Flies & Recipes

One of the first loch flies I was introduced was a mallard and claret tied in a traditional way with a pair of feather slip wings. I thought it was the bees knees as a bob fly and used it any time when mayflies were around. Over time I modified the tie until I reached the variation below. For me…

This fly is one of a series of four woolly bugger flies that I tie specifically for river fishing. They sinks well and the jig hook encourages the fly to bounce along the bottom hook point up which of course mitigates getting snagged up. Most jig hooks are suitable for this fly but my preferences…

The Twilight Beauty trout fly is a popular dry fly and a good adult mayfly imitation. It as the names suggests works best in the evening and in particular on warm still evenings when mayflies are hatching. There are many versions of this popular and effective fly ranging from dark forms as in the…

The Iron Blue Dun is a standard hackled classic dry fly that has a permanent home in most UK dry fly-fishers fly boxes. Its also considered a staple fly in many Australian and New Zealand dry fly boxes. It is representative of the male dun and the hatches occur throughout the season. Materials Hook…

A “Dun” is that stage of the life cycle of a Mayfly when it emerges and rests on the surface of the water or nearby vegetation whilst its wings dry. During the Dun stage it is very vulnerable to passing and searching fish. The Caenis Dun is a generic representation for members of the “Caenidae”…

Spider type flies like the Black and Peacock are very buggy and suggestive flies. Weather being used as a polaroiding fly, a static wet, one of the flies in a team of loch style flies, or a fly to cover rising fish spider type soft hackle flies may be taken as a snail, submerged beetle, drowned…

The red tag is as relevant today as when it was first invented some 140 years ago. It is perhaps the quintessential beetle imitation and is popular worldwide. Materials Hook Thread Tag Body Hackle Size 12 – 16 Black silk Red wool Peacock herl Greenwell hackle Process   A Wind the thread in…

A “Dun” is that stage of the life cycle of a Mayfly when it emerges and rests on the surface of the water or nearby vegetation whilst its wings dry. During the dun stage it is very vulnerable to passing and searching fish. If you have a look at Duns whilst the colours vary dramatically there are…

AKA "All depth booby". Boobies have been generally fished as a wet fly to target trout and other species This version is relatively neutral in buoyancy but can be fished at a a range of depths with the depth being determined by the speed of the retrieve and the fly line it's fished on. With a…

Peter Morse introduced his version of this fly to the members of the Illawarra Fly Fishers Club at their first meeting for 2005. The fly was developed to cover a specific niche in Peter's Bass and Estuary Perch fishing arsenal. With a heavy lead shot head the fly sinks quickly and can as the name…

Like many fly fisher folk I did my fishing apprenticeship using bait. One of my favourite baits was poddy mullet that abounded in Lake Illawarra just beyond our back fence. We caught these little fish in many ways but one of my favorites was with the help of one of those long oyster bottles that…

Mudeyes are the nymphal stage of the Dragonfly. There are two families that are particularly important to freshwater fisher folk in Australia. The Couta Mudeye is of the Family Aeshnidae, genus Hemianax and is one of the most popular freshwater fish bait throughout Australia. The lava or nymph are…

Although this is a nifty way of representing legs on a fly, particularly a nymph, it is not used very often. Materials Hook Thread Tail Rib Weight Body, thorax Wing casing Legs Size 10 & 14 long shank (Tiemco 3761 SPL) To suit body Feather fibres Fine copper wire Lead wire if required Dubbing…

From what I can understand Dan Popovics conceived the original Nobby Hopper. It has undergone a number of changes since it was designed including the change of the body to yellow chenille by Noel Jetson when he developed the Noels Nobby. Whilst I don't think either the Original or any of the…

It was the summer of 2000 that I first became involved on English style Loch Style fly fishing and slowly I accumulated an arsenal of techniques and flies. The Mallard & Claret was the first for me in this series. Whilst it has been tweaked at the edges a little this Mallard & Claret…

This Dutch fly designed for Grayling but is equally at home with trout and regarded as many amongst the best emerger patterns ever tied. It's well suited when fishing to emerging mayflies and caddis feeders and is easily seen on the water because of the poly yarn post. Whilst you can tie these in…

