FLOATING FRY

Tying:

Fishing Method:

Floating line and long leader – usually June to October. This fry pattern is superb when trout are bashing fry and coming back for the stunned fish. Usually best fished static and allowed to drift on the wind. In Autumn it produces outstanding surface fishing on windy days (it can’t be too windy!) even on waters where there are no natural fry.

Fish often slash at the fly, presumably to stun it, and then come back and mop it up. At other times the take is a very confident sip – now you see it, now you don’t! Under these latter conditions a firm lift usually results in a well hooked fish.

Do not use a very light leader.

Bead Marabou Nymph

Materials required:

• Shrimp (or curved) hook size 12

• Black 6/0 tying thread

• 4 Black beads

• Black Marabou

Tying:

1. Put 4 beads onto hook and ensure first bead is snug against the eye.

2.  Tie on thread behind the beads and tie in a bunch of marabou and simply tie off.

Tying Tips : This fly can be tied in a great variety of colours and a version with red beads and red marabou is an extremely good blood worm pattern.  Other variations of this extremely simple to tie pattern are olive, yellow and white beads with appropriate coloured marabou.

Fishing the Fly

This nymph is a really lethal pattern and is a fantastic fish catcher throughout the year.  It is extremely effective when fished under an indicator at varying depths depending on where the trout are feeding.  It is equally at home drifted around on the breeze with an extremely slow figure of eight retrieve with the occasional twitch.

Red Head Buzzer

Materials required:

• Curved Hook Sizes 10 – 16

• Black 6/0 tying thread

• Fine Silver Wire

• Bright Red Floss

• Hard as Nails or Epoxy

Tying:

1. Tie in Black thread behind the hook eye and take down in touching turns down the hook shank and partly around the bend.

2.  Catch in the silver wire and the thread back up the hook shank leaving just less than the top third of the hook for the thorax.  Wind the wire up the shank in open turns and tie off when reaching the thread.

3.  Tie in the bright red floss and form a bulbous thorax.

4.   Whip finish behind the eye and coat with several coats of Hard as Nails or epoxy to form a shiney red head and this gives a fly which sinks quickly.

Fishing the Fly

This buzzer is very versatile and can be fished under an indicator, it can be left to drift around on the breeze or can be figure of eight or strip retrieved at various depths.  It is particularly good in the cooler weather as it can fished deep if the Trout go down.

This useful dry fly can be tied in a variety of colours including olive, black, claret, yellow, brown and orange and can also be tied in many sizes from size 10 down to 16’s. Our dressing below shows a black hopper which we have tied on a size 12 hook.

Materials required:

Choose a fine wire, medium shank hook, black tying thread, fine pearl lurex, seal fur dubbing, 8 cock pheasant centre tail fibres, knotted, black cock hackle.

1. Tie on the thread near the eye and work towards the bend in close, touching turns.

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2. Tie in the pearl. Dub the seal fur onto the thread and wind up the hook shank towards the eye leaving enough space to tie in the hackle. Rib over the seal fur body with the lurex and tie the lurex off near the eye.

3. Tie a knot in 8 pheasant tail fibres about 3/8″ from the tip and then tie in four at each side so that they are longer than the hook and hang down below the body.

4. Finally tie in a black cock hackle and using three turns of the feather form a hackle. Tie off and complete the fly with a neatly varnished head.

This fly can be fished as a traditional dry fly floating high on the water or can be fished lower in the water by clipping off some of the underhackle and then left to drift around with the breeze. This last method is particularly effective when terrestrials are being blown onto the water.

Takes can be savage – beware !!

THE BLACK MARABOU

Materials required:

• Long Shank Lure Hook Sizes 6 – 10

• Black 6/0 tying thread

• Body – silver flat tinsel ribbed with heavy silver wire or silver oval tinsel

• Beard – Bright red cock hackle

• Wing – black marabou overlaid with 4 strands peacock herl and 4 strands of pearl crystal flash

Tying:

1. Catch in black thread behind the eye and take down shank in touching turns to opposite the point.
2. Tie in heavy silver wire or oval tinsel and then silver flat tinsel or silver lurex.
3. Rib shank with flat tinsel taking up and down shank in touching turns and tie off  behind the eye.

1. Take wire or oval tinsel in open turns over tinsel to form rib and tie off behind the eye.

1. Tie in bright red cock hackle behind the eye under the hook to form a beard.
2. Tie in a large clump of black marabou on top of the hook shank behind the eye to form a wing.

