Trout flies
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{{+1}}Zulu – Chatto’s variants{{-1}}
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I have changed the materials from the originals to include a couple of my fly tying favorites namely marabou for the tail, peacock herl for the body and a crow breast feather up front. If you swap the front feather to a blue feather such as swamp hen or a smallish peacock breast feather you have the also popular blue Zulu.{{end}}
Last Updated: February 24, 2011
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{{+1}}Patriot{{-1}}
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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 a red and blue bodied dry fly but nothing on an olive green wet fly.{{end}}
{{+1}}Tom Jones variant{{-1}}
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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, which is one of my favorite fly tying materials, and an under-hackle and beard of brown hackle fibers has been added. They are a good buggy looking fly that work well in both prospecting and polaroiding situations.{{end}}
{{+1}}Egg{{-1}}
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Egg or roe flies are tied to imitate eggs that have been dislodged from their 'reds' and are are drifting down a stream. Weighted versions can be fished alone or in conjunction with an unweighted nymph or egg fly and unweighted versions are generally fished in conjunction with lead shot or some, a weighted nymph or some other form of weight that will get them to bounce along the bottom of the river.{{end}}
{{+1}}Free swimming caddis{{-1}}
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The third group are the free swimming caddis grubs. These caddis grubs move amongst the detritus matter and the rocks foraging for food and partners and of course drift in the current assuming the fetal position or free swim in the current as they migrate down stream.{{end}}
{{+1}}Czech nymphs{{-1}}
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The uncased caddis have quite a few similarities. They often adopt a curved fetal position and when they are free swimming they are more elongated still with a curved back but with a lifted head. The have short tail like filaments, have bodies of around seven or eight segments that may have abdominal gills at each segment, have darker heads with two or three segments and have 3 or more sets of legs below the head or toward the front of the grub.{{end}}
{{+1}}Sunset fly{{-1}}
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I am confident that my tie is nothing like the original tie, but in my defense many years ago, when I first wanted to tie this fly, a search of all my reference books just didn't uncover a copy of the original tie. My tie of this fly is however quite easy and delivers a useful and robust fly.{{end}}
{{+1}}Glenn Innes hopper{{-1}}
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Whilst the original tail was brown cock hackles I sometimes use grizzly cock hackles, and whilst the original body was yellow chenille ribbed with fawn chenille I prefer a yellow or fawn chenille body ribbed with a palmered undersized brown hackle and ribbed with fine silver thread. I also sometimes substitute turkey feather slips or bunched up church window feathers for the wings.{{end}}
{{+1}}Marabou mudler{{-1}}
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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 to be great bait fish imitations many of the variants also have other applications.{{end}}
{{+1}}Leech{{-1}}
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The general form is similar they have bodies that are not segmented and are around 30 mm long when contracted and up to 80 mm when extended. Colors range from black through to olives and browns. I tie this fly in dark olive only and use it not only as a leech pattern but also for use when trout are on daphnia or when there may be olive damsel nymphs about.{{end}}