Over time they have endured and their reputation of, on the day, being an exceptional fish taking fly has grown and grown. They have also become very well accepted in competition circles and consequently I have fallen into line and have added them to my fly box.
Over the years I have experimented with various Yabby Patterns and whilst some have looked great unfortunately they have all been “dogs” to fish or more correctly to cast. Generally rather than using them I have reverted to fishing a weighted woolly bugger instead. Well all that has now changed and I now have a Yabby in my fly box that I have confidence in.
When a seriously flashy fly is needed because of visibility or you just need a fly to excite fish this fly may save the day.
I was ripping the black tailed version of this fly through the chop with some success when my boat partner asked what fly is that ‘silver surfer’. I explained to him that it was just a woolly bugger variant tied with a black tail and silver UV straggle fritz. I tried to give it a real name such as ‘silver woolly bugger’ but unfortunately ‘silver surfer’ has stuck.
This is my favourite. I have absolute confidence in this fly and it’s my default point fly in fly fishing competitions. That of course doesn’t mean that I don’t fish other woolly buggers or woolly bugger variations with specific applications in particular fisheries but it does mean that if the buggers that should work (eg a Magoo in Purrumbete or a Tassi bugger in Arthurs lake) isn’t working then I will always give my brown bugger a swim.
One of the first loch flies I was introduced was a mallard and claret tied in a traditional way with a pair of feather slip wings. I thought it was the bees knees as a bob fly and used it any time when mayflies were around. For me this is a vastly superior fly and as well as being a great substitute for a traditionally tied mallard and claret also works well on mayfly feeders taking pre emergers.
This is my favourite damsel fly imitation and ticks all the boxes. It is quite representational of an emerging damsel with its overall form and function and has a neat little hot spot in the form of the red eyes. It’s a great fly to fish at any time when there are midge or damsels around as most importantly the trout love it.
This is my latest addition to the genre and it’s more of a polaroiding fly than a stripping fly. I like to use it to ambush sighted fish by casting well in front of patrolling fish and generally a little closer to shore and then let the fly sink and lie doggo.
This fly has stood the test of time being designed in the 1930’s as a cased caddis imitation in the Catskills by Cliff Zug. It continues to be relevant today on any water where caddis are on the menu. It is equally at home in rivers and lakes. It’s no surprise that the body is peacock herl a material that has made flies like the diawl back and prince nymph amongst the top fish taking flies.
This fly has stood the test of time being designed in the 1930?s as a cased caddis imitation in the Catskills by Cliff Zug. This jig version is particularly good for running water as the shape of the jig hook causes the leader to partially invert the fly mitigating snags as the fly bounces along the bottom.
