Journal

Hook: Standard Dry, straight shank. Size 14-18

Thread: Black.

Wings: Khaki CDC 2-3 feathers.

Abdomen: Peacock quill, natural.

Thorax: Hare’s ear dub.

Shuttlecock’s is a funny fly that seldom fail. This kind of fly also sends a signal og vulnerability to the fish as the fly is partially floating in the surface and say “I aint going nowhere!”. And trout know that this is a easy prey. The fly look mostly like an hatching midge but since trout are looking for positive things in a fly before they take it… They don’t mind it lacking tails and will take these also as a hatching mayfly. A great pattern that will work the whole season, recipe like here with peacock quill and haremask is super universal.

Hook: TMC 102Y size 17-19-21

Thread: Black

Wing: Tan Poly or TMC Aero Dry Wing in Tan.

Hackle: Khaki or wild mallard cdc spun in loop.

This fly is my favourite midge and its sitting nice and light on the surface. I make these in several colors but the one most used is in the recipe here. You can fish this as an imitation of an adult midge, gnat or a cluster of small midges. I have also been at really though hatches of mayflies that sat superlight on the surface (BWO’s), trout and grayling refused all our duns… Until a olive variant of this with wing at 45 degrees came down!  I use this pattern all season in both lakes and rivers.

Hook: TMC 112tr size 15-17.

Thread: Olive.

Tails: Grey antron fibers.

Abdomen: Goose/Turkey biot in olive. Glue under.

Wings: 2 Lt. Brown cdc feathers.

Thorax: Brown olive superfine.

Legs: Nat. partridge fibers 4-5 ea side.

This is one of my variants of Renè Harrop’s Biot Dun Emerger. I tie this fly with tails of antron like here or cock de leon. And I vary the color on the body and also the wing, I do this both to see the fly better under different fishing conditions and also to tone up or down the appearance of the wing. With a light wing like here the rest of the fly will have a better contrast/be more prominent. This style I use when I see trout taking mostly emergers. A brown wing is used when I see they take duns. With the dark wing I use the cock de leon tails to mimic the duns tails. I use this in a standard BWO/Olive color and a pale olive. Sizes 16-20 is my most used. Wing tilting backwards makes a different profile than most duns we tie and look very much like the natural that just hatched. We have found this style to be more effective under several types of hatches of mayflies.

Hook: TMC 102Y size 19

Thread: Black

Wing: 3-4 small khaki cdc feathers.

Tails: Dark Pardo.

Abdomen: BQ 32 over black thread.

Thorax: Superfine dub in Trico color.

This is my favourite fly for the dun stage of the Claret duns (Leptophlebia Vespertina), however its also a good fly when iron blues or other dark mayflies are hatching on the river. If you fish the hatch of the clarets, don’t forget the nymps in size 16/18. Trout tend to switch for those quite fast when the hatches get serious. This fly: https://www.guidelineflyfish.com/no/dk-brown-flashback-ptn-16 handtwisted in front of a patrolling fish solve this situation most of the times they get really picky.

Hook: TMC 112TR size 19

Thread: Olive.

Wing: 3-4 small khaki cdc feathers.

Tails: Medium pardo.

Abdomen: Peacock quill in golden olive.

Thorax: Superfine dub in Brown/Olive color.

Seratella Ignita or BWO is a summer mayfly that hatch in good numbers and provide great dry fly action. The ignita seems to not like water much as they often sit with their abdomen raised up from the surface. This makes the fly look smaller than it is when trout see them from above. I have experienced good luck with making the fly with a normal size wing, normal size tails to balance well and short body to imitate this. This fly is also a great generic color/fly that will imitate several other species of small mayflies.

Hook: Dry Fly size 12/14, I use Ken Sawada DD1 size 12 most.

Thread: Uni 8/0 Rusty Brown.

Abdomen: 2mm foam cut to 3mm over black superfine dub.

Hackle: Brown.

Wing: Organza underwing and one nice khaki cdc feather as top wing.

Head: Black superfine dub. Use black marker pen on tying thread when finishing.

This one is a imitation of the queen of the common wood ant, Formica Rufa. These ants fly in spring and early summer and are not to be overlooked if you fish in rivers or lakes. Trout don’t need to see many of these before they will take your fly. And they also seems to remember them for quite some time. Ants in general is super search patterns and will quite often fool non selective trout. The fly floats well and is easy to see so you can use it in a rig with a dropper mayfly nymph or a buzzer. For me it’s a whole season fly, most used from April  to end June. Making it in a all-black version in size 14 is also good for late summer fishing (aug-sept) when the black ants that have their nests under ground are flying.