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Selected Flies & How to Tie Them |
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Flies
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Tom Ivens first tied this fly in the 50's and it has been used by thousands of reservoir and lake fishers from then on with great success.
Ivens wrote that it was deadly fished slowly just a few inches below the surface when the trout are heading and tailing during an evening rise. It is most probably taken for a beetle.
Even today it is worthy of a place on any stillwater leader. Few patterns have caught so consistently.
| Hook: 8-12 |
| Body: Bronze peacock herl tied fat and tapering to the rear. |
| Hackle: Long-fibre black hen sparsely tied. |
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Excellent as an early season fly. Most effective on the top dropper bobbling through the surface when fished from a boat during a dark midge hatch. The original dressing had an orange middle section. There are several bibio variants with the body and hackle colour changed to dark olive, light olive or yellow.
| Hook: 10-14 |
| Thread: Black |
| Body: Black seal's fur with a middle section of red seal's fur. |
| Rib: Silver wire through the hackle. |
| Hackle: Palmered black with two turns at the shoulder. |
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This important terrestrial fly has been copied by fly-fishermen for centuries. It is of value to both the lake and river fisherman when the adults are blown onto the water in late April and May. On some fisheries the Hawthorn can be very significant. Fishing this pattern on the upwind bank of a stillwater on a breezy May day is very likely the time for success. If the naturals are about it will not be long before the trout start to take advantage of them.
| Hook: 12 |
| Thread: Black |
| Body and Head: Black-dyed pheasant tail fibers. |
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Legs: Two knotted black-dyed pheasant tail fibers, one each side of the body. |
| Wings: Traun River stonefly wings. |
| Hackle: Black cock. |
These are a series of stillwater flies, ties in the style of a daddy long legs or crane fly. They originated on Grafham in the late 1980's and have become a standard pattern across the country ever since. The shape of the fly is constant thought the series, there are however many varied colour patterns many of these are obvious from the fly's name. Black, Olive, Claret, Hear's Ear, Brown, Yellow all are tied. This fly should be fished dry. Either static or by using short tugging pulls as a surface disturbance fly
Claret Hopper |
| Hook: 10 - 12 |
| Thread: Black |
| Body: Doubled dark claret Antron |
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Legs: Six pairs of knotted pheasant tail fibres trailing to the rear |
| Hackle: Claret or dyed red cock |
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There are nearly 300 species of crane fly or daddy long legs. A large proportion of them are found in the vicinity of water, some species are semi aquatic. They do not fly well and from June to September are regularly found floundering on the water surface. Trout when taking this fly can be difficult to hook as they may swirl initially to drown the fly before taking it. This requires a steady nerve as the tendancy is to strike at the first sign of interest. An alternative is to fish the wet version of this fly. The daddy can be particularly effective when fished in a wave.
| Hook: Long shank 10 |
| Body: Brown floss |
| Legs: Eight cock pheasant tail fibres knotted in two places and trailing to the rear. |
| Hackle: Ginger cock |
| Wing: Ginger cock hackle tied spent |
This fly (part of a series) was first tied by H Cholmondeley Pennell over a hundred years ago. They are now standard stillwater patterns. They are best fished as a bob fly.
| Hook: 8 - 14 |
| Tips: Oval silver tinsel |
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Tail: Golden pheasant crest and tippet fibres. |
| Body: Black floss silk |
| Rib: Oval silver tinsel |
| Hackle: Long fibred black cock |
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This is a fly tied in the matuka style A well established and praised pattern. Best at the beginning of the season when fished slow and deep.
| Hook: Long shank 6 -10 |
| Thread: Black |
| Body: Black chenille |
| Rib: Oval silver tinsel |
| Beard hackle: Guinea fowel fibres |
| Wing: Two hackles dyed black and tied back to back |
| Overwing: Dark bronze mallard or goat hair dyed ginger |
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This fly is popular world wide. Peter Deane introduced the original to the UK in the 1950s. Today's fly is a variation on the original, it is fished as a nymph in the smaller sizes and as a lure in the larger. Colour contrast and shape are are it's key features. Successful variants have fluoresent lime-green or orange thoraxes, others have mobile tails or bead eyes.
| Hook: Long shank 8 - 12 or standard 10 |
| Thread: Black |
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Tail: Black hackle tips or fibres or goose biots |
| Underbody (optional): Lead wire |
| Body: Black chenille |
| Thorax: Yellow chenille with a palmered black cock |
| Thorax cover: Black chenille |
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This lure was devised by David Train in the mid 1980s and has been extremely successful ever since. The original did have a few cat's whiskers supporting the tail. This lure is very versatile and can be fished at a variety of depths using different retrieves. This lure can be tied in many different colour combinations of single colours. The pattern below is the original.
| Hook: Long shank 6 - 10 |
| Thread: Black |
| Tail: White marabou |
| Body: Fluorescent yellow chenille ribbed with fine oval silver or gold |
| Wing: White marabou |
| Eyes: Silver chain bead |
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Flies
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