Fishing Flies. Smalley

       BRASSIE

      Hook: Wet fly, 12–18.

      Thread: Black.

      Abdomen: Red copper wire.

      Thorax: Black dubbing (use a fine fur).

      Devised by Ken Chandler and Tug Davenport on Colorado’s South Platte River in the 1960s, the original Brassie had a short piece of black heat-shrink plastic tube for the thorax and the copper wire was also tying ‘thread’. Rick Murphy, also of the South Platte River, also came up with the idea of using two colours of wire to give a segmented body in his Two-WIRE BRASSIE.

       TWO-WIRE BRASSIE

      Hook: Wet fly, sizes 14–24.

      Thread: Black.

      Abdomen: Two wire colours to give segmentation.

      Wing: Sparse, white synthetic (e.g. Saap, Z-lon, Antron).

      Thorax: Peacock herl.

      Head: Goldhead or silverhead (optional; not in original).

      Ed Engle, who described the Two-Wire Brassie in his book Tying Small Flies (2004), also described John Barr’s COPPER JOHN, a fly that leads on to the most famous of all nymphs. This has caught many trout, thousands of miles from its Colorado home.

       COPPER JOHN

      Hook: Wet fly, sizes 14–20.

      Thread: Black.

      Tail: 3–4 cock pheasant tail fibres.

      Abdomen: Copper wire.

      Wing case: Pearl Mylar or Flashabou or Crystal Hair.

      Thorax: Peacock herl.

      Legs: Brown speckled partridge, drake mallard breast dyed light brown, wood-duck (optional).

      Head: Goldhead or silverhead.

      The PHEASANT TAIL NYMPH is probably the most famous of all the world’s artificial nymphs. The original tying is by Frank Sawyer (1906–80), river keeper and author of Nymphs and the Trout (1958). Though originally an imitation of swimming Baetis nymphs in rivers, it will deceive trout that are eating any small nymph.

       PHEASANT TAIL NYMPH

      Hook: Wet fly, sizes 12–18.

      Thread: Copper wire (red or orange are most effective).

      Underbody: Two layers of tying wire then a small ball built up under the thorax.

      Tails: Tips of cock pheasant centre tail feathers.

      Abdomen: Herls used to form tails, wound with the wire thread about 60 per cent up hook shank.

      Thorax: As abdomen.

      Wing cases: Dark parts of herls used to form tail and body, taken back and forth (two layers) over back of thorax and held in place with the trying wire.

       GREY GOOSE NYMPH

      This is as Sawyer’s PHEASANT TAIL NYMPH except that grey goose herls are used. Sawyer devised this on a visit to Lapland, where he found trout feeding on summer mayfly (Siphlonurus) nymphs.

      There are several other versions of the PHEASANT TAIL NYMPH; the best are given below.

       PHEASANT TAIL NYMPH (AL TROTH)

      Hook: Wet fly, sizes 10–18.

      Thread: Tan.

      Tails: Tips of 3–5 cock pheasant tail fibres.

      Abdomen: Wound fibres used for tails.

      Rib: Fine copper wire.

      Thorax: Under a ball of copper wire, with peacock herl over.

      Wing cases: Dark parts of cock pheasant tail fibres.

      Legs: Tips of cock pheasant tail fibres used to create wing cases.

       ORANGE SPOT PHEASANT TAIL NYMPH

      This is a similar tying, but has a thorax of fluorescent orange wool or fur and lacks legs. All fish seem very susceptible to orange, especially in dull light conditions, and this works in dirty water and late in the evening.

       PHEASANT TAIL NYMPH (CHRIS HOSKER)

      Hook: Wet fly, sizes 14–16.

      Thread: Brown.

      Tails: Tips of 4–6 cock pheasant tail fibres.

      Abdomen: Cock pheasant tail.

      Rib: Fine gold wire.

      Thorax: Pink synthetic fur with some sparkle (e.g. Ice Dub).

      Head: Gold head.

      Chris uses this in cold water or in winter, when fish tend to be dour.

       PHEASANT TAIL NYMPH (RANDALL KAUFMANN)

Скачать книгу