I tie a few hair winged duns but don’t tie them as representations of any particular Dun or Spinner (imago) stage of any specific insect. The Hair Winged Royal Coachman is an excellent example of a hair winged dun. It evolved from origins in England of the 1800’s.

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 I lean toward variants that have buoyant deer hair tails and divided wings.

As the name implies this hopper is my representation of the natural of the same name. Its tied in the same way as a stimulator except that a yellow under wing and feather slip wings replace the deer hair wing of the stimulator. It’s a good hopper pattern to tie on because it floats in the surface film much the same way as the unfortunate natural does and it is reasonably visible.

Whilst not tied to imitate any particular insect this down wing style of fly can be tied with your favorite materials and in your favorite colours to imitate a range of insects. It is a good prospecting fly when nothing appears to be happening. In larger sizes it can be twitched or fished dead drift to imitate a hopper, cicada or other terrestrial insect that has found itself in the water or in smaller sizes can be danced across the surface to imitate a caddis fly.

The Cock-Y-Bonddu is a Welsh beetle pattern which is equally at home on Australian trout waters. The original was tied with flat silver tinsel wound around the hook shank just behind the body. This little bit of flash isn’t intended to represent a tail its more likely that it was included to imitate the beetle wing parts that often trail behind a beetle like a tail when it gets trapped in the water mid flight.

Both floating and wet beetles (including drowned terrestrials beetles and aquatic beetles) should be fished in the current with as little line drag as possible or with a very short twitching action. A nondescript well tied beetle pattern if presented in the right way when fish have beetles on their menu, more often than not, will be accepted by fish. Consequently no fly box would be complete without a selection of beetle patterns.

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.

If you have a look at Caenis Duns there are fundamentals of shape that are common across the species and captured by this pattern. The tail consists of only three filaments; the body starts thin and is then cigar shaped with 9 distinct segments. They have 6 legs and wings faces back at about a 60 degree angle. The common colours are grey and brown and when they are hatching the vision is of very small single winged sailing boats on the water.

The Iron Blue Dun is a standard hackled classic 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.

I use this fly to represent mayflies that are members of the Leptophlebiidae classification of mayflies which includes the Highland Dun and Olive Dun and also the Kosciuszko Dun which is a member of the Coloburiscidae classification of the Mayfly family.

This is an incredible fly for delicate presentations to mayfly feeders … the waters of the Korka had mayfly hatching but I was having trouble in finding a fly that didn’t spook them. Remembering that browns were behaving in a similar way in the training session I mentioned above I swapped over to the plume and ultimately did pretty well for the session coming in 10th out of 28 competitors.

The Quill Gordon is a standard hackled classic 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.

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 recipe below to much lighter and grayer versions.

The term spinner is generally used only in the context of referring to a small number of Mayflies including Black, Red and Orange Spinners when they are both on the water and in the air. The following Spinner is a generic representation for members of the “Leptophlebiidae” family of Mayflies and the various Highland Duns & Spinners, which are members of the “Oniscigastridae” family. Hatches generally occurs between the months of October and March.

The term ‘spinner’ refers to that stage in a Dun’s life cycle when it has moved off the water or, vegetation etc. after drying its wings. The adult or imago of all Mayflies, Caddis flies and Midges can technically be regarded as spinners. The following Spinner is a generic representation for members of the “Leptophlebiidae” family of Mayflies and the various Highland Duns & Spinners, which are members of the “Oniscigastridae” family. Hatches generally occurs between the months of October and March. Carry black, brown, red and blue damsel versions.

Based on the design of the carrot fly this version is particularly appealing to fish feeding on emerging Mayfly in Tasmania’s central and western lake.

This Dutch fly designed for Grayling is one of the best emerger patterns and well suited when fishing to emerging mayflies and caddis. One of the big advantages of this pattern is that it is easily seen on the water because of the poly yarn post.

This is more of a class of flies rather than just a fly. Perhaps the best known Para Dun Emerger is the Parachute Adams. It was derived form the Adams Irresistible and whilst the Irresistible sits high on the surface film the parachute version sits comfortably in the film making it a very useful emerger pattern.

Perhaps the best known Para Dun Emerger is the Parachute Adams. It was derived form the Adams Irresistible and whilst the Irresistible sits high on the surface film the parachute version sits comfortably in the film making it a very useful emerger pattern.

There are plenty of possum emergers out there. Generally they have a nymph like body and then either a brush type wing or a bud type wing. I like brush type wing emergers better as dense wing traps more air and consequently they float better. The little thorax of seals fur is also good because it sheds water with a flick of the fly.

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.

The Adams Irresistible is just one representation of a Baetis Dun. It floats like a cork and what’s more fish accept it as a variety of food items. In smaller sizes it is an excellent Baetis Dun imitation and an excellent fly in still water particularly when Snow Flake Caddis are about. In larger sizes it is an excellent fly for fast water or as a top fly in dry / nymph combination. Change the material colours to tie flies representing Baetis Duns in your target fishery. I carry Adams, black, brown and olive versions in a couple of sizes.

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. When the fish are feeding on ants they just sup the insects down one by one often at the exclusion of all other food sources. The best technique for ant feeders is to grease your leader except for the last 60 cm or so and to cover individual fish or place your fly amongst the naturals in the path of feeding fish.

The biggest problem with many termite and ant flies is that because you only use and only need two wraps of hackle to represent the legs they unfortunately have a tendency to sink. This foam termite whilst still looking realistic overcomes that problem.

