Sandy's River Fly Box

Traditional North Country patterns have a special place in my heart, as they are my favourite style to tie and the flies I grew up fishing with. My First fly-tying book 'Rough Stream Trout Flies' by Taff Price, had a large chapter on North Country and Scottish flies and the spiders captured my imagination by being so elegant and simple, plus they were from the North, so I felt more of an affinity for using them.

The first specific book on North Country Spiders I got, was the TE Pritt one (he was mentioned often in the Taff Price book) so he has an influence on the way I have been tying them. This selection represents the patterns I use the most, and often, if a rising fish is proving tricky, then the spider will elicit a positive response.

Clockwise from the top right:
1: Dark Watchett
2: Partridge and Hares lug
3: Partridge and Yellow
4: Partridge and Orange
5: Brown Watchett (Brown Owl/Winter Brown)
6: Light Spanish Needle
7: Snipe and Purple
8: Hares lug and Plover
9: Poult Bloa

Centre from the top:
10: Greenwells Glory
11: Black Spider
12: Waterhen Bloa

This is my own pattern, which combines my love of traditional North Country Spiders and my love of CDC.

I like flies that are soft and can fold in a fish's mouth when they are taken, I believe this reduces rejections.

A pattern that works as an Emerger when soggy, a Dun when dried out, and when it is stuck in the meniscus it makes the perfect Cripple.

You can fish this in any kind of water, it is hugely versatile and you can control how it sits in the water by drying off different parts of it.

The recipe is simple:

Hook: Fulling Mill Ultimate Barbless dry 5050 size 10-18.

Tail: Coq de Leon.

Body: Twisted CDC feather, with fine copper or gold wire.

Hackle: Spun natural CDC collar, sometimes with a classic game feather added.

... and I vary the size and colours to match different hatches.

LDO: Old Yellow CDC body, Natural Dark CDC mixed with Waterhen for the collar.

March Brown / Brook Dun: Old Yellow CDC body, Natural Dark CDC mixed with Brown Partridge for the collar.

Olive Upright: Old Yellow CDC body and Light Natural CDC collar.

Small Dark Olive / BWO: Grey CDC body and either Light or Dark Natural CDC collar.

Iron Blue: Dark Grey CDC body, Dark Natural CDC and Waterhen collar.

Yellow May: Light Yellow CDC Body, Light Grey Natural CDC with Grey Partridge collar.

Spinners: Orange CDC body, Pale Grey Natural CDC collar.

Another pattern which is my own, although many traditional CDC patterns are very similar. Marc Petitjean, Lucian Vasies and Dave McPhail have similar patterns too.

It is a simple, easy to tie fly, that actually floats upright really well (from a size 12 down) and presents a perfect Dun profile to the fish. Fantastic on the glides and at the tails of pools.

Another simple recipe:

Hook: Fulling Mill Ultimate Barbless dry 5050 size 12-18.

Tail: Coq de Leon.

Body: Troutstalker Scruffy Dubbing.

Wing: Natural CDC folded upright with the stalks cut shorter at the aft of the wing.

Again, size and colours vary to match different hatches.

LDO: Scruffy Buzzer Dubbing, Dark Natural CDC.

Olive Upright: Appleby Olive Dubbing, Light Natural CDC.

Small Dark Olive: Appleby Olive Dubbing, Pale Grey CDC.

Iron Blue: Highland Peat Dubbing, Dark Grey CDC.

BWO: Scruffy Buzzer Dubbing, Dark Natural CDC.

Yellow May: Pale Yellow and Tups Dubbing, Pale Grey CDC.

This is a fly I developed from a Rene Harrop Biot Emerger. It is essentially the same materials and tying style as the Plume Tip Dry, except with the Plume Tip you tie the CDC wing with the tips forward and then fold it upright, but with the Down Wing Emerger you tie the CDC tips towards the rear and then fold the stalks rearwards split down either side.

So it has a low to the water profile. This fly looks like an emerging Dun, or a struggling Dun in the water. It also does a decent impression of a Sedge. Works better with the smaller species of upwing for some reason.

Recipe:

Hook: Fulling Mill Ultimate Barbless dry 5050 size 14-18.

Tail: Coq de Leon.

Body / Thorax: Troutstalker Scruffy Dubbing.

Wing: Natural CDC.

Again, size and colours vary to match different hatches.

LDO: Scruffy Buzzer Dubbing, Dark Natural CDC.

Olive Upright: Appleby Olive Dubbing, Light Natural CDC.

Small Dark Olive: Appleby Olive Dubbing, Pale Grey CDC.

Iron Blue: Highland Peat Dubbing, Dark Grey CDC.

BWO: Scruffy Buzzer Dubbing, Dark Natural CDC.

