Mallard & Blue

Of all the Mallard trout fly series that are available to the fly fisherman the claret version is the best known and most popular. 

I have to say it's one of my favourite patterns and I always have a few tucked away in my fly box.

One version that is not so well known and is recommended for the sea trout is the Mallard & Blue.

When I first heard of it I tied it up as thought it might look but after a look through my library I tied another interpretation (blue hackled version) of it as described in EJ Malones excellent book "Irish Trout & Salmon Flies." 

I'm certain this fly will do very well on the lochs of the Outer Hebrides  where I hope to get to again this year! 

The Telephone Fly

Many years ago it is reputed that one perfect day in June in the north west of Ireland a very enthusiastic auld fisherman had a wonderfully successful day on Lough Conn with a lough style fly pattern that he had recently tied in preparation for a day on this famous County Mayo Lough!

However after catching numerous troot all day with this very successful lough flee , later in the afternoon he lost this flee to a fiesty troot that broke him and made off with it.

In the evening the auld fella retired to the local pub/hotel and got incredibly drunk celebrating his success.
Late in the evening he phoned his mate to tell him about the outstanding fly pattern that caught him countless troot.
As you can imagine his drunken description of the fly to his mate that night got some what distorted and jumbled in the late night telephone conversation and insisted that his mate tie some up  for him and bring them over to him for the next day.

Next day his mate turned up with a dozen flees tied as described  in the drunken excitement of the late night call.
However the auld fella whilst recovering from a hangover the next morning and feeling  somewhat confused informed his mate that these flees  looked nothing  like the flee he was using and described.

His mate insisted these were tied exactly as described in the conversation on the telephone the night before!

Regardless, the auld fella went out on the Lough that day armed with his mate's flees and had an even more successfu day with his friend's fly pattern than the day before.

And so  the Telephone Fly was born!

The pattern pictured here is my take on the Telephone Fly and in keeping with the brilliant story of its origins probably looks nothing like it's intended to be. 

I just hope it catches me as many troot. Maybe in the future when I tell my mates about it we might come to learn of the Whatssapp Flee or the text flee.

The Gallows Pole

As  many of you may know who read my blog frequently I have a great enthusiasm for collecting

Flytying and flyfishing books.

What you may not know is I also collect old fishing magazines much to the Irritation of my wife as I have umpteen big boxes of them stored under our stairs and various other cupboards. I dont think i'll ever part with them as they are a great source of inspiration and Information.

I was looking through some 20 or so year old trout & salmon magazines the other day and got interested in a fly pattern I'd never heard of before which was curiously named the Gallows Pole! 

Nothing really new or original about it but thought it looked interesting enough and worth tying up a couple for the forthcoming season.

Tummel Style

I've never cast a fly on the river  Tummel in the pursuit of trout.

However I have past this major tributary of the River Tay many times over the years on my journeys up north to other Highland fishing locations and have often stopped close by its bankside usually in the big layby outside Pitlochry to eat my fish & chips on the way home.

I've cast an envious eye over the fast flowing Tummel many a time from a fast moving car on the A9 between Balinluig and Pitlochry and often wondered where access can be gained to the numerous inviting looking locations along this majestic river.

As I have already mentioned I've never fished the Tummel and hope to get around to scratching that itch one day.

As a keen flyfisher and flytyer I have a great interest in the history of the art of flytying especially regional fly patterns such as those associated with the North of England as well the Clyde and Tweed.

However as far as I'm aware the history of the great regional fly patterns of the Tummel are not so well known as their Lowland cousins of the Clyde and Tweed but are very similar in many ways.

Although these styles are alike,  the Tummel style is quite distinct. 

The patterns of the Tummel are rather noticable in terms of their scantiness and length of body. They are aparently dressed and designed that way to sink the fly faster.

If you can imagine such a thing they are even more sparse than the famous Clyde Style flies.

I am aware that there is a very old book available by Ewen M Tod called Wet Fly Fishing  which covers the flies of the Tummel and is one which I must add to my library. 

My knowledge of Tummel style is limited and was only gained by reading an odd article from the usual fishing magazines.

Recently my Interest was highlighted by the acquisition of some old flytyers Guild booklets wherin mention was made of Tod's Tummel flies in a very interesting article by David Westwood.

I was keen to have a go at tying these exceptional understated river patterns and decided that Tod's number 1 would be as good a place to start as any! 

It appears Tod was not very imaginitive in naming his patterns!

I'm rather pleased with the result and will endeavour to tie others in the next few days and weeks and maybe just maybe in a few months time take a drive up the A9 and for once cast a fly on this Perthshire river!