Golden olive mayfly

This is a pattern that was given to me to copy for lough Corrib I think It is a very nice looking mayfly pattern But I don't know the name  or if it has one if anyone has seen this pattern before or knows the name of it please let me know , it is definitely a pattern that I will hopefully get a chance to by step guide in next months edition of  Irish angler magazine.

Spent Gnat CDC loopwing

May flies are tied in an enormous number of styles from detached body’s to fan winged  patterns some Gnat patterns tied with just a wider Hackle with no wings all of  which  will work well on there day.
This fly  is a very simple tying but again very effective when mayflies  are on the water . It is a great floating fly and really looks the part when tied in the fashion which I like to tie the fly.

You can also dap this fly  because there is CDC in the wing and a hackle in front it floats very well and is very visible.
The fly is tied with the hackle done half moon that means that there is no hackle underneath ,  This allows the fly to sit in the surface just like the natural fly, and this gives the fly more buoyancy as you do not cut the hackle fibres underneath ,but stroke them upwards this way  you are using all of the hackle.
 I have come up with a couple of patterns that  have become very popular on both river and Lough , the mayfly have started a bit of a comeback on some of my local rivers over the last few  years and hopefully it will get better as it is a  fantastic time when the fish really  do come and attack the fly .

The Olive CDC loop wing is a fly that I tie an enormous amount of for Lough  Corrib, and   has become popular on Lough Derg  with people that I have tied it for and I had good reports over the last couple of years one person that I tied it for caught a six pound trout on Lough Corrib.
The Gnat style is a pattern that I have used on the rivers and is  a super fly that just looks like the real thing as it floats along the trout really attack it .
 I have had trout come clean out of the water when they take it . I like to rough up the body of the fly by plucking out the seals fur fibres with a dubbing needle.
I have Just put one very light  olive CDC feather through the middle of two white ones as it gives the wing a very nice tinge of olive .

Wet Mayfly

It is almost time for the mayfly again and this is a wet pattern which is a favourite of mine when the mayfly come on .
I like to experiment with different colours sometimes you get lucky and come up with a pattern that  gets a few takes and then there are times when nothing happens this is what keeps us at the fly tying vice trying to make that fly that will fool the trout.
This is a  variant of a good pattern  that  I have just added a little  bit extra to without going over the top and I try to keep the tying of the fly as near as possible to the original as I can.
The  pattern that  I have chosen is  the Corrib Grey this is  a very good pattern that has caught its share of fish over the years.
I like to add a touch of orange or red to a lot of the wet patterns that I tie  for both Lough and river, I think it sometimes gives that little bit extra to the fly.
That is all that I have done to this  pattern  just added an extra bit of colour to the fly without over doing it .
I also think that it is important to use good quality hackles in your fly patterns if you can obtain them  I think it will  give an added advantage,  and gives the fly that nice lifelike pulse  when it is being retrieved  through the water hopefully this pattern will get its share of trout this season .

Iron Blue Dun

The iron blue is a great early season fly with hatches of the insect  coming on in late march  through to may and into the summer months , the first two months are the best times to fish the dry fly .
On my local rivers there are normally some very good hatches of the insects towards the end of march  and into late may and beyond and some good fishing is possible .

It is probably one of the first good hatches of fly and it will be seen right into the summer months but the dry pattern will fish best in the early part of the season when trout  don’t tend to be as choosy .
The Iron blue is an insect that is fairly widespread across Ireland and well known to most fly fishermen

Olive Nymph

I really look forward to the start of the fishing season on my local rivers and doing a  bit of Nymph fishing .
Unless it is going to be very mild at the start of the fishing season and we get good hatches of olives but I haven’t seen this happen for quite a number of years.
This is definitely one of my favourite patterns for the start of the season.
I have had some fantastic sport with this nymph even in the coldest weather when only the foolhardy would venture  out with a fly rod .
not big heavy nymphs but something that is a bit more natural looking , I still like to weight the nymphs that I tie but only enough to get the fly through the surface as I don’t like the nymph to sink to fast
I  really enjoy this type of fishing as it can be done right through the season  especially on those days when nothing is happening and the fish are lying low.
I would definitely recommend this pattern

Dry Duck Fly

This is a dry fly pattern for the Duckfly that I came across  Quite some years ago and is probably the only duck fly pattern that I tie for the fly box as there is normally  more of a call for the Duckfly patterns to be tied  in the wet style.
This pattern can be  altered  quite simply to imitate the wet fly by making a couple of changes with the hackle by that I mean just put on a soft hen hackle for the wet pattern .
It pays to carry a few wet and dry patterns in your fly box as conditions can dictate which fly to use .
I cant even recall where I came across the tying for the fly  as it was quite a few years ago ,but it is a tried and tested fly pattern  that I have tied up for many Anglers with good success on the western Loughs

Wet duck fly

This is a tying for the wet Duck fly I will post a dry pattern soon .

Fishing the wet pattern is I think more popular amongst a lot of anglers   some good sport can be had  and this pattern has worked quite well over the years.