Jan's Flies
by Jan Spencer
Some ten years ago when the World Fly Fishing Championships were held in Tasmania, I was introduced to Loch-Style Fishing. It certainly is an effective style of fishing on the day and it won the English team the gold medal.
I must admit though it really doesn't do much for me. It seems to be that it is little more than fishing a team of wet flies, don't get me wrong, it does catch fish and plenty of them on the right day.
Since 1998 I have fished a seven weight 9ft 6in Drennen Rod given to me by the English team with a weight forward line. There are a number of English rods available in the 10-11 ft variety and I am currently looking at buying a 10ft version as I find the longer models are quite heavy in the butt section. Longer rods allow more line control, allowing the angler to dance the top fly, or bob fly, close to the water surface causing a wake. It is the wake that seems to attract the fish.
My leader consists of a tapered 9 ft leader with a 10 lb tip. Added to this are two sections of 4 ft, 8 lb tippet material with a dropper line off each correcting knot. The dropper lines need to be at least 10ft long. The following three flies are a good mixture for this type of fishing.
The Olive Bumble
I was given this fly by England's Bob Church who recommended it as a really good fly, especially when there are good choppy conditions. It makes a good wake even when the wave is high.
Hook Kamasan B170 size 10-8
Thread Olive
Dubbing Brown and dark olive antron teased together
Rib Fine flat gold wire
Body hackles One light olive and one brown hackle
Front hackle Partridge died blue or guinea fowl (blue)
1. Place thread the full length of shank then tie in rib.
2. Dub on mixed dubbing and bring back a little more than three quarters of the hook shank.
3. Take the olive and brown hackles and tie them in as for wet flies. Now wind them together down the shank to where to rib is tied in at the end of the shank. With the rib, come forward through the hackles tiering them down. Tie the rib off with thread and cut any excess rib away.
4. With the dried blue partridge or guinea tied in, make two or three turns. Tie through this with the thread, snip away the feather tip. Now form a head, whip finish and varnish.
Claret Pheasant Tail Nymph
Pheasant tail nymphs are always good flies whatever form they may come in. I tie them in a number of patterns. The claret thorax on this one makes it a good dropper pattern for loch-style fishing.
Hook Kamasan B175 size 12-10
Thread Black
Rib Copper wire
Tail Pheasant feather fibre tippets
Body Pheasant feather fibres
Thorax claret antron
Hackle Dark Brown
1. Wind thread on shank in the normal way covering the shank to the bend.
2. Take a bunch of pheasant feather fibres and tie in forming a tail with the fibre points. Do not cut the fibres away.
3. Tie in rib.
4. Now wind the rest of the pheasant fibres forward along the shank forming a body. Take this two thirds of shank and tie down. Cut away any excess.
5. Dub on claret anton on thorax, making sure not to finish too close to the eye.
6. With the brown hackle tied in make three turns and tie the thread through it securing it down. Cut hackle tip away. Pull the hackle points back over the body and make two or three firm turns pulling them down and back so they point toward the rear.
7. Form a head whip finish and varnish.
Hot Woolly Worm
The good old Woolly Worm takes some beating and I am sure that most fly fishers have some form or another in their fly boxes. Fished as the point fly is works so well.
Hook Kamasan B830 size 8
Thread Black
Tail Hot red marabou
Rib Fine red wire
Body Green chenille
Hackle 1 medium black sized saddle feather
1. Take the thread the full length of the shank.
2. Tie in marabou tail and rib.
3. Secure chenille in the wind forward finishing fairly close to the eye.
4. Tie in black hackle as for a wet fly and wind back along the shank finishing at the rib. Bring the rib forward tying the body hackle down. Tie rib down with thread and cut excess away. Also cut feather tip away at the rear of the fly.
5. Pull the hackle fibres back and make a couple of turns of thread firmly pulling the fibres back so they sit back toward the rear of the fly. Form a head, whip finish, cut thread away and varnish.