This is the classic Deer Hair Emerger from Bob Wyatt. I tie it in a couple of shades, so I have a light one and a darker one, and I find a pearl tag improves the fly a lot.

This is a pattern that I have found will often be exactly what the fish is wanting at the start of the hatch, when there are more Emergers than Duns. Then as the hatch progresses, the fly can occasionally start to spook the fish, and that is the time to change to a CDC Spider. On the whole this is the best Emerger for most occasions and hatches.

Very simple to tie, so easy to replace. Profile is everything, get the balance between the wing size and the weight of the hook right, so it cocks itself nicely in the water.

I've also had a lot of success fishing this downstream on a dead drift, rather than upstream. Will also work during a Sedge hatch as well as Upwings.

Recipe:

Hook: Daiichi D900 curved hook 10-16.

Tag: Mirage or Pearl Tinsel.

Body: Grey Squirrel or Mink Under Fur, gold wire rib.

Thorax: Hares Ear.

Wing: Coastal Deer Hair for 10-14, Snowshoe Hare for size 16.

Match the Size and Hue to the natural that is hatching.

This is a pattern that Scott Cumming has perfected and this is my simplified take on it. It has elements of the Sedgehammer, CDC and Elk, Egg Laying Caddis and the Deer hair sedge, all of which are great flies.

I prefer having this one pattern for simplicity, and it covers all the bases from emerging pupa to skittering adults and egg layers.

It works well in all sorts of sizes from an 8 down to an 18, you just adjust the balance/density of the feathers being used to keep the profile and buoyancy.

Recipe:

Hook: Daiichi D900 from an 8-18.

Tag: Pearl Mirage tinsel, or bright green floss if you fancy a specific egg laying stage.

Body: Troutstalker Scruffy Dubbing (Scruffy Buzzer or boosted natural colour) ribbed with fine gold wire.

Underwing: 3-6 natural CDC feathers (keep the off cuts)

Overwing: Stacked Yearling Elk down to a 14 and Comparadun hair in 16 and smaller. The forward end can be either tied in under the thorax, or cut stubby to make a slight flare almost mini muddled head. Which is quite good if you want to skate it.

Thorax: Fibres from the butt ends of the CDC stalks, either spun or dubbed.

I'm confident that even during what seems to be a Sedge hatch on an evening, if the fish are taking upwings then this fly is close enough as an emerger and it will still take those fish too, where they may ignore a more traditional Sedge pattern.

The fly is best when it starts to be scruffy looking, after a few fish it gets less bedraggled and doesn't have the same sort of life.

Originally a John Goddard fly, this has been developed further by Scott Cumming into a very effective faster water, or large upwing emerger pattern.

I bulk tie hooks with the split wing post, so I have a selection of 'blanks' on which to tie specific imitations.

It does tend to be a very good fly if large upwings are on the menu, March Brown and Brook Duns in particular, and it can also be very useful on broken water as it will stay afloat better and be more visible than a DHE. That said, I have had a lot of success with it on a 14 tied to match the Iron Blues. It works best in orange for some reason, but I have some variations on this.

Basic recipe:

Hook: Daiichi D900 in 8-14.

Tail: very short natural cream or light grey calf tail tips.

Body: Troutstalker Scruffy Dubbing ribbed with fine gold wire.

Wing post: Natural cream or light grey calf tail split into a V shape.

Thorax: Hare's Ear or Squirrel.

Hackle: Parachute style genetic cock hackle.

Specific colour suggestions:

March Brown / Brook Dun: Burnt orange body, dark cream badger hackle.

Olive Upright: Appleby Olive or Cinnamon body, Light or Medium Dun hackle.

LDO: Scruffy Buzzer body and Dark Dun Hackle.

Iron Blue: Highland Peat body and Dark Dun hackle.

Yellow May: Pale Yellow body, Tups Pink thorax and Light Dun or Pale Yellow hackle.

This is fairly generic pattern, which essentially just has to sit in the surface film. I think we have all probably tied this kind of fly in the same style over the years, so to attribute it to anyone in particular, isn't really possible.

Some people tie them with short bright wing posts to act as sighters as they can be difficult to see, but I prefer them without.

Essentially two colours are all you will ever need, with the orange one being the most used. Any sort of floating material can be used for the wings, I like Funky Fibre as it comes in a light Dun which just looks better on the water than white, it also floats really well, a lot like Aerowing.

I like to tie the orange fly with fluorescent orange thread and the cream one with rust coloured thread. I will often use a small orange CDC Spider in this role too.

Recipe:

Hook: Fulling Mill Ultimate Barbless dry 5050 size 14-20.

Tail: Coq De Leon light grey.

Body: Troutstalker Scruffy Dubbing in Burnt Orange, or a natural cream CDC feather wound as a rope.

Wings: Funky Fibre in light Dun, tied flat at 90 degrees to the hook on either side.

