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IMPORTANT
SITE UPDATE:
Visit the relaunched
Fish & Fly at fishandfly.com
Hi-Viz
flies
Our October 2004 contribution from Terry Lawton
If you have problems seeing dry flies because of failing eye-sight
or colour-blindness, you may be able to improve things with careful choice
of artificial flies or by incorporating highly-visible materials when
tying them. Fish & Fly tells you how.
Those of us who have good or still reasonable eyesight – or at least have no serious problems – tend to forget that there are fellow-anglers who have difficulty seeing their flies on the water. One vision problem that can cause trouble is being colour blind. This may mean that in particular light conditions certain patterns or colours of dry fly are more or less easy to see. How can anglers with vision problems reduce their significance? They could consider two approaches, the design of the flies that they use and the colour of them.
Dry fly design
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Flies with a wing post and |
There are times and circumstance when even those anglers with young eyes and the very best vision are going to have trouble seeing their fly. They may be fishing very small flies, the sun may be shining in their eyes, the light is fading fast or there are simply many, many naturals on the water. But for an angler with a vision problem, whenever possible, start by selecting very buoyant patterns such as Humpies, the Gray Wulff and Stimulators. There are other deer hair flies and flies that use a lot of synthetic materials that float well and repel water, or at least don’t absorb so much water as natural materials, so they float high and can be seen more easily. They also tend to float for longer.
Some of the flies may not be the best “hatch match” but with careful selection of the right size and colours, you should be able to find something that is an acceptable match. And if you are using a fly that you can actually see, you will be much better off than fishing with the “correct” pattern that you can’t see.
Colours
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Flies which incorporate foam |
The synthetic wing posts on flies such as the Klinkhåmar Special and parachute flies can be made from brightly-coloured synthetic yarn such as Antron. Antron and similar synthetics are available in a range of bright or fluorescent colours such as yellow, pink, orange and bright green. If you can see yellow, or even pink, better than other colours, then there is no good reason not to use that colour as the wing post. Particularly with parachute flies, the wing post is hidden from the trout’s view by the hackle.
Why not try tying a Stimulator with either a wing made from a mixture of elk hair and the colour of Antron that you can see best, or even a full Antron wing? You can mix some Antron into the wings of flies like the Gray Wulff as well, or any other hair-wing fly.
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The Chernobyl ant can be tied |
You can also use different colour foam for foam-bodied flies and a bright foam or Antron indicator on the back of the Chernobyl Ant for example. The standard Chernobyl Ant is tied with black foam on top, but why not try using a foam of a colour that you can see best? If you catch a fish on a pink Chernobyl Ant at least it can’t tell you that the fly was the wrong colour! (A fellow angler might be offended, but that’s a different story.) The closed-cell foam used to make the head of the Balloon Caddis benefits the fly in two ways: the foam helps the fly to float well and the bright-coloured foam is an obvious aid to visibility.
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Foam again makes |
We have given the accepted standard dressings for the following patterns, but do try experimenting with different colours, colour combinations and combinations of materials. A good source of highly-visible fly dressings, including indicator patterns, is The Orvis Fly-Tying Guide by Tom Rosenbauer. This book was published in 2001 in the USA by Lyons Press and in the UK in by Constable.
Suggested patterns
Klinkhåmar Special
Hook: Partridge GRS15ST, sizes 18 to 8
Thread: Uni-Thread 8/0 grey or tan for body; Spiderweb for parachute hackle
Body: Poly II dubbing, colour to choice
Wing: One to three strands of poly yarn, depending on hook size and water
to be fished, colour to choice
Thorax: Three strands of peacock herl
Hackle: Blue dun, dark dun, light dun or chestnut cock hackle
Chernobyl Ant
Hook: 4X long shank, sizes 6 to 12
Thread: Orange or black
Hackle: Undersize brown
Back: Black 2mm closed-cell foam
Belly: Tan 2mm closed-cell foam
Legs: Black rubber
Indicator: 2mm closed-cell foam, colour to choice
Balloon Caddis
Hook: Dry fly, sizes 14 and 16
Thread: Yellow
Body: Yellow-olive sybthetic dubbing
Wing: Deer hair, natural or dyed grey
Wingcase/head: Yellow or orange closed-cell foam
Parachute Adams
Hook: Extra-fine dry fly, sizes 14 to 20
Thread: Black 8/0
Tail: Brown and grizzle hackle fibres, mixed
Body: Muskrat fur or grey dubbing
Wing post: White calf tail, upright in a single clump
