Sea Trout

This is probably the best river fly for Sea Trout fresh off the tide. Fished as a tail fly it has been taking fish since records began. It is generally accepted to imitate a small herring fry or other such sea prey & in its various variants it accounts for many fish each season.

For picky fish I sometime use a fly with a small "flying treble". Where allowed & during darkness, a couple of maggots where allowed can be added to the single hook, to increase attraction.

Secret Weapon ? As Falkus called them Nothing secret here, this type of fly has been in use for many a year.

This simple palmer probably "kills more Brown Trout & Sea Trout than any other. It is a particular favourite of mine & has saved many a blank day. Fished on "The Bob" & tripped through the waves as part of a 3 fly cast it's primary colours of red & brown in harmony, with our somewhat peaty coloured Highland Lochs. It is no slouch on rivers & on my local River Leven it is good for small early run fish.

A typical cast would be the Teal Blue & Silver on the tail & the Soldier as dropper. Fished square & across, allowed to swing round, be ever watch full for the "snatch" of a fresh run fish. On some days it pays to "work" the flies & by that I mean to flick the rod point up & down, so imparting some e movement. Takes here can be sometime violent so a softer action rod is somewhat desirable. Keep the rod high & let the fish take "Off the Reel". I use a Daiwa Osprey 10ft 6"coupled with a System2 7/8 & Air Cel. floater. The Daiwa, though carbon fibre is good for these somewhat soft mouthed fish fresh in of the tide.

Camasunary Killer	Waddington Shank

This North of Scotland pattern from the vice of Stephen Johnson author of Fishing from Afar, does great service on my home water the River Endrick. Was originally known as The Blue Fly & fished as a tail fly on a 2 fly cast, it accounts for many fish each year. The body in two parts is made up from D.F.M (Daylight Fluorescent Material) & with the addition of a black hair wing it is no slouch for Salmon too.	Waddington, shanks are more generally used for Atlantic Salmon patterns. Some, myself included much prefer them to tubes as I feel they "swim" more on an even keel than tubes do & if you lose the hook, you wont lose the fly as you would with the tube. Having said that a light tube say 1/2" is handy for low water conditions & with the aid of a Riffling Hitch can be made to skate along the top layers. Many use a brass bodied tube for Autumn Salmon but it is the Waddington I prefer. For Sea Trout, the above example is tied on a smaller shank with a size 12/14 Partridge treble. No particular name but with its red & blue hair, black, silver ribbed body it has taken fish in high, clear water.

DAPPING FLIES Shown left are 4 examples of typical Scottish dapping flies. These are used on our "big waters", for Salmon & Sea Trout. Rods are long, over 16ft. in many cases, This coupled with a centre pin reel & the unusual floss line or blow line as it is sometime known. As there is no casting as such, a drifting boat is employed, broadside to the wind & positioned to drift along likely holding spots, depending on the target species. Sea Trout generally like a bit of water above & below them,10 to 15ft,is a good average depth whereas Salmon will lie close in. The rod is held upright & the wind billows out the light floss. The fly being attached to a short tippet, of around 4ft & heavily "greased up", is allowed to bounce about the water surface or dapped, hence the term used for this peculiar fly craft, enticing any cruising fish to investigate. It is by far the most exciting way to "take" a fish. They can roll onto the fly or come at it, with a slash much like the rise to an adult sedge or moth at night. & to resist the temptation to "strike" to soon, is hard for some to master. One must wait till the fish has taken a proper hold & then "lift" into it.

Tip: It pays to pretreat you flies the day before using Permaflote. Not the "new" stuff as it is worse than useless but the older stuff from Chubbs of Edgeware. Watershed an American product is good to. Doing this saves time if you get slimed by a fish & a change of flies is by far quicker than trying to dry one out. That can be done during lunch break.

The Wet Daddy (Crane Fly)
This unusual wet version of the better known "dry" imitates the Crane Fly, or as it is better known The Daddy Longlegs or just Daddy for short. Here in Scotland it also goes by the name "Jenny Long Legs." The natural, more common in late summer is easily picked up from long grass & kept in a glass jar with a perforated lid. One or two can be "impaled" on a size 10 hook & dapped "Au Naturale" When blown onto our northern waters, trout whilst initially reluctant to feed on these ungainly fliers, once having done so will attack them with gay abandon & an imitation can do very well at this time. What I do is fish a dry on a top dropper with the wet version shown below beneath the surface. In a good wind the wet acts as an" anchor" & does not allow the dry to "blow" about too much. Trout will often slash at the dry Daddy but not take, come back around & take the wet version. This method can be employed in another fashion when drift fishing a loch. One trick on the loch I have learned is to have one on the Dap & another the Wet Fly. A trout or salmon having a go at the bushy dap, misses & the Dap is lifted up & out the way. The Wet Fly man, casts onto the ever disappearing whorl. The fish comes back for a second look & takes the Wet. Easy?, not really, but it does sometimes work. This is where having a "good" boat partner makes all the difference, probably more so than a "good women" to my mind. Well maybe not but certainly up there. Fly Fishing's like that I guess The Heckham Peckham, an unusually named fly, from the vise of Aberdeen fly tier William Murdoch. Originally designed for Sea Trout it is open to various variants & in its smaller sizes can be useful for Brown Trout. Try it with either a green or claret seal's fur body & I have even seen a gold bodied version which does great service so I am reliably informed. The wing in all cases remains the same, the blue wing feather, from the Mallard drake with the white tip showing. Among Murdoch's other patterns is the Mallard & Claret, whereby the much used Grouse wing is replaced by the longer Bronze Mallard, as the Grouse is a bit short in the web for the larger hook sizes.	Blue Zulu This fly, sometimes known as The Blue Devil is one of the better flies & indeed on a par with the T. B. & Silver, as one of best patterns to put before fresh run Sea Trout in tidal waters. Fished as a dropper with a T.B.S. they account for many fish each season. It is no slouch as a loch fly & in its dapping guise raises many fish each year. Shown here, in a size 8, heavily hackled version. The blue can be replaced by a black hen hackle & becomes The Zulu, a very popular Brown Trout fly. So popular it was years ago that is was in fact banned from competition fishing. Dressing Hook:- 12-8s Thread:-black Tail:- three strands of red floss, teased out & cut short & flush. Body:- black seals fur, ribbed, with fine silver oval. Hackle:- black palmered cock, with longer Kingfisher Blue hen in front. The Black Zulu shown below is tied on an old Limerick Bend hook. Why this style of hook bend has fell out of favour is beyond me. The unique shape is inherently strong & lends itself well especially to the larger wet fly patterns. This popular fly was once so deadly that is was in fact banned from competitive fly fishing. Not so today & as it should be. A very successful pattern & a welcome addition to any fly box. I prefer the thickly hackled palmer version shown below to the more normal shop bought spider types.