Fishing Flies

Wing cases: Light grey duck quill slip.

Legs: Light furnace or ginger hen hackle.

BROWN WOVEN-BODIED NYMPH

Hook: Nymph, sizes 12–18.

Thread: Orange.

Tails: Sparse bunch bronze mallard.

Abdomen: Black and orange silks, woven.

Thorax: Fine brown fur.

Wing cases: Light grey duck quill slip.

Legs: Light furnace or ginger hen hackle.

SWANNUNDAZE STONEFLY NYMPH

Hook: Curved nymph, sizes 6–12.

Thread: Brown.

Tails: 2 Dyed brown goose biots.

Abdomen: Brown Swannundaze.

Thorax: Brown rabbit fur.

Wing cases: Speckled turkey slip or synthetic.

Eyes: Lead.

DAMSELFLY NYMPHS

Dragonflies and damselflies belong to the great Order of insects, the Odonata. Some have devised imitations of dragonfly nymphs, but trout and panfish are unlikely to encounter more than the occasional real dragonfly nymph because they crawl slowly and cannot swim, and they often hide away in thick weed or debris on the bottom. They are exceedingly rarely found in autopsies.

In contrast damselfly nymphs do swim with a vigorous undulation of the body, and they tend to occur in much higher densities in lakes and slow weedy rivers than dragonfly nymphs. They are sometimes found in numbers in autopsies. So damselfly nymph imitations are important fishing flies.

The OLIVE MARABOU DAMSEL is a good imitation simply because the long marabou ‘tail’ imitates the undulating tails and abdomen of the real insect.

OLIVE MARABOU DAMSEL

Hook: Wet fly, sizes 10–12.

Thread: Olive.

Tails and abdomen: Bunch of olive marabou.

Thorax: Fur dubbing, slightly darker than the tails/abdomen.

Legs: Partridge dyed olive.

Wing cases: Goose quill slip dyed dark olive.

Tie BROWN MARABOU DAMSEL in the same way, using medium-brown marabou, fur and goose quill slip, and an undyed brown speckled partridge hackle.

FLOATING FOAM BACKED DAMSEL NYMPH

Hook: Long shank, sizes 10–12.

Thread: Olive.

Tails: Olive marabou, plus 4 strands Crystal Hair/Krystal Flash.

Abdomen: Olive dubbing, e.g. seal’s fur, or Antron or other synthetic.

Rib: Fine oval gold tinsel.

Wing case: 3 mm-wide green foam strip, extended back to abdomen.

Thorax: Olive dubbing, e.g. seal’s fur, or Antron or other synthetic.

Legs: 6 knotted olive goose biots.

Eyes: 2 red glass beads, lined with mono that is burnt at either end to give black centres to eyes.

A fly by Wendy Gibson for lake fishing. Fish this just below the surface using a slow-sink or fast intermediate line. When the fly is retrieved it will bobble below the surface, but swims up when the retrieve is stopped.

EXTENDED BODY DAMSEL NYMPH

Hook: Wet fly, sizes 12–14.

Thread: Brown.

Tail: Tips of olive marabou fibres.

Abdomen: Marabou fibres from tails wound around piece of olive floss tied in at end of hook shank (an extended body).

Thorax: Fine olive fur.

Rib: Fine oval gold tinsel.

Legs: Tips of a few dark blue dun cock hackle fibres, tied to each side.

Wing cases: Cock pheasant tail herls.