If you could only use one fly for a season what would it be?

S

Sean Meeghan

Guest
I've been tying fies over the past few days and have been leafing through my fly tying books. It occurred to me that I could get through my whole season on very few flies. As the years have progressed I've developed my own versions of standard patterns that suit my local waters.

Then it occurred to me that I could probably get away with one pattern for the whole season.

The magic pattern?

The Gold Ribbed Hares Ear!

Its one of those magic general patterns that, using the same basic materials, you can vary the colour from light to dark, you can weight it, you can tie it large and scruffy, small and neat, ghink it up to fish in the surface, spikey with guard hairs, soft and mobile with the under-fur. The permutations on one basic tying are endless!

I must admit that I'm not an avid dry fly man, so maybe this colours my choice.

So go on then. If you could only fish with one basic pattern (some mods allowed of course) which would it be? Could you do it?
 
R

Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA-Life Member)

Guest
Olive SA Damsel on a 12 longshank hook with a bit of lead wire on the shank.
 
S

Sean Meeghan

Guest
Blimey Ron thats a bit specific! I was allowing myself a bit more leeway than that!
 
R

Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA-Life Member)

Guest
The deadliest 3 fly leader - 18 foot long.

Point - weighted SA damsel
Middle dropper - black buzzer
Top dropper - green buzzer

Tying for SA Damsel:

Hook: 12 2 x longshank

Silk: olive

Tail: Olive rabbit fur from zonker strip

Rib: oval gold tinsel

Body: olive ostrich herl wound in touching turns.

Hackle: Olive dyed brown partridge feather, three turns at head and tied in sloping backwards

Try it.
 
M

mark williams 4

Guest
I'm with Ron on the buzzers - fish them slow or even dead-drift, the point fly helping to hold them nicely. It's what's on my droppers 80% of the time.

My favourite point fly is a gold-bead hare's ear, though - sizes from 12 to 8.

I also tried, successfully, a weighted buzzer. The weight is a loop of lead wire tied with one length either side of the shank using whipping silk, varnished over before tying the usual body and white fluo marabou 'ear' tufts at the head. In profile, it's 'thin'but sinks well.
 
R

Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA-Life Member)

Guest
Personally Mark, I like my buzzers to be tied with softish materials.

Here's a deadly pattern that works well for me.

Hook: 12 and 14 nymph hooks

Tufts: white rabbits belly fur

Body: black silk floss

Rib: white stripped cock hackle.

Thorax: peacock herl with a few turns of fluorescent orange silk hehind the thorax

These things don't stand up to trout teeth as much as the epoxy buzzers but trout tend to hang onto them that bit longer.

Often it's a good idea to fish buzzers quite quickly, especially when the trout are taking them just below the surface. You can spot when trout are doing this when you see "head and tail" or "shatter" rises.

My friend Danny Peet is a past master of catching trout in these conditions.
 
S

Sean Meeghan

Guest
I agree guys, but my point is that I could reduce my fly tying materials to a hare's mask, some lead wire and some thread and not be disadvantaged on a normal day's fishing. Give me a few marabou feathers, some partridge a split shot or two and some lime wool as well and I would probably not need anything else to get me through a typical season.

I think the point I'm making is really that everyone ties flys according to their own strengths and material preferences. This gives us huge variation around a few standard patterns. Using a very limited range of materials I could tie patterns similar to the ones you've described above and in 95% of circumstances they'd catch just as well.

Being lazy (OK and I do think a bit) I have tended to deconstruct my patterns. So I started with a Concrete Bowl for my standard early season fly and ended up with something that was essentially a tadpole with a fluorescent green fritz thorax. I can vary this by tying it Montana style with a thorax cover, or changing the colour to give me an impressionistic Damsel imitation.

For reservoir fishing this, together with some superglue buzzers, some Diawl Bachs and a hares ear or two cover most situations.

For river fishing a few spiders, heavily weighted hares ears, a peeping caddis and, maybe, a Klinkhammer or two do me proud.
 
S

Sean Meeghan

Guest
Hmm. Thinking about it I might add some peacock and a pheasant tail or two to my kit as well, but thats about it.
 
R

Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA-Life Member)

Guest
And then Sean you end up with a pile of stuff!!

Split shot!!!

I say you're not one of those beastly coarse fishahs are you? Dashed unsporting what?
 
S

Sean Meeghan

Guest
No its for making a peeping caddis. Can be useful for fishing on the bottom for Grayling though!!
 
R

Rasmus Keis

Guest
Probably Red Tag. Will catch: (saltwater) Trout, garfish, mullet, (freshwater) Trout, grayling, roach, bream, carp, perch.

But I sure would miss a Woolly Bugger and some sort of streamer pattern!!
 
R

Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA-Life Member)

Guest
Personally I carry about 30 different patterns in my fly box.

And there are times when I might need a certain pattern and if I haven't got it I will blank.

Hawthorn flies are typical.

The Woolly Bugger is one of the best pulling lures of the lot Rasmus.
 
R

Richard[reformed fly angler]Huggett

Guest
A small gold head damsel...short tail, gold rib, on a size 12 hook maximum. Always raises a fish somewhere.
 
R

Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA-Life Member)

Guest
The vast majority of "damsel nymphs" you see about today are nothing more than big olive lures. I doubt if they really suggest the damsel fly nymph.

In reality, the damsel fly nymph is a rather drab greyish or olive greyish beast with three little appendages for a tail. They swim by waggling this tail from side to side. Most are from 3/4 to 1 inch long. I've never seen one of them with a gold head!

Although I have caught trout on a gold headed version, I prefer to put a bit of lead wire on the hookshank if I feel I need to weight it. Most times I dont even bother. Modern fluorocarbon mono is heavy enough to sink the fly, and I catch a lot of fish with this fly on the drop.

I gave up using marabou for the tail years ago. I find rabbit belly fur better and it doesn't have that awful habit of wrapping itself around the hook like marabou.

Ostrich herl ribbed with gold tinsel makes the best body of the lot. I used to trim the fibres, but now I don't bother. The fibres move in the water giving a lifelike appearance.

Partridge body hackles make the best suggestion of the legs. Have you noticed that a damsel nymph has legs that are speckled!

Next month is the time to start using damsel nymphs. As the water warms, so these insects get moving.
 
R

Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA-Life Member)

Guest
I have caught thousands of trout during the past 15 years on my damsel pattern.

The best way to fish it is with a floating line on the end of a longish leader, depending on the depth of the water. I like to have a breeze blowing over my left should so that I can "dead drift" this pattern, keep the line reasonably taut with a DEAD SLOW figure of eight and drop retrieve.

You can put a bung on the leader if you want.

Most people I see retrieving these days do it much too fast.
 
K

keora

Well-known member
Joined
May 8, 2004
Messages
767
Reaction score
71
Location
Leeds
Sean - my banker fly would be a Greenwell, both wet and dry, if that's allowed.

This would be for my usual fishing - the R.Wharfe and the occasional stillwater.

Greenwells are effective becuase they look like many of the ephemerids that live in rivers - dull green body, a bit of ribbing, and mid grey wings.
 
S

Sean Meeghan

Guest
You're right Keith. Its an excellent general purpose nymph and can be tied dry or wet. I'm too lazy to tie the older winged patterns though!
 
N

NT

New member
Joined
May 12, 2004
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
Mine's gotta be a damsel nymph (although Ron reckons its a lure). Caught 50% of my fish last year on them. I disagree that they are drab though - they can bright green.
Neil.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top