This is more of a class of fly rather than just one fly. A very generic representation of a caddis nymph tied on a Czech nymph type hook. A good buggy looking fly that also has a hot spot emerging wing of UV material. Caddis fly (or Sedge) are of the order Trichoptera and are common throughout the…

Prawns and shrimp are crustaceans, of the family Isopod, and are endemic to our Australian estuary waters. They are toward the top of the food chain for a lot of coastal species of fish including bream, flathead and whiting. Prawns and shrimp are similar in form and function to each other and have…

Endemic to beaches all the way from Northern Queensland to Central Victoria nippers (Trypaea australiensis) are widely regarded as the best of baits for a range of coastal and estuary species of fish. They are a borrowing shrimp and generally harvested with the use of a nipper pump. They are a…

This is a inexpensive fly to tie that works well on bream as a specific targeted species or as a second fly fished about a meter above a heavier fly such as a mud prawn or an estuary fly. Materials   Hook Thread Head Body Collar Gamakatsu SS15/T size #2-6. Clear mono Clear pearl bead Synthetic…

As the name implies these flies are built using a soft plastic lure body. I like to use 2" and 3" crescent tail type soft plastics as they tend to have a little more movement than some of the alternatives. For general prospecting or when targeting bream and whiting I use the 2" version and when I…

This is a shrimp or prawn imitation which I made up as an alternative to my Mud Prawn for competition fishing trout fishing. That's right trout fishing. I had been using small versions of my Mud Prawn for trout feeding on shrimp with considerable success and I wanted to carry that success into my…

This is quite a realistic prawn or shrimp imitation and incorporates a little bit of flash and a rattle in the body. Its particularly useful as a salt water polaroiding fly when just a twitch is often enough inducement for a strike and in murky water where a stop start strip gets the rattle…

I subscribe to a couple of British fly fishing magazines so its not surprising that I have been aware of "Mary" nymphs for quite a while. They are a recurring feature of many of the articles. I had tied and used them on and off for  few years but they really didn't come into their own until I…

Designed to imitate a caddis grub this fly has additional weight so that it can be fished bouncing along the bottom or close to the bottom. It is very easy to tie and whilst it is not tied to represent any particular caddis grub it has a form and function and of course the hot spot added by the…

Flash back nymphs have been around for a long time but they still work. In my view the only trick associated with this fly is to select an appropriate flash material for the flash back. I favour several strands of sparkle flash or similar material rather than a single strand of flat Lurex or…

The Pheasant Tail Nymph is a New Zealand pattern designed to suggest a small "Deleatidium Vernal" Mayfly. Whilst that family doesn't extend to Australia I suggest you still carry Pheasant Tail Nymphs or one or two of its variants in a couple of sizes because they are very buggy and particularly…

Bead Head thread spider type flies are amongst the best flies for fishing fast rivers and streams. They are suggestive little flies and the combination of buggy shape and the movement of the soft hackle often produce a hit. There is also the added benefit that they are so easy to tie. Finding good…

Bead Head spider type flies are amongst the best flies for fishing fast rivers and streams. They are suggestive little flies and the combination of buggy shape,  the peacock herl body, the movement of the soft hackle and the trigger of the hot butt often produce a hit. This mid water fly is…

The Pheasant Tail Nymph was created by Frank Sawyer during his days as river keeper on the Avon River in Wiltshire in England. The fly that he tied was not representational of any particular mayfly nymph but rather is suggestive of the broad range of nymphs that he came across in his duties and his…

This British fly fly gets heaps of mentions in the UK magazines that I read. When it all boils down the "Cruncher" isn't that different to so many nymphs that you see but it does have a trigger point in the form of the front hackle and of course as you would expect it does catch fish. I tend to…

In fast flowing water or where you just want your nymph to stand out a little a Flash Back nymph is an option. Whilst this nymph is not tied to represent the nymphal (sub imago or pupa) stage of any specific insect it is a good “buggy” looking fly and readily accepted by trout. I generally only…

