One of the deadliest dry flys

The other day whilst fishing my local reservoir I noticed a lot of long horn sedges skittering about the margin vegetation. Odd trout were also grabbing something on the surface, but far out. As I was not catching much on my more usual buzzer and Daiwl Bach flies, I had a quick squizz through my fly box and there in the corner was a sedge fly imitation.

On it went and within 1/2 an hour I had landed 8 trout, all these fish caught by skating the fly quickly over the surface to form a wake.

Over the years I have caught hundreds of trout on this particular dressing; here it is:

Hook: No 10 or 12 2 x long shank

Silk: Brown

End of body (butt) : a turn of fluorescent orange (arc chrome) wool.

Body: 3 strands of brown pheasant tail fibres twisted together and wound over wet varnish.

Wing: A bunch of natural red cock hackle fibres tied in slanting back over the body and clipped off level with the hook bend.

Hackle: 3 to 4 turns of natural red cock

Over the years I have tried all sorts of tyings for the red sedge. Some have been succesful, some haven't. This one - devastating on its day.

And the man who devised it?

RW of course.

Sleep typing or can't sleep??

Which??

/forum/smilies/big_smile_smiley.gif

Alternative wing.....rolled (folded) darkish brown primary, tied sloping backwards.

Not being funny lads but any chance of a posting a picture of the beast,? as i'm only just starting out in the art of fly tying and DON'T have a clue about what ure on about./forum/smilies/confused_smiley.gif

Big Mad G, unable to post pictures at present.

Alternative pattern by **** Walker for Red Sedge.

HOOK Size 10.

BODY Rabbit belly fur dyed chestnut withorange DRF wool at the rear.

WING Goast or simular hair dyed chestnut. Figuyre of eight dubbing as body.

SILK Black.

He developed this dressing for a tier who was allergic to feathers.

Pattern can be found in his book **** Walker's Modern Fly Dressings. The Red Sedge is number 34.

There are coloured photos in the book.

Is this what you're after?

Thats the one Adrian.

Ah ha so thats what it looks like. Cheers lads.

Oh, how much do u think i should pay for a fly tying kit.? Mind i'm just starting out.

The butt section should be more "orangy". There is a wire rib to the body which will make it heavier and negate its floating qualities somewhat. Walker specified 3 strands of chestnut ostrich herl twisted and wound over a whipping of silk whilst the varnish is still sticky. After winding in the ostrich herl, it is clipped as closely as possible to give a vevet appearance to the body.

My own tying of using brown pheasant tail fibres instead of theostrich herl just might be an improvement although I wouldn't claim so.

The cock hackle causes the fly to stand up when you pull it.

Veniards do a nice fly tying kit with a good selection of materials as well as tools for about £45. It doesn't contain a vice, which in my opinion is something you must not skimp on. Cheap vices do not hold the hook tightly enough. I have a very nice American vice which holds hooks from 18s to 2s as tight as a .......... - never you mind.

It also enables you to swing the fly through 360 degrees thus helping with certain dressings. I used to be able to tie a fly without a vice, but not these days.

The onlyexpedient I do not use is a whip finish tool. I've tried to use one but I make a pigs ear of it every time.

I'll stick to using my fingers.