Stonefly 2
Although this is a nifty way of representing legs on a fly, particularly a nymph, it is not used very often.
Trout flies
Church nymph
I can remember the first time I tied this fly. I had lost a few nymphs during the day and had limited resources on hand to make up some replacements. A little dubbing and a few church window feather (rein neck pheasant) later and the church nymph was born. It’s not dissimilar to many other nymphs I have seen.
Fuzzy nymph
This is just a great all round nymph and it’s definitely worth dedicating on row in your nymph fly box to a selection of flies in this pattern. I certainly use it to make sure that I have flies in two sizes covering those colours such as claret or olive that I don’t use very much but I want represented in my fly box. Whilst this nymph is not tied to represent the nymphal (sub imago or pupa) stage of any specific insect it is a good buggy looking fly and readily accepted by trout.
Matuka variant
Developed in New Zealand to represent a small fish Matuka style flies were originally tied with feathers from a kind of heron called a “bittern” or in the Maoris language “Matuka”. They work well as a stripping fly in situations where bait fish may be on the menu and the most popular colours in Australia is black / red and brown / brown.
Woolly bugger
The Woolly Bugger is perhaps the quintessential streamer fly and has its origins in America ….. there is also an English fly with bead chin eyes called a Dog Nobler that is very similar. Whatever the name or origin this style of fly is a great fish taker in a wide range of conditions. There are probably more variations to the Woolly Bugger than I have had breakfasts. Some are over-dressed some under-dressed, some weighted other not, on all sorts of hooks and in all sorts of colour combinations. I carry black, brown and olive versions.
Mudeye – Chatto original
Most fly fishers will have one or more flies that they use to represent Mudeyes and these include Craigs Night-time, Tie Happy Tickler and Micks Mudeye. An alternative Mudeye representation is set out below. It incorporates many of the features of the flies mentioned above and utilizes two of my favorite fly tying materials, Peacock herl and Ring neck Pheasant (Church Window) feathers.
BMS (Bullen Mary Special)
At the 2003 Australian Fly Fishing Championships held at Mt. Beauty this was one of the few flies that produced more than one fish. It is a favorite fly at Lake Bullen Merri where it gets its name BM Special. Because of its history of success it is often regarded as a quintessential Rainbow trout fly by many Victorian fly fishers.
Coch-Y-Bonddu
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.
Yeti variant
In its larger sizes, this fly fishes well and is equally at home fished as either a general prospecting fly retrieved slow and deep around weedy margins or as a fly for windy conditions where it can be allowed to slosh around for a few seconds and then can be slowly retrieved or as a point or attractor fly in a loch style fishing team of flies. In windier conditions it also works well when ripped across the surface.
Booby – traditional booby
With the tow point at the tip of the 90 degree stem any forward movement of the fly raises the fly up a little and a steady forward movement of the fly creates a very natural wake. If just twitched it creates circles reminiscent of a struggling terrestrial insect.