Based on the Montana nymph which was developed in the earlier days of fly fishing in Montana America as an imitation for a stone fly. It has two distinct uses. The first is as a bait fly when fished behind a bead head nymph in faster rivers and streams. The second use is as as a middle dropper fly…

The Montana nymph was developed in the earlier days of fly fishing in Montana America as an imitation for a stonefly. It has two distinct uses. The first is as a bait fly when fished behind a bead head nymph in faster rivers and streams. The second use is as as a middle dropper fly in a team of…

This is the lava of a Caddis fly (or Sedge) and is common from September through to December particularly in the flooded margins of lakes. Can be fished relatively static as a prospecting fly with a very slow retrieve or used as an ambush fly when polaroiding. Materials   Hook Thread Head Legs…

This fly is designed to be fished on the drop and then on the rise. It was originally designed to imitate the action of lake Jindabyne olive midges as they hatched but it has proven useful in other fisheries. Materials Hook Body Thread Wing casing legs Thorax 10 to 14 dry fly hook Olive cotton…

When browns and rainbows are feeding on hatching midges at the exclusion of all else it pays to have a few buzzers in your kit. This pattern has proven itself to be readily accepted in many countries. Materials   Hook Thread Under-butt Body & thorax Rib Cheeks Hanak 300BL #10 to #12 Black…

Whilst there are over 2000 species of Grasshoppers and Locust in Australia there are really only three "hoppers" that are of significance to fly fishers. Hoppers are normally fished as dry flies but it is worth noting that as some hoppers drown and sink, and consequently, fishing a hopper pattern…

When a caddis fly hatches it rises to the surface of the water, shedding its nest and shuck as it breaks through the surface tension of the water so as to reveal its wings. Caddis flies often use surface movement caused by wind and currents to assist in this process.  Fortunately they break through…

The family Chironomidae are part of the “True Fly” or Diptera order and included non-biting Midges such as those that sometimes swarm around you like small mosquitoes but don't bite. The general form of the pupa has 9 segments a thin body and is typically up to 10 mm in length. When midges are…

In the last few years I have identified three flies that have elements of their ties that are similar. Depending on who ties them they can be almost the same or can be diverse as two Woolly Buggers tied by two different fly tiers. The three flies I refer to are of course the Flash Harry, the Dirty…

Large populations of dark olive Yabbies of the Cherax Genus have developed in both Lake Jindabyne and Lake Eucumbene. Many anglers suggest that the Yabby has been responsible for changing the feeding habits of trout in the lakes as the populations of Yabbies have increased. In fact in both Lake…

This is a great fly to rip through the water in front of Tailor, Australian Salmon, Tarpon and any other fish that is a predator of small fish. The combination of the resin head and the body materials create a fly that is translucent and a very effective imitation of many small thin fish that that…

It tied this fly when last in New Zealand as a merger of a couple of flies to represent their small native fish called a Cockabully. I used it quite successfully fishing the seams in in fast rivers on a fast sink line and decided it add it to my fly box for future use. I am confident that with less…

This fly has stood the test of time and has been on this web site since 2005. Over the last 10 or so years it has been my 'go to' fly when fishing to sighted fish or prospecting the shores of Lake Jindabyne particularly around our home village of Kalkite. The medium weight of the TMC 3769 hook is…

There are over 100 different species of Damselflies in Australia and the lava which are usually slender with three terminal gills, that present as tails, form a significant part of a trout's diet. Their bodies have around 10 segments, they have 6 legs and they often have emerging wings. Most appear…

As many of you will be aware there is a Welsh fly called a "Green Peter". It was designed as a dry fly. In a crunch one day when I was fishing a slick and targeting fish that were taking just below the surface I included a Green Peter dry fly in my team with two English wee wets behind. There was…

In entomological terms a 'Bibio' is a March fly or St. Mark's fly both of which are true flies of the order Diptera. True Bibio larvae grow up in grassy areas and are herbivores and scavengers feeding on dead vegetation or living plant roots. They do not spend any part of their life cycle in the…

It was the summer of 2000 that I first became involved on English style Loch Style fly fishing and slowly I accumulated an arsenal of techniques and flies. I really enjoy tying flies and so as I have seen various patterns I have tied them and tried them. Most have been discarded and just a few have…

