Fishing Flies. Smalley
Tips of 3–4 cock pheasant tail fibres.
Body: Mix of olive and golden-olive synthetic fur or seal’s fur, with a little twinkle (e.g. Laser Light and Lightbrite).
Rib: Fine copper wire.
Wing cases: Cock pheasant tail fibres.
Eyes: Burnt mono.
Invented by John Rumpf of South Australia, this should be fished in lake margins where real damsel fly nymphs abound.
Gene Kugach gave, in Fly Fisher’s Pattern Book (2000), George Cik’s excellent pattern. This is tied front to back: tie in the eyes first, then dub the thorax, then tie in the wool on top just behind the eye of the hook and take that back to the rear of the hook shank/thorax. There, whip finish leaving the remains of the wool sticking back. Trim to length to make the abdomen, and tease the tip to create a suggestion of the three tails.
DAMSEL NYMPH (GEORGE CIK)
Hook: Wet fly, size 8–10.
Thread: As body colour.
Extended abdomen/tail: Wool strands, olive, green or brown.
Thorax: Olive, green or brown dubbing.
Wing cases: Strand of olive, green or brown wool.
Eyes: Bead chain or burnt 25lb mono.
GREEN DAMSEL
Hook: Nymph, sizes 10–14.
Thread: Olive.
Tail: 3–4 tips dyed olive goose quill herls.
Abdomen: Olive goose herls.
Rib: Fine oval gold tinsel.
Thorax: Olive ostrich herl.
Wing cases: Goose quill slip, dyed olive.
This pattern is by Dave Collyer, author of Fly Dressing (1975).
Several Orders of aquatic insects have a life cycle consisting of complete metamorphosis in which, instead of a nymph, a larva hatches from the egg. The larva is the feeding and growing stage. In some species it may last only a few weeks (e.g. mosquitoes) whereas in others it lasts about a year (e.g. caddisflies). The larva usually looks nothing like the adult and in some species it looks more like a worm than an insect (e.g. the larval bloodworm that gives rise to the adult chironomid midge). When the larva reaches maximum size it enters a resting stage, the pupa, when its tissues are reorganised into the adult form. A special case, or cocoon, is sometimes constructed in which the pupa hides away from potential predators. Then, when the time is right for the adult to hatch, either the adult emerges from the cocoon and swims to the surface (e.g. reed smults), or the pupa swims to the surface and the adult emerges there (e.g. chironomid midges). In that very important group of trout foods, the caddisflies (or sedges), the pupal cocoon is enclosed in a caddis case, even in those species in which the larvae lack cases. The adult breaks free of its case and cocoon and swims to the surface enclosed in a skin-like sheath that was part of the pupal structure. To entomologists, this is known as a ‘pharate adult’ or ‘clothed adult’ and was brought to the attention of the fly-tying world by the American anglerentomologist Gary LaFontaine. Many fly-tyers and fly-fishers, however, still call this stage a ‘pupa’. This is not unreasonable, for the pharate adult is quite different in its shape and behaviour from the adult standing or flying above the water. Once at the surface, the adult caddisfly rapidly takes flight, leaving the sheath behind.
In some aquatic insects the fully grown larva crawls ashore to pupate in damp waterside sand or silt (e.g. aquatic beetles and alderflies). The trout never encounter the pupae nor the hatching adults of these species.
NOTE: Some writers have included larvae and pupae, and other subsurface aquatic invertebrates such as water boatmen (back swimmers) and freshwater shrimps (scuds), with nymphs. Scientifically this is incorrect. In years to come even the word ‘nymph’ may slowly vanish, for freshwater biologists now call nymphs, ‘larvae’, thus ceasing to differentiate between the incomplete and complete growing stages of metamorphosis life cycles.
CADDIS LARVAE
There are two categories of caddis larvae: those that are protected by a case made from sand, small pebbles, bits of twig or pieces of leaf, held together with silk – and those that do not have a case, though they acquire one just before pupation. Both categories are imitated with fishing flies.
CASED CADDIS
Because these live on the river- or lake-bed it is important to add weight to the dressing (rules permitting). This can be done by:
Lashing lead wire or foil strips to the top of the hook shank (this helps the finished fly fish ‘point up’ so that it avoids snagging).
Winding lead wire around the shank. More weight can be added with this method – but the hook point is more likely to snag bottom.
Fitting a tungsten bead (or goldhead or silverhead) to the hook behind the eye.
Fitting a piece of split shot to the hook just behind the eye. To do this, fix a split shot (BB is about right) onto a loop of 3lb leader material, and then bind the loop to the top of the hook shank, with the shot tight against the shank behind the eye. Paint the shot black to suggest the head of the caddis larva protruding from its case. Note too that, with the shot fixed in this way, the fly will tend to fish upside-down.
Cased caddis larvae have a very soft, dirty white, cream or palest olive body. It is well worth imitating this in all cased caddis flies by winding a thin layer of cream, or palest olive floss or wool over the shank (and any ballast). This will show through any gaps in the case and may act as a trigger to the trout. Several patterns have been called Peeking or Peeping Caddis because they have a smidgen of cream or pale yellow wool between the case and the head, suggesting that the larva is partially out and having a good look round! This feature ought to be included in all cased caddis imitations.
FUR-BODIED CASED CADDIS
Hook: Nymph or long shank, sizes 8–14.
Thread: Black.
Case: Coarse brown or sandy dubbing with plenty of guard hairs (e.g. hare’s ear or mask).
Rib: Fine silver wire.
Thorax: A tiny amount of cream dubbing or wool at front of case.
Legs: 2 turns of short-fibred black hen hackle.
Head: Black thread or black split shot.
Especially useful where the bottom is sand or silt. In Spain this is tied