Soft hackle wet flies are some of the most versatile flies on the planet. This is my take on the classic Blue Dun. The combination of the bluish grey mole fur and the yellow tying thread gives an olive hue to this fly when wet. The soft hen hackle ads to the illusion of life. […]
This classic wet fly is very popular among stillwater anglers on the British Isles. It is a great imitation of the black midges hatching from spring to early summer. I’ve used it with great success for that same task here in Scandinavia, and consider it to be a very effective fly for brown trout and […]
Fly tying SBS and underwater footage of the Red Tag, one of the most popular flies in the world – and highly valued by trout and grayling fishermen everywhere. The striking combination of the red wool tail and the sparkly peacock herls subdued slightly by the soft brown hackle makes for a very beautiful and […]
I never get tired of tying and swinging soft hackle flies, and the Peacock Flymph is as simple as it gets. A pinch of dubbing and a soft webby hackle is all you need. The dubbing can be substituted with real peacock herl, which is beautiful… but slightly more fragile.
Just a super simple softhackled emerger/flymph style wet fly, that has been a steady producer for me while trout and grayling fishing in Scandinavia. Equally at home in rivers and lakes. Originally I used olive dyed partridge hackle for this fly – now I most often use feathers from the super versatile Whiting Coq De […]
The first fly i ever caught a trout on. I guess I was eight or nine years old, and I didn’t even have a fly rod back then. Just a Black Zulu, 10 feet of mono line and my bare hands. By now this fly has followed me through nearly five decades ;0) The combination […]
Red wine most often gives me a headache – so when it comes to drinking… I’m more of a beer kind of guy. But I love the colour of claret. Guess it goes all the way back to some of the first flies I tied and caught trout on. Back then the Mallard and Claret […]
Some of the most famous historic Danish flies are the Krogsgaard Series. This series of flies was designed by Hardy Bros. England – but the British designs were based on a large survey of the insects that were common in streams hosting trout and grayling. Olaf Krogsgaard and J. Kr. Findal did this work in […]
Cool looking and super simple wet fly. Besides… this is a variation of one of the oldest flies known, the Red Palmer – which is mentioned by Izaak Walton (1653) and maybe even Dame Juliana Berners (1496). Anyway… trout still love it! Soldier Palmer Hook: Wetfly # 6 – 14 Tread: Black or red Tail: […]
Classic wet fly invented by British stillwater fly fishing pioner, Tom C. Ivens. This pattern dates back to the early 1950’s. The body of this one should be short and fat, and the hackle spider style length – about 2 x the hook gap. Imitates water snails, midges and different kinds of water beetles. This […]
