) every five or six seconds produces well for rainbow trout, eastern brook char, and smallmouth bass.

Black Boobies are probably my favourite for rainbows, char, and smallmouth bass; however, I’ve caught fish at certain times using green and sometimes orange versions. I did well with some pink Boobies that a friend on Vancouver Island had tied for me, casting from shore to schools of pink salmon while fishing between Qualicum Beach and Campbell River. I even caught a nice coho salmon once using a pink Booby while wading the incoming tide.

A guide on the Harrison River showed me how to cast pink and purple Boobies with a sink tip fly-line to catch numerous chum salmon. I laughed when he attached a 30-pound-test leader to my fly line; however, he got the last laugh when I hooked a male chum weighing about nine kilograms (20 pounds). It took me over 30 minutes to get it close enough to the boat to release. That was definitely the most exciting time I ever had with Boobies.

Like many attractor flies in our arsenals (Doc Spratleys and Red Palmers as examples), a Booby’s look and bouncing-action near the bottom of a pond or lake are just too much for a hungry, fast-growing fish to resist. In British Columbia, anglers are only legally allowed to use one fly on the line; however, in areas where anglers are allowed to tie on multiple flies, they often use a Booby on top and a nymph on the bottom. The poor fish might just be attracted to the Booby, but if the fish passes it up, the nymph will hook it most of the time.