It was the summer of 2000 that I first became involved on English style Loch Style fly fishing and slowly I accumulated an arsenal of techniques and flies. The Mallard & Claret was the first for me in this series. Whilst it has been tweaked at the edges a little this Mallard & Claret…

I was introduced to the Doobry a few years ago as a good middle dropper fly for loch style fishing in midge feeder waters. At about the same time I started using lime snatcher flies and red snatcher flies in similar applications. As time has passed I have settled on recipe for all three flies. …

The name of this fly is Welsh and literally means "little devil". Regarded by many as one of the best flies ever created this fly is a great tie on as trout take it for everything from midge pupa right through to nymphs and stick caddis. I normally fish smaller sizes as a midge pupa and from time…

There are plenty of "Blobs" around but many of them look very much as the name suggests – just a blob of fur and feather. This is a "blob with attitude" and because it actually looks like a fly I find it a little easier to tie on than its very basic second cousins. It has a place in my fly box…

An Alexandras was one of the first flies I purchased prior to becoming involved in fly tying. I purchased a box of 20 or so just because I liked them and had read about them somewhere. It was a while before I caught a fish on one but once I did I slowly developed an understanding of the flies form…

A variant of a old English wet fly this variant is in the same class as an Alexandra this fly as an attractor fly particularly when rainbows are the target. It is different to the original in that the dyed blue hackle has been replaced by blue barbells from the chest feathers of a male peacock and…

Most English wet flies of this type were originally tied as imitations of specific impoundment bait fish or to simply gain the interest of fish and illicit a strike. I have tweaked the original recipe by adding a thorax of claret seals fur. That breaks the harsh lines of the original tie and adds a…

I reckon that the Woolly Bugger is the quintessential streamer or stripping fly. Fly fisher folk must agree with this statement because the Woolly Bugger seems to be the origin of more variations than any other, or at least almost any other, streamer or stripping fly. This fly is a variation on the…

Vern Barby's Magoo is a very special fly and a great variation of a woolly bugger. Vern designed this woolly bugger variation specifically for use in 'smelt' rich Lake Purumbeet in western Victoria. It's worth a swim in any water where 'smelt' whether they be Galixia, Gambesia or other small fish…

A New Zealand fly tied with an overlaid wing and tied as an evening fly to imitate their freshwater crayfish known as Koura. The preferred fishing technique in New Zealand is to fish it slowly along the bottom. It certainly works well when fished that way in Australia but it has also found its way…

If it's a hot day, a warm balmy night, if water is rising over previously dry ground or almost any time for that matter you can get huge hatches of ants. They vary in colour but the dominant hatches are of black meat ants. Meat ants are of the genus Iridomyrmex and there are about 60 species in…

On hot summer days or at almost any time for that matter you can get huge hatches of termites and flying ants. They vary in colour but the dominant hatches are of brown termites, red ants and black ants. When the fish are feeding on ants they just sup the insects down one by one often at the…

On hot summer days or at almost any time for that matter you can get huge hatches of termites and flying ants. They vary in colour but the dominant hatches are of brown termites, red ants and black ants. When the fish are feeding on ants they just sup the insects down one by one often at the…

Whilst this a  New Zealand design by Eric Craig probably in the early 70's this fly has been adopted by many Australian fly fishers as their favourite night time fly when the mudeye are hatching. Whilst the original version uses Pukeko feathers most in Australia use swamp hen breast feathers . ….

If bass are not actively feeding they will generally sit deep and either in or close to structure and out of reach of dry flies and you'll find it easier to target them with a seductive wet fly fished deep and slow. When their active its a whole different story and they will be attracted to almost…

I have experimented a few times tying flies that have the wobbling action of a hard bodied lure. This is the closest that I have come to emulating that action. The problem of course is balancing the weight needed to make a lure work against the amount of weight that you can cast with a fly rod….