Thorax: Troutstalker Scruffy Dubbing in Burnt Orange.

The cream bodied version actually works well at other stages of the hatch during summer evenings and I think it makes a good BWO and Caenis Emerger.

I tend to find if one colour isn't working, then the other one will.

The mainstay of my terrestrials is Paul Proctor's APT pattern. I tie this in black for most black flies and add a pair of legs to it for a hawthorn. Tied in olive/brown it's a great Cow Dung, and small, in bright green, its an Aphid.

Easy to make and very effective. I like Paul's Hi Viz Beetle too, although a simple Peacock herl and foam one works just as well.

I find that a range of APTs and a couple of Beetles are all I need for when terrestrials appear, whether they are Smuts, Ants, Beetles, or anything else falling off leaves or being blown onto the water from farmland. Often, a Hawthorn will tempt that rising fish that ignores everything else.

APT recipe:

Hook: Fulling Mill 5050 Ultimate barbless dry 12-20, size 16 and 18 are the most used.

Body: Troutstalker Scruffy Dubbing in Highland Peat or Black Peacock Glister.

Hackle: Genetic Grizzle or Badger Cock, clipped at the underside.

Wing: White or light Dun Funky Fibre (or any floating yarn).

Thorax: same as body.

Specific suggestions:

Hawthorn: is tied on a 12 in the standard black, with a pair of black Pheasant Tail hopper legs on either side.

Cow Dung: is on a size 14 with a Boosted Natural dubbing mix and a Cree hackle.

Aphid: is Caddis Green dubbing and a Badger hackle on a size 20.

These are kept really simple, with most of my nymph fishing done with a Bead Head Pheasant Tail. In various sizes it is the best Upwing Nymph imitation available and is nice and simple to tie.

I prefer mine to be really dark and use Melanistic Pheasant a lot. My thinking is the fly is usually travelling quite fast in the water and the darker fly is more obvious to the fish when it has less time to think about it.

I have also found that by using a Coq De Leon tail instead of the pheasant fibres they last longer and you can fish one size larger a hook, as the Coq de Leon has a less dense profile than pheasant for the tail and so the effective silhouette is the same on the larger hook.

I tend to use black tungsten collars on my flies too, this allows me to get extra weight but keep the main bead smaller, and therefore the fly stays a better profile. It also adds to the darker thorax area, which the flies take on when they are getting ready to hatch.

My recipe:

Hook: Daiichi D900 10-16.

Tail: Coq de Leon in a dark colour.

Body: Melanistic Pheasant Tail, or dark natural cock pheasant tail, with a fine gold wire rib.

Thorax: Black Peacock Glister mixed with Highland Peat Scruffy Dubbing.

Collar: 2.4 (14) or 2.8mm (12) tungsten collar in black.

Head: 2.8 (14) or 3mm (12) silver or copper tungsten bead. In coloured water I will use white. You can go lighter or heavier depending on personal choice, but I rarely find a need to deviate from the 2.8 or 3mm size on a 14 or 12 hook.

A simple Hares Ear with a bead makes for a decent Caddis imitation, but I have found although it's a good grayling fly, the trout don't really go for it that readily.

I prefer the Czech style nymphs in cream and caddis green, often with double beads for my free swimming caddis larvae. Tied quite slim these patterns sink fast and bounce around well like the naturals.

I don't really have any specific Caddis nymphs and will just tie a couple that look the part and keep them in the box just in case.

Lots of options in this category depending on personal preferences. A basic black or brown Woolly Bugger with a gold or orange head is a simple option.

A gold or copper Humungus on a jig-hook is also quite popular. Martins Minnow is probably the most effective simple single hook pattern and although it can be quite heavy to cast, it is a lot of fun to fish fast.

My streamers tend to be more complex articulated ones, as they are fun to tie and fun to fish. Charlie Craven's Swim Coach is a particular favourite in olive or yellow. Kelly Galloup's Sex Dungeon is also a fun fly to fish with and quite effective in black and red. There are many options and all have different actions and are better in different circumstances.

For me, I only resort to streamer fishing when the water is high and sometimes coloured and there isn't much fly life around. Working a Swim Coach around the margins, or at the mouths of feeder streams can be very productive.

I'm reliably informed that it can be equally effective in the middle of a hatch, as the fish are on high alert and in feeding mode, but for me this seems like a waste of the best part of the day and I'd much rather present a dry to a rising fish.

Reading up on Kelly Galloup, or Charlie Craven, is quite fascinating in itself, as these guys have driven a whole movement in streamer fishing with innovative flies and techniques.

Here in the UK, MS Custom Flies and Stuart Smith have been at the forefront, both for trout and for other predatory fish. So if streamer fishing interests you, these guys are a great place to start some research.