There are many versions of the cormorant fly and certainly too many to carry them all. This is my favourite attractor version of a cormorant for loch style fishing in waters where trout are switched onto black flies.

It has moved away from the original tie with the addition of a floss tag and with a holographic body rather than peacock herl as in the original.

See also: Cormorant-competition version and original cormorant.

Materials

 

Hook	Thread	Tag	Rib	Body	Wing	Lateral line flash (optional)
Medium shank wet fly (Tiemco 3769)	Black	Uni floss-hot red	Silver or gold wire	Holographic tinsel-clear, silver or gold	Marabou	X small holographic tinsel-red

Process

 

A	Wind the thread in touching turns from the 95% position to the bend of the hook. [member Link=”p=10018″ Title=”Understanding hooks”] Tie in a floss tag equal in length to the gape of the hook.

 

B	Tie in a length of fine silver wire if using a clear or gold body or fine gold wire if your using a silver holographic tinsel body. My preference is to tie it in along the top of the hook shank all the way from the 90% position to the bend of the hook so as to maintain a relatively uniform under-body without any ridges.

 

C	Tie in a length of pearl holographic Tinsel. Again, my preference is to tie it in along the top of the hook shank all the way from the 90% position to the bend of the hook.

 

D	Wind the tinsel forward in tight overlapping turns all the way to the 90% position. Tie the tinsel off and trim away the excess.

 

E	Pick up the wire and wind it forward to the 95% position in tight turns forming 6 or 8 segments and also reinforcing the fly body. Tie the wire off at the 95% position and worry off the excess wire.

 

F	Pick a bunch of marabou and position it with the tips directly above the tip of the tag. If the marabou is too wispy at its tips then leave the wing a little longer so that the thin wispy ends can be pinched off in line with the tip of the tag.

 

G	Swap you hold over on the wing to your other hand and tie the marabou in place at the 95% position with a couple of firm turns of thread. Trim away the excess marabou butts with a sharp pair of scissors. If your going to tie in some lateral flash select a short length of thin red holographic tinsel and tie in a single strand at the 95% position on each side of the fly with the tinsel laying along the full length of the side of the fly. I tie lateral flash in most of the time as it’s a simple task to trim it away if you think the water your fishing is too clear or that fish are put off on the day by too much flash. Build up a neat head of thread. Whip finish the thread. Trim the thread and varnish the head.