1. Take the 4 strands of peacock herl and pearl crystal hair and tie in on top of the wing.   Tie off and form a neat head and varnish head.

Fishing the Fly

This is one of those flies that excels all season but particularly in winter when water temperatures are at their lowest and food supply is not usually over abundant.

Fish on a sinking or intermediate line and prospect depths until you find fish. The black marabou usually fishes best with medium to long pulls followed by brief pauses as this lets the wing pulsate enticingly. In cold water do not make the mistake of pulling the fly as fast as you can because unlike mid summer trout are not inclined to rush after a fly.

This is one lure that works very well on Brown Trout as well as rainbows and if you fish for Sea Trout then again it is a fly well worth putting in your box.

THE PINK TADPOLE

Materials required:

• Long Shank  hooks sizes 12- 6

• Black 6/0 tying thread

• Body – Shocking Pink Chenille

• Under Body – lead wire – medium or fine

• Head – Peacock herl

• Tail – Shocking Pink Marabou

Tying:

1. Catch in the thread behind the eye and proceed down hook in touching turns to a point opposite the barb. Catch in lead wire behind the eye  and wind down shank to just ahead of point

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2. Catch in a bunch of marabou opposite the barb to form the tail and also secure the chenille at this point making sure it buts up to the tail

3. Wind thread back up to behind the eye and then wind the chenille up towards the eye in touching turns. Stop short of the eye to allow for the head. Tie off the chenille

Take three strands of peacock herl and tie them in ahead of the chenille. Twist the strands to form a spiral and wrap around the hook three times between the chenille and the eye to form the head. Tie off.

4. This simple tadpole can be tied using any colour combination and in a number of different sizes. However we find that the shocking pink version tied on a long shank hook works extremely well in the winter months when the water tends to be extra clear. The colder the weather the better this fly is and if you keep having to scrape the ice from your rod rings then this is a fly that is very well suited to the conditions.

Fishing the Fly

We fish the shocking pink tadpole usually on intermediate or slow sinking lines and generally use a straight through leader of 6lbs clear mono or fluorocarbon of 6lb breaking strain. It is essential not to use dark leader materials when the water is so clear.

A normal slow strip retrieve works best but by late March trout tend to be willing to chase this particular fly at faster speeds.

Give it a try and we think you will find that shocking pink really is a winning colour especially for the winter months

The Black Beetle (Foam Beetle)

Materials required :

• Wide Gape hooks sizes 12- 16

• Black 6/0 tying thread

• Black plastazote (close cell foam)

• Black cock hackles

• Black dubbing (seals fur or substitute

Tying  :

Tie in thread behind the eye and wind down the shank to approximately opposite the barb. Cut a slim piece of plastazote (foam) and secure on top of the shank. Make sure that the foam is a little longer than the hook. This foam will form the beetle back and make it float.

Dub the seals fur or other dubbing material up the shank to just behind the eye but remember to leave a little space here to take the foam back and the hackles which are tied in later.

Tie in a cock hackle just behind the eye on the underside of the hook shank to form a beard hackle with the fibres pointing down to the hook point. Trim off the excess. Then tie in another cock hackle on top of the hook with the fibres pointing forward beyond the eye and trim off the waste.

Bring the foam forward on top of the shank and secure behind the eye . There should be some foam sticking out and upwards beyond the eye. Trim the excess foam to form a blunt end.

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This fly can also be tied as a brown or a green beetle and is very effective from May onwards as beetles large and small get blown onto both lakes and rivers. If fish switch onto falling beetles they can become very preoccupied like they are when they are on caenis and a few beetles in your box will save the day. It is important to have both small and large beetles.

We normally find that the beetles work left static. Rises tend to be aggressive and sometimes the fish just miss altogether as they push the beetle away as they rise quickly.

The Red Copper Wire Nymph

Materials Required :

* Straight Shank Wet Fly Hook Sizes 12 – 16
*Fine Red Copper Wire
*Clear Varnish

Tying :

1. Place hook in vice and position the wire in the centre of the hook shank with some wire facing towards the bend.  Wind in open turns towards the eye and do two turns close together behind the eye and break the wire off.

2. Take the other wire down and around the bend in open turns and break off and place a light coat of varnish over the wire to prevent it sliding on the hook.

