Ultra Zug Bug 11/29/2025 Photo Album

Turn back the clock and check out my post from 01/31/2012 for the story of the ultra zug bug and a materials table. Over the years this fly has been one of my most productive. It does not crash the upper echelon of nymphs, which is populated by the hares ear nymph, salvation nymph and olive perdigon, but it is among the next tier.

Reburbished UZB

Left Side

For some reason I failed to deploy the UZB very much in 2025. and this fact was confirmed by minimal shrinkage of my supply. After I counted all my ultra zug bugs, I determined that I only needed to tie two to improve my stock to previously established season opening levels. In fact, I have so many, that I probably could have skipped them, but I like to stay in practice. I discovered two damaged UZB,s in my restore canister, so they became my two replacement flies.

Materials and New Flies

One of the things I love about this fly is the ease of tying. It only requires three materials besides the hook, bead and thread. Originally I viewed this fly as a surrogate for the prince nymph, and I used it during caddis egg laying activity, but I have found it to be effective throughout the year. I suspect the peacock dubbing is an attractor element, and in some cases I have used it in lieu of a salvation nymph, when I experience the loss of an excessive quantity of salvations. For some reason, I seem to lose salvation nymphs at a rapid clip, so the UZB substitution prevails more than one might expect.