This fly has a number of particularly useful applications for Bass and Estuary Perch as well as trout. It main claim to fame is that particularly in discoloured or rough water the movement of the zonker strip and the inbuilt rattle are often enough to illicit a strike.  As a prospecting fly it can…

I had the pleasure of bass fishing with Peter Morse a couple of years ago and he introduced me to the concept of "fuzzeling" which I understand was developed between Muz Wilson and himself. It's dead simple and involves creating a dubbed body and then picking out the dubbing fibres with a strip of…

Whilst not of significance individually to fly fishers Daphnia are certainly a common and substantial food source for trout particularly rainbows. They are Crustaceans of the sub-order Cladocera (Water Fleas). Individually Daphnia are less than 0.5mm in size and colours range from pale green to…

Leeches are invertebrates and belong to the family Annelida which is the same as worms. There are some 20 different genera of leeches distributed around Australia and many are available as food for trout and other fish. The general form is similar they have bodies that are not segmented and are…

In the late 1880's a Bavarian immigrant to America tied a fly because worsening arthritis meant that he could no longer collect live minnows for bait. The fly was a Muddler Minnow and its variants are as relevant today as when it was first tied. Whilst the original and many of the variants continue…

The original pattern was tied by a lady called Elsa. One of the benefits of this fly is that it lands much more softly than many other hopper flies. Still very graceful these variants are big and "buggy" and have the general form of a grass hopper with its wings outstretched. Whilst the original…

No this is not a fly promoted by a news network, rather the CNN stand for "Cheap aNd Nasty". I first tied this fly for use around structure where if you don't loose a few flies then your not in the game. The fly I had previously used in those situations was an estuary fly that cost between $2 and…

Properly described as Sloan's sunset fly after the designer this is a fly that I generally reserve for dawn and dusk fishing of Rainbow Trout waters. I use it as an effective middle fly in those situations generally with something much more sombre on the point and bob. I am confident that my tie is…

The Brassie fly has been around for a long time and certainly has a place in ever river fly box. It's a handy fly to have on hand if you need a buggy looking fly that sinks quickly or an anchor fly for a team of two or three flies. If this fly isn't heavy enough for your application try the bead…

There are over 470 species of Caddis flies in Australia and they all lay their copious numbers of eggs in water. Given the numbers of caddis pupa (or nymphs) that hatch it's not surprising that Caddis fly pupa form arguably the largest part of a trout's diet. Caddis flies are of the order…

There are over 470 species of Caddis flies in Australia and they all lay their copious numbers of eggs in water. Given the numbers of caddis pupa (or nymphs) that hatch it's not surprising that Caddis fly pupa form arguably the largest part of a trout's diet. Caddis flies are of the order…

The Tom Jones fly was first tied by John Lanchester for use on Victorian still waters. It has nothing at all to do with the welsh singer by the same name. The original was tied with fur wings and fur body whereas my variant is tied with fur wings but the body has been replaced with peacock herl,…

I am not sure of the source of this fly but I have had the recipe in my system for a long time and certainly before the onslaught of Google and internet searching. In the interest of full disclosure I decided to get some history on the fly and so searched 'patriot fly'. That search gave me hits on…

The 'Fiona' (Shrek's lady) as I have called this fly is a counter balance for the increasingly popular fly called a Shrek. It is in fact the same tie as the Shrek except that it incorporates different coloured materials. Both are basically Woolly Buggers by design and just as the emerald green is a…

This fly was out of left field as far as I was concerned and when I was first introduced to it I had no great expectation of it finding its way into my fly box. I was wrong. The bright tinsel body certainly stands out and rather than spooking fish as I expected it seems to trigger a response from…

This is the lava of a Caddis fly (or Sedge) and is common from September through to December particularly in the flooded margins of lakes. The bead head version has been designed to be fished as an anchor fly when loch style fly fishing or as an anchor fly when fishing rivers. Materials Hook Bead…

The original Invicta was created by eminent English fly tier and tackle dealer James Ogden in the 1870's. With just a few tweaks this fly is as relevant today as it was 140 odd years ago. This is a great attractor fly at times when yellow winged hoppers and other insects with yellow body parts are…

As many of you will be aware there is a Welsh fly called a "Green Peter". It was designed as a dry fly but is also a great Loch Style  bob or middle dropper fly. I tie a version with legs and without legs. Sometimes the legs are just the trigger you need to elicit a strike regardless of if your…