It is usually fished on a floating line and is either left static or retrieved very slowly and bites are generally very positive. Maybe there is just a slight suggestion of bloodworm. If you have the patience it is an extremely effective fly especially on hard fished waters.

We find that by far the best colour is red copper wire and normal copper is nothing like as effective.

The Partridge and Orange Fly Fly

Materials required:

· Wet fly hooks sizes 12 – 16

· Body – Orange tying thread

· Hackle – Partridge brown back

Tying:

1. Catch in the thread behind the eye and take down to opposite the barb in tight touching turns and then back up the shank to just behind the eye.
2. Prepare the Partridge hackle by removing the fluffy flue from the stem . Tie the hackle in behind the eye by its tip. Take great care doing this as the hackles are very delicate and can break easily. It is essential to tie in by the tip as the stem is too thick.

3. Wind the hackle around the shank for a maximum of 2 turns , and stroke back so the hackle lies sloping back and tie off and cut off the stem. Then form A small head, tie off and varnish.
   

This fly is a traditional north country wet fly of the spider type and is deliberately tied sparsely . It is usually fished down and across as part of a team of wet flies and is an excellent fly all season. It could be argued that in the larger size it perhaps represents a small sedge pupa . A good stand by pattern and if you are prospecting with wet flies and not sure what to use make sure there is one of these on your leader.

The fly can also be quite productive on still waters when used as a pulling fly

The F Fly

Materials required:

• Fine wire emerger hook Sizes 14 – 20

• Body – fine olive, black or brown seal`s fur or substitute

• Tying thread – olive 8/0 or colour to match body

• Wing – natural cdc feathers

Tying:

1. Catch in thread behind the eye and take down to opposite barb in close, touching turns.
2. Dub on a very small quantity of seal`s fur and wind back to eye.

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3.Take a couple of natural cdc feather and tie in behind the eye on top of the hook to form a swept back wing and cut off surplus stalk.

4.Form neat head, tie off and varnish the head.

This fly is superb on both rivers and lakes and can be tied in any colour to match the hatch but olive, black and beige tend to be the most popular

The fly can be used when buzzers are hatching and it fishes in the film as an emerger. The cdc feathers being naturally oily hold the fly in the film and the fish will usually sip them in. Fish the fly static and do not attempt to put any floatant on the fly .

The only drawback is that after a fish has been caught the fly must be changed and allowed to dry before using again. When the fish are on it you get through plenty of flies !!

In larger sizes the olive version can be very effective during hatches of olives. The fly can fish very well on mild winter days when there are nearly always some buzzers hatching and locally a black version in size 18 can perform very well in winter for those anglers willing to try the floating line.

On the rivers the fly is a good one to try when fish are rising but you are not certain what exactly they want. Experiment with sizes and colours until you find the right combination. Do not allow to drag or else the fly will become water logged although it can still take fish beneath the surface !

Orange Goldhead Fritz Collar Tadpole

Materials required :

· Round bend long shank hook – Sizes 6 – 10
· Tying thread – orange
· Gold Bead
· Body – Hot Orange chenille
· Tail – Hot orange marabou with a few strands of pearl crystalflash
· Collar – orange fritz

Tying :

1. Thread the gold head bead onto the hook and position behind the eye.

2. Catch in tying thread behind the bead and lock bead in position with a small build up of tying thread

   

3. Take thread down hook in touching turns ready to tie in tail opposite the barb. Take a large plume of marabou about one to one and a half times the length of the hook shank and tie in on top of the shank. Take 2 or 3 strands of crystalflash and tie in either side of the marabou

   

4. Trim waste marabou and then tie in the chenille. Take the thread
   up to the gold head. Wind the chenille in close touching turns almost up to the gold head and tie it off leaving space to tie in the collar behind the gold head. Tie in the fritz using one to one and a half turns.

   

5. Tie off and add a touch of varnish to the thread.

   

This fly is superb all year but it really comes into its own on those hot  summer days when there is a lot of algae and /or daphnia present in the water and the trout just will not appear to feed. It can be fished on
floating or sinking lines and retrieved either in fast strips or slow figure of eight retrieves depending very much on the mood of the fish.

The same fly tied without the gold head is a real winner when used with
an intermediate line with a very quick, short jerky retrieve especially
when new fish are in the water but they have wised up to the usual lures and fast , long strip presentation.