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. When the fish are feeding on ants they just sup the insects down one by one often at the exclusion of all other food sources. The best technique for ant feeders is to grease your leader except for the last 60 cm or so and to cover individual fish or place your fly amongst the naturals in the path of feeding fish.

The term spinner is generally used only in the context of referring to a small number of Mayflies including Black, Red and Orange Spinners when they are both on the water and in the air. The following Spinner is a generic representation for members of the “Leptophlebiidae” family of Mayflies and the various Highland Duns & Spinners, which are members of the “Oniscigastridae” family. Hatches generally occurs between the months of October and March.

If you have a look at Caenis Duns there are fundamentals of shape that are common across the species and captured by this pattern. The tail consists of only three filaments; the body starts thin and is then cigar shaped with 9 distinct segments. They have 6 legs and wings faces back at about a 60 degree angle. The common colours are grey and brown and when they are hatching the vision is of very small single winged sailing boats on the water.

As the name implies this hopper is my representation of the natural of the same name. Its tied in the same way as a stimulator except that a yellow under wing and feather slip wings replace the deer hair wing of the stimulator. It’s a good hopper pattern to tie on because it floats in the surface film much the same way as the unfortunate natural does and it is reasonably visible.

Based on the design of the carrot fly this version is particularly appealing to fish feeding on emerging Mayfly in Tasmania’s central and western lake.

The Cock-Y-Bonddu is a Welsh beetle pattern which is equally at home on Australian trout waters. The original was tied with flat silver tinsel wound around the hook shank just behind the body. This little bit of flash isn’t intended to represent a tail its more likely that it was included to imitate the beetle wing parts that often trail behind a beetle like a tail when it gets trapped in the water mid flight.

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.

Both floating and wet beetles (including drowned terrestrials beetles and aquatic beetles) should be fished in the current with as little line drag as possible or with a very short twitching action. A nondescript well tied beetle pattern if presented in the right way when fish have beetles on their menu, more often than not, will be accepted by fish. Consequently no fly box would be complete without a selection of beetle patterns.

The biggest problem with many termite and ant flies is that because you only use and only need two wraps of hackle to represent the legs they unfortunately have a tendency to sink. This foam termite whilst still looking realistic overcomes that problem.

On balance I think it fishes better than the Greenwells Glory.

It works equally well on running or still water and is a little more buoyant than the Greenwell Glory and is buoyant enough to support a small bead head nymph in a wet under dry team.

I tie a few hair winged duns but don’t tie them as representations of any particular Dun or Spinner (imago) stage of any specific insect. The Hair Winged Royal Coachman is an excellent example of a hair winged dun. It evolved from origins in England of the 1800’s.

The Iron Blue Dun is a standard hackled classic 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.

The Adams Irresistible is just one representation of a Baetis Dun. It floats like a cork and what’s more fish accept it as a variety of food items. In smaller sizes it is an excellent Baetis Dun imitation and an excellent fly in still water particularly when Snow Flake Caddis are about. In larger sizes it is an excellent fly for fast water or as a top fly in dry / nymph combination. Change the material colours to tie flies representing Baetis Duns in your target fishery. I carry Adams, black, brown and olive versions in a couple of sizes.

This Dutch fly designed for Grayling is one of the best emerger patterns and well suited when fishing to emerging mayflies and caddis. One of the big advantages of this pattern is that it is easily seen on the water because of the poly yarn post.

I use this fly to represent mayflies that are members of the Leptophlebiidae classification of mayflies which includes the Highland Dun and Olive Dun and also the Kosciuszko Dun which is a member of the Coloburiscidae classification of the Mayfly family.

This is more of a class of flies rather than just a fly. Perhaps the best known Para Dun Emerger is the Parachute Adams. It was derived form the Adams Irresistible and whilst the Irresistible sits high on the surface film the parachute version sits comfortably in the film making it a very useful emerger pattern.

Perhaps the best known Para Dun Emerger is the Parachute Adams. It was derived form the Adams Irresistible and whilst the Irresistible sits high on the surface film the parachute version sits comfortably in the film making it a very useful emerger pattern.

This is an incredible fly for delicate presentations to mayfly feeders … the waters of the Korka had mayfly hatching but I was having trouble in finding a fly that didn’t spook them. Remembering that browns were behaving in a similar way in the training session I mentioned above I swapped over to the plume and ultimately did pretty well for the session coming in 10th out of 28 competitors.

There are plenty of possum emergers out there. Generally they have a nymph like body and then either a brush type wing or a bud type wing. I like brush type wing emergers better as dense wing traps more air and consequently they float better. The little thorax of seals fur is also good because it sheds water with a flick of the fly.

The Quill Gordon is a standard hackled classic 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.

The term ‘spinner’ refers to that stage in a Dun’s life cycle when it has moved off the water or, vegetation etc. after drying its wings. The adult or imago of all Mayflies, Caddis flies and Midges can technically be regarded as spinners. The following Spinner is a generic representation for members of the “Leptophlebiidae” family of Mayflies and the various Highland Duns & Spinners, which are members of the “Oniscigastridae” family. Hatches generally occurs between the months of October and March. Carry black, brown, red and blue damsel versions.

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.

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 I lean toward variants that have buoyant deer hair tails and divided wings.

Whilst not tied to imitate any particular insect this down wing style of fly can be tied with your favorite materials and in your favorite colours to imitate a range of insects. It is a good prospecting fly when nothing appears to be happening. In larger sizes it can be twitched or fished dead drift to imitate a hopper, cicada or other terrestrial insect that has found itself in the water or in smaller sizes can be danced across the surface to imitate a caddis fly.

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 recipe below to much lighter and grayer versions.