flyfishing

Anorexic midge

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These little midges are easy to tie and appeal in a a whole range of situations. I like to fish them on a dry line with a longer leader either in a team of flies either static fishing or retrieving or as a single fly on a long leader to cover rising fish. They also work well as a river fly fished behind a heavier nymph.

Fuzzel Katie – Kate McLaren variant

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I particularly find the yellow version useful when yellow winged hoppers or other insects with yellow parts are on the trouts menu. At other times pink is a great trigger color and when combined with the flash of the holographic tinsel and or the movement of the fuzzeled body and the soft front hackle are often enough to trigger a response.

CNN – Chatto’s original

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No this is not a fly promoted by a news network, rather the CNN stand for “Cheap aNd Nasty”. I first tied this fly for use around structure where if you don’t loose a few flies then your not in the game. The fly I had previously used in those situations was an estuary fly that cost between $2 and $3 to make. Doesn’t sound like much but after 5 or 6 snags in a session you have to wonder. The CNN costs less than $1 to tie, is easy to tie and it works really well either fished alone or as a dropper fly behind a popper or beetle.

Candy – resin head minnow

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This is a great fly to rip through the water in front of Tailor, Australian Salmon, Tarpon and any other fish that is a predator of small fish.

The combination of the resin head and the body materials create a fly that is translucent and a very effective imitation of many small thin fish that that are targeted by bigger fish. This fly is much easier to tie than a candy and in my view a better fly overall.

Rays beetle variant

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I have found this variation of Ray’s beetle to be a good representation for a range of these big bugs. It can be used as a general prospecting fly or to “match the hatch”. It lands with a loud plop and floats hook down. I generally fish it on a 2 meter 10lb straight mono tippet. You need fairly heavy tippet to, turn the fly over, pull the fly it out of vegetation when you miscast, and to control bass that are intent in making cover once hooked.