Peacock herl.
LIGHT NEEDLE
Thread: Red, waxed so that it a deep red.
Hackle: Snipe underwing covert.
Head: Peacock herl.
WINTER BROWN
Thread: Orange, waxed so that it becomes quite dark.
Hackle: Woodcock underwing covert.
Head: Peacock herl.
THORAX SPIDERS
These are the latest soft-hackled wet flies to be devised, being pioneered by Harold Howorth and Frederick Mold in the 1940s and 1950s. The addition of a thorax gives the fly more of an insect profile. The first two are excellent during a hatch of dark midges or a fall of small black landbreds (e.g. black gnats).
BLACK MAGIC
Thread: Black.
Body: Tying thread.
Under thorax: Fine copper wire wound to create a small ball (optional, but is does help the fly penetrate the surface film).
Thorax: Peacock herl.
Hackle: Black hen.
HENTHORNE PURPLE
Thread: Purple.
Body: Tying thread.
Thorax: Peacock herl.
Hackle: Mallard upperwing covert.
This fly usually fishes in the surface film, held there by the mallard hackle. It is therefore a simple emerger pattern.
Trout appear to love eating tiny Caenis and trichos, but good imitations of these must be tied on very small hooks (see here). Tie the following in size 18; it will catch fish eating those minute flies (or try GREY DUSTER, see here).
WHITE PTARMIGAN
Thread: White.
Body: Tying thread.
Thorax: Peacock herl.
Hackle: Upperwing covert of a white, winter-plumaged, ptarmigan (any small, soft white hackle will do).
Dave Hughes suggested giving the ORANGE PARTRIDGE a thorax; there is no reason why other soft-hackled spider patterns should not be given a thorax of dubbed fur or peacock herl.
THORAX ORANGE PARTRIDGE
Thread: Orange.
Body: Tying thread.
Thorax: Hare’s ear.
Hackle: Brown speckled partridge.
SPIDER SEDGES (CADDISFLIES)
Most adult caddisflies are some shade of brown and the following two patterns will still deceive fish during a hatch or when the females have returned to lay their eggs on or below the water surface (note that many female caddisflies swim down under the surface to lay their eggs).
DARK SEDGE
Hook: Wet fly, sizes 12–14.
Thread: Yellow.
Body: Dubbed medium brown fur.
Hackle: Tawny (brown) owl upperwing covert (a long-fibred brown hen is substitute).
Head: 2–3 turns cock pheasant tail herl.
GRANNOM OR GREENTAIL
Hook: Wet fly, sizes 12–14.
Thread: Grey.
Body: Two turns of green silk at rear, then hare’s ear.
Hackle: Brown speckled partridge.
Female grannom carry a green sac of eggs at the tip of their abdomen, hence ‘Greentail’.
THE RIDDLE OF THE MARCH BROWN
The real March Brown is a fairly scarce European fly (it occurs only on very rough, rocky rivers), though it has many near relations in North America and Europe. However the duns of most of these rarely occur on the water, for their nymphs crawl ashore for the dun emergence. So they usually do not figure highly in the trout diet. Nevertheless, the artificial, soft-hackled wet March Brown is an excellent fish catcher for, as G. E. M. Skues put it, the March Brown, ‘is an excellent fly, and as generally tied, quite a poor imitation of the natural fly and quite a passable one of almost anything else’. It works in lakes (the real fly is a river insect) and rivers, for a wide range of fish.
