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Here I put some flies I like to fish. You cannot say that any fly is the best, they have all got their good moments at certain times. But there are some patterns which are real allrounders, and usually manage to take their fish.
Dryflies
Dryflies imitate hatching flies on the water surface. "Sitting on the water", they wait for their wings to harden and they drift helplessly down the river. Mayflies often hatch in the evenings.
A simple hackled mayfly. Easy to tie - works. This one has got a tail made from deer`s hair. Hook size 10-14
I love to combine CDC plumes with normal hackle. White plumes make a superb wing. Hook size 10-14
The whole CDC version. It has also got a little white tail which does not show on this picture. Hook size 14-12
The simple CDC dun. One of my favourite grayling flies. Hook size 18-12.
This dark, speckled fly is called a march brown. It hatches right at the beginning of the season and is the first dryfly I get to use every year. Hooks 18-14
This one is called a Duster.It is a real allrounder and works whenever there are smaller duns or mayflies hatching. Hooks 18-12
Another little Duster/Dun type fly in hook size 18-16
This is the wellknown Ginger Quill. It imitates a small brown dun and is very often fished in northern English rivers. Hooks 18-14
These are two parachute-flies tied in the norwegian Klinkhammer style. They are good Mayfly imitations and the white bit of dubbing on the top makes them visible weven a long way away.
This fly is one of my own creations. It is made from CDC and partridge hackle and can imitate a dun as well as a sedge or even a moth. Sizes 18-10
These two flies both imitate sedges(caddis flies). The first one is good, and trout will even take it when Mayflies are hatching. The second is a so-called running sedge and is fished skating across the water surface.
One of my favourite sedge patterns, this is a french Mercantour-sedge. It has got a small hackle, and legs made of deers hair. There are CDC plumes under the wing. It just looks so realistic.
The Red Tag. It is a classic fly for grayling fishing in autumn, but also works for trout. Chub absoloutely love them if you ty them a bit bushier. Sizes 16-10.
Wetflies
Once loved, and now for some reason seldomly fished, the soft-hackled wetfly is still an absoloute killer. It imitates a drowned insect. Almost any dryfly can also have a wetfly variant, so I am only listing new ones here.
The Partridge & Orange is an absoloute classic. It works anywhere, and it imitates almost everything, from the Mayfly to the spider. If the river is slightly coloured after rain or just going down after a spate, you cannot beat this fly. Hooks 12-10.
Wet sherry spinner, similar to the Partridge and Orange.
La Peute, a french killer. It is often tied with a waterhen hackle. Fish in a bit smaller sizes then the Partridge & Orange. Fish this pattern if the trout are difficult.
Voidomatis Wet Mayfly. I designed this fly for the rainbow trout in the greek river Voidomatis. Works well after a big hatch, as an alternative to the spent. Can also be fished loch-style in lakes.
I call this one the Bramble. I do not know how on earth I got hold of it, but it turned out to be superb for trout and chub on the river Sola in Poland.
Emergers
Emergers imitate insects which are just about hatching out of their nymph shell on the surface. If you see fish taking from the surface, but not braking through it, they will ignore dryflies. So always keep a handful of emergers in your pocket, as a last hope...
This is a simple CDC-emerger. It traps a little air bubble under its head. Fish in tiny sizes. Superb on low, southern french streams in the summer heat.
McMurray emerger. It has a little kork ball to let it swim on the surface,
Sugar Cube Emerger. A strip of ethafoam and a bit of black dubbing. Very easy. It imitates mosquito larvae. Hooks 20-16
Emerging sedge. Superb. Can be either fished like an emerger or like a wetfly.
Nymphs
A trout takes over 80% of its food on the bottom. The nymph imitates the insect larvae which lives between the stones on the riverbed.
Univeral green gold head. A rough imitation of any larvae. Can also be tied with a black head if the water is clear and the fish are shy.
the brown variant, with a wing made from peacock fibre.
A nymph imitating a stonefly larve. Can also be fished a bit larger, in fast flowing mountain rivers. Instead of a bit of hakle, the tail can be made of two biots.
Another one of my inventions: The partridge & orange nymph. it does work really well and provides a good mouthful.
This is a big and heavy nymph I use for barble fishing on the french Tarn. A smaller version also works well for trout and grayling.
The wooly bugger goldhead nymph is another of my creations. If it is a nymph or rather a tiny streamer, is up to you. You can fish it either way. It resembles a small tadpole.
The hare`s ear nymph is still in my opinion one of the best nymphs around, as it imitates almost any larvae. Can be fished in all different sizes.
The pheasant tail nymph is a very old english pattern, simple and good. May also be tied weighted or with some dubbing. Best in small sizes.
Streamers
These are big flies which imitate small fish, or even mice or tadpoles. Use them if you are out for that really big trout. They are usually fished by stripping them in, but at certain times they may be fished as wetflies.
The Wooly Bugger is one of the most often used streamers there is. Can be tied with a conehead, a goldhead or without any head at all. Resembles a leech or a tadpole in small sizes, and a small fish in bigger sizes. A killer for large rainbow trout.
This imitation of a miller`s Thumb (a small fish), tied in the muddler style, works superb in rivers where these little fish are common(that is in most clean tivers in middle and western europe). Fish it by letting it just hop over the riverbed in little jumps. The wing made from rabbit fur (zonker) has got a very enticing play.
This one is a clouser`s minnow in black and white. It looks quite like a minnow. When fishing, the hook points upwards so it cannot get snagged easily. A very good stillwater pattern, too, especially for perch and zander.
The elver fly. A seatrout pattern from the solway firth in northern england, I like to fish it as a minnow imitation.
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