My ‘trout” bead head fly box

TBH fuzzy wuzzy

01/09/202420/05/2013 by Stephen Chatterton

If you went back just a few years and you a asked an average fly fisher to name his for her favorite fly chances are it would be an unweighted, or lightly weighted probably with a few turns of lead wire, Fuzzy Wuzzy. The traditional Fuzzy Wuzzy has always been useful as a river and lake fly leading up to, through and just after the spawning season. This fly just extends the application of the standard Fuzzy Wuzzy an little further and the simple addition of the tungsten bead head makes it easier to get this fly down and bumping along the bottom where the fish are.

TBH collared hare and copper

01/09/202414/10/2012 by Stephen Chatterton

A very effective fly yet perhaps the simplest of bead heads to tie. With elements of the hare and copper and an Adams fly in the dressing its logical that its default name became “hare and adams”.

TBH flash back PTN

01/09/202407/10/2012 by Stephen Chatterton

Jeremy Lucas was our river coach leading up to the 2012 World Fly Fishing Championships and was very keen on thinner flies for this early season competition. I think its a great interpretation of a classic fly and commend it for your consideration.

Marko’s go to fly

01/09/202406/10/2012 by Stephen Chatterton

I was introduced to this fly at the 2012 World Fly Fishing Championships during the training sessions by our guide Marko Gradnik. This was his “go to” fly for all the river sectors of the competition and produced fish for all the Australian World team members.

TBH hybrid caddis spider

01/09/202418/08/2012 by Stephen Chatterton

This is my favourite hybrid of a spider fly and a bead head nymph with a tungsten bead up front. I carry this fly in two sizes and find them particularly useful in situations where I need a bit of weight to get a fly down yet still want the anchor fly to fish well and be enticing to trout rather than just being an anchor for other flies in the team. This is a great buggy looking fly and the tail and soft hackle provide plenty of movement.

TBH brown and peacock hybrid spider

01/09/202418/08/2012 by Stephen Chatterton

Brown and peacock hybrid spider nymphs are good buggy looking flies and the tail and soft hackle provide plenty of movement. One of these hybrid spider nymphs on the top dropper and two unweighted spiders or nymphs below can be a real tease for trout.

Tungsten bead head chartreuse and partridge spider

01/09/202418/08/2012 by Stephen Chatterton

Bead head spiders fish very well in conjunction with traditional spider flies and give you the opportunity of adding a bit of flash to your team and more importantly get your team down a little. The benefit of that of course is that the added depth gives a little more vertical travel to your team of flies as they swing round at the end of the drift and start to lift, which as we all know is when the majority of hits occur when swinging spiders.

Tungsten bead head orange and partridge spider

01/09/202418/08/2012 by Stephen Chatterton

I nearly always fish my bead head spiders on the point in a team of two flies and with a relatively heavily weighted nymph such as a TBH duracell jig nymph, TBH collared hare and copper or TBH chocolate caddis nymph on the top dropper on the dropper 60 or 70 centimetres up the leader.

TBH chocolate caddis nymph

01/09/202411/08/2011 by Stephen Chatterton

Caddis are are common throughout the year but with the greater concentrations occurring from September through to March. They inhabit both running and still water and are a significant food source for most trout often reputed to represent up to 30% of a trout’s diet.

Straggle fritz bugger

01/09/202413/03/2011 by Stephen Chatterton

‘I switched to a slime line and put a Black Straggle Fritz Taddy on the point, kept the Damsel on the dropper and, due to the weed, discarded the top dropper completely. At the end of one retrieve I had a cracking take on the hang and bullied a near 5lb rainbow into the net.’