The Zulu tied with a black hackle body and a black tail has origins that go back to circa 1600 England. This fly deviates from the standard a little and has a white under-tail of antron tied in to represents a trailing shuck, seals fur dubbing and a soft hackle at the front so if it is used as a loch fly it has some movement and a couple of trigger points.
I have extended the population of flies that I carry in my fly box to include Spiders because they are an alternative representation for what we traditionally think of being a nymph representation.
I have extended the population of flies that I carry in my nymph fly box to include flies like Carixia and Shrimp flies because I fish them ostensibly in the same way that I fish my nymphs.
I was told it was made from ‘bits’ and ‘bobs’ from off the fly tying bench and that it was therefor called a Bob’s bits. I don’t know if that is the true origin of the bobs bits fly but that is exactly how I make it. A bit of seals fur dubbing and a bit of whatever hackle is left on the bench. Just a couple of steps to tie it has heaps of applications in rivers and still water.
One of the best search flies in slow moving or still deeper water using a sinking line ia a booby. As an alternative Boobies can also be fished as a semi-dry fly on the surface.
I use this fly to represent not only Scuds but also Olive Caddis Pupa which are of course a completely different types of creature. Scuds are true crustaceans of the family Isopod or Amphipods and generally you find them in shallow water in the detritus matter and around weed beds and drowned vegetation.
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.
Lakes and impoundment’s are not just big volumes of homogeneous water denuded of any structure even though at first glance that may be how they seem. Lakes are full of structures, or effected by structures, of one form or another that dramatically influence the available food sources, the temperature of the water and the general comfort zone of the trout.
Whilst the Bibio fly may have been originally designed as a blow fly representation it has found its place as a great top dropper fly in lakes where fish are midge feeders. That of course begs the question do fish take them as midges, or do they take them as some other insect more like a fly, but which spends part of its life cycle in the water, that just happens to hatch as the same time as a midge?
Looks great on the water and floats all day. The general form and colour together with presentation and how you fish them will help you fool the fish. Whether fished dry or wet by in large all hopper patterns should be fished in the current with as little line drag as possible or with occasional short jerking strips or twitches.