Seldom, at least in my case, fished alone this fly is a great top dropper or bob fly when lock style fly fishing. I particularly find it useful when yellow winged hoppers or other insects with yellow parts are on the trouts menu. It looks nothing like a hopper of course but I think the little bit…

Stoneflies thrive in the rubble of cold well oxygenated rivers & streams. They are an available food source throughout the season and fish may feed on them to the exclusion of all other food sources particularly during hatches. The nymphs crawl along the bottom and exit the water at the stream…

This wonderfully named fly came to light in Australia when John Horsey published an article about the 2008 Fly Fishing Championships that he came fourth in just a few months earlier. He went onto say 'I switched to a slime line and put a Black Straggle Fritz Taddy on the point, kept the Damsel on…

One of the best search flies in slow moving or still deeper water using a sinking line. If fishing from a fixed position cast it out, let the line sink to the desired depth, and then retrieve the line using a constant stripping motion, a pumping retrieve or a combination of both. The stripping…

Jiggy heads are similar to bead heads except they are designed for salt water use and they have an obvious fish head shape and have a recessed area on each side incorporated to accommodate stick on holographic eyes. They are also covered with epoxy once the fly is tied. They were designed by Bob…

These little midges are easy to tie and appeal in a a whole range of situations. I like to fish them on a dry line with a longer leader either in a team of flies either static fishing or retrieving or as a single fly on a long leader to cover rising fish. They also work well as a river fly fished…

Published: Mar 14, 2011 Midges are part of the Chironomidae family of true flies. They are very small as the name implies and their cycle is similar to the mayfly or the Caddisfly. When fish are taking midges the midges are generally available in large numbers. The Lava is between 6 & 12 mm in…

In the broader definition of the term any indicator fly is a "bung" fly and fishing with an indicator fly is often referred to as fishing the bung. More tightly defined however a bung fly is a fly tied specifically for use as an indicator. Bung flies are used in both running and still water and…

When Chironomids are around they tend to be around in large numbers and trout become quickly switched on and gorge on them. There are number of techniques to target chironomid feeders and one of my favourite is to fish three chironomid imitations with the heaviest on the point with a long leader on…

With origins in the 20's the Wulff is as much a style of fly as a fly in its own right. It is certainly one of the quintessential dry flies and in some shape or form you will find variants in most fly boxes. Whilst the originals were tied using elk hair tails and upright upright divided calf wings…

In the early 1900s, in Island Park, Idaho, Carter Harrison created the "Trude" fly as a joke for his friend and fishing host A. S. Trude.  The fly certainly has evolved with a hackle tail and many other changes coming and going over time. My variant is to fill a particular niche in my fly box for a…

Many anglers think that scud are shrimp but in fact they are not. Whilst they are Crustaceans they are of the Amphipoda order and are distinguished from shrimp both in habit and design. They spend their life inhabiting the detritus matter in both flowing and still water and take on the colour of…

The gray duster was one of the first flies I tied. It was at a fly tying course at Illawarra Fly Fishers in Wollongong and this fly was selected because of its simplicity and of course the fact that it works. Over time my tie of a gray duster has been corrupted to be a sort of melding of the gray…

The gray duster was one of the first flies I tied. It was at a fly tying course at Illawarra Fly Fishers in Wollongong and this fly was selected because of its simplicity and of course the fact that it works. Over time my tie of a gray duster has been corrupted to be a sort of melding of the gray…

One of the best search flies in slow moving or still deeper water using a sinking line and a booby. If fishing from a fixed position cast it out, let the line sink to the desired depth, and then retrieve the line using a constant stripping motion, a pumping retrieve or a combination of both. The…

Large populations of dark olive Yabbies of the Cherax Genus have developed in both Lake Jindabyne and Lake Eucumbene and many other places. Many anglers suggest that the Yabby has been responsible for changing the feeding habits of trout in the lakes as the populations of Yabbies have increased. In…

There are more versions of stick flies than you can poke a stick at (excuse the pun) and this one is a compilation of a couple that I like. It's easy to tie and works well particularly early in the season when the water is just starting to warm up and there isn't that much food about. Fish it…