Pheasant Tail Nymph

Materials required:

• Round bend down eye hook – Sizes 10 – 16
• Body – Cock pheasant tail fibres
• Tying thread fine black or brown
• Rib – fine copper wire
• Thorax – Fine copper wire
• Wing case – Cock pheasant tail fibres
• Tail – Cock pheasant tail fibres
• Head – build up neat head of tying thread

Tying:

1. Tie in the fine copper wire behind the eye and form a copper wire ball for the thorax. Tie in tying thread behind copper wire ball and take down to bend in touching turns. Tie in a few tips of cock pheasant tail fibres to form tail. (the rest of the fibres are used for the body)

2. Tie in length of fine copper wire. Take tying thread back up to behind the copper wire ball. Wind cock pheasant fibres up body in touching turns to the ball and secure with the thread and leave remainder of fibres on top of hook to form thorax cover. Follow with the copper wire in open turns to form the rib as far as the ball and tie off copper wire. Tie in addition cock pheasant fibres and wind around the copper ball and tie off behind the eye.

3. Take the cock pheasant fibres that are on top of hook and pull over thorax to form cover and tie off behind the eye, form a neat head, tie off and varnish the head.

This nymph does not represent a specific aquatic nymph but is used as a general nymph/bug pattern and is very effective as its features are found on many nymphs. It can also be tied on short or long shank hooks and can even be tied with a lead under belly .

The thorax can also be seals fur of different colours and of course dyed cock pheasant fibres can be used to form a whole series of different pheasant tail nymphs.

This nymph can be used all season in both rivers and lakes and on floating or sinking lines. A good retrieve is a short jerky one and takes can be quite fierce.

SHIPMAN BUZZER

Tying Materials required:

• Fine wire round bend Sizes 12 -18
• Seals Fur
• Fly Tying thread – fine black or colour to match body
• Rib – fine pearl lurex
• Breathers – white multiyarn

Tying:

1. Tie in the thread behind the hook eye and using close touching turns take the thread down the shank to level with the point.

2. Lay a piece of white multiyarn on top of the hook shank and tie in at the point leaving a small amount over hanging.  Then take the tying thread towards the eye binding down the multiyarn on top of the hook.  Continue to the eye and leave a small amount sticking forward past the eye.  Take the thread down to the bend.

3. Catch in a piece of pearl lurex and then dub the seals fur onto the thread and dub up the hook to behind the eye.

4. Take the lurex in open turns up the hook to behind the eye and tie off.

5.  Whip finish the fly behind the eye.

This buzzer is a killer in flat calm or slight ripple conditions when there is a hatch of buzzers coming off and the fish want the buzzer fished slightly higher than you get with a suspender buzzer.  Only gink the breathers and the fly will sit in the surface film. Generally fish the fly static and if a fish is moving near the fly a slight twitch of the fly will often convert slight interest to a solid take.

THE CATS WHISKER

Materials required:

• Long Shank Lure hooks size 10-6
• Black Tying Thread
• Lime Green Chenille
• Silver Wire
• Pair of Silver Bead Chain Eyes
• White Marabou

Tying:

1. Cut a pair of silver eyes from a length of chain and using black tying thread tie in the eyes on top of the shank behind the eye using figure of eight tying method to secure tightly. Continue taking thread down the shank in tight touching turns.

2. Take a large pinch of white marabou and tie in to form a tail.

3. Tie in silver wire at the point where the tail is tied in. Tie in lime green chenille above the wire at this point. Take the thread up the shank to behind the silver bead eyes and wind the chenille up the hook shank in tight touching turns to be tied off behind the eyes with the thread. Follow with the wire using open turns winding the opposite way to the way the chenille was wrapped.

4. Take another large pinch of white marabou and tie in behind the eyes to form a wing.

5. Ensure all the materials are securely tied in behind the eyes and bring the thread in front of the eyes, form a head, tie off and varnish the head.

This fly can be used all year round but excels in late autumn when the trout become active on fry.

It is a sinking pattern, so can be fished at any depth on either floating, intermediate or sinking line using the countdown method with all fly line densities.

The Cats Whisker is very attractive to fish because the materials have plenty of movement and the best retrieves are long erratic pulls giving darting movements to the fly. This can be varied by adding pauses in the retrieve followed by very quick short jerky pulls before reverting to the longer retrieve.