The 80 Shilling Sedge

After discussing flies and fly tying the other day with a fellow forumite on a forum we both frequent I recalled a fly I tie and use on Hillend when the Big Sedge is on the water in June. The fly in question is my variation of a sedgehog. I tie it in sizes 14 and up to 10’s. The big versions really work a treat when the trout are up top taking sedges in a confident manner.
It’s really exciting when using this pattern at Hillend waiting and watching in anticipation of a big splashy rise. To be honest I usually miss more fish than I actually hook using this fly, but it’s very exhilarating when a fish shows interest in my fly. I have been told in the past from the more elderly gentlemen of Hillend who fish the loch that the trick when using a big dry fly for trout when the fish are on the sedge is to wait for a few seconds after the initial splash as they actually come back to take the fly when it’s submerged. In theory that sounds fine but when a trout rises to my fly I find it’s a natural reaction to keep retrieving. I always forget the advice I have been told in this situation. This year I will try to remember. I tie this fly in much the same style as a sedgehog but incorporate about five bunches of cdc instead of deer hair. The dubbing body can be any colour at all just what ever comes to hand when I’m tying it, although I mostly use an olive green possum. Then I tie an olive coloured cock hackle at the head. My fly has been officially christined. My good friend and fellow Hillend angler came up with the name one day when after a good day fishing on the Loch we retired to the comforts of the nearby Owl and Trout. I ordered up a couple of pints and sat in the corner. We soon started discussing the merits of this fly and that fly. I then decided I would show Alex my latest creation which I produced from my fly box. I just started telling him how great the fly was and how proud and upright it sat in the water. When he promptly grabbed it from me and plonked it into the top of my pint of 80-shilling ale. So impressed was he with its buoyancy as it sat in the head of my pint, he declared that from this day onward that my fly would be known as the 80 Shilling Sedge