Black Gnat

The black Gnat ,What can be said about this small insect.
It can be the dread of every fly fishermen and fly dresser , it can be a tricky fly to imitate  and get right  for use when trout are feeding on them on those warm summer days when this insect can be prolific in there numbers over Rivers and lakes.
I think the name black gnat can cover a list of different small black flies hence all the different patterns and sizes that are tied.
I like to fish dry flies that sit nicely in the surface film I think it makes them more realistic to the trout  I have come up with a  dry pattern that has given me some joy  on my local rivers  during the day  it needs to be fished   in water that is  not moving to slow casting the fly into the channels and the small pockets can sometimes produce a nice fish .

Blue winged olive

The Blue winged olive is one of those patterns that has frustrated many a fisherman and fly tyer over the years.

It is one of those flies that  can be so hard to imitate  at the tying vice, and many a fly tier has tried to come up with a successful pattern that will work.

There are so many good patterns out there to imitate the Blue winged olive all of which that will work at some time or another .

But it is such a frustrating  fly to copy as one pattern might work on a given night and go back the next evening and the same pattern might not get looked at .

It is also a fly that if you are not in the right place at the right time you will miss the rise as it is so short 

So a little local knowledge is a good thing as the fly does not hatch on the entire length of the river only in certain areas and if you can get to know these stretches of the river some fantastic sport can be had .

The blue winged olives really come into there own during the summer months of June July and august. 

And there are hatches of this insect  right through to the end of the season.

I have come up with a pattern for the Blue winged olive Emerger that has been very useful for me during a hatch of blue winged olives, it really works well at the start of the rise when the emergers are floating down the trout tend to take this fly before the hatch really starts up and I have caught some really good trout with this pattern .

 The body colour varies on this fly and can be an olive shade or brown colour as the season goes on I have had more success with the brown shade, but this could vary from river to river .

Emerging sedge

I have been tying flies for many years and during my time as a fly tier I have come up with a few patterns that have given me some fantastic River and Lough fishing.
Some of these patterns are quite straight forward to tie and some have had  a bit more work in them .
I like to tie my river flies as near to realistic as I can and I think I have got this pattern  just right  it is one of my favourite patterns when the sedges come on .
I like experimenting with different styles and  materials there is so much material on the market at the moment that we are spoilt for choice.
One of the materials required for  the fly is flexi body  this is quite easy to use you just cut at an angle to create a tying in point, and wind up the hook shank in overlapping turns this gives a really nice segmented body , The flexi body material is  almost the  same as an elastic band only not as thick , it comes in a huge variety of different colours  and widths , You can create some nice realistic nymphs with it .

This is how the fly sits under the surface of the water the cdc loop wing holds it perfectly in the surface 

Hares ear

 The Gold ribbed hares ear is more than likely a pattern that has been used by most fly fishermen  at one time or another it is a pattern that I would imagine is known worldwide .
It definitely is a pattern that I always carry in my fly box I think that it was one of the first flies that I used when I started fly fishing and one that I have fond memories of as it has given me some good days when the conditions were right . The hares ear is a pattern that I have copied  and used frequently when fly fishing .
There are a lot of variations of this pattern These are two different versions of the hares ear  that I use. It is a pattern that I always carry in my fly box in a variety of different styles and sizes The wet , and the nymph.

Blue Quill

One of my favourite wet flies for my local river is the blue quill this pattern has worked well for me over the years  tied in both wet and dry versions .

it is a fly pattern that gave me a lot of good sport many years ago  on my local river Nore and is a fly that I always carry in the fly box it is one of those patterns that has worked for me when everything else has  failed , I have even caught sea trout on this pattern to my surprise  when I was fishing up in Dundalk  some time ago for brown trout .

Red Sedge

The Red sedge or Brown sedge are quite common on my local rivers and this is a pattern that I often use when  they are about  it floats very well and you can give it a  slight twitch with the tip of the rod to give it some movement when covering a fish  it floats very well and sits nicely on top of the water .

This is probably my favourite time of year when the sedges  come in to there own , there is nothing better in my mind than a moonlit night on a river or Lough when the sedges are hatching and the trout  go into there feeding mode and you can sometimes fish into the early hours .

There are so many different patterns to choose from But once you have the right shape and colour to match the natural insect you should be OK as I find the fish not to be that fussy when they are feeding on sedges as they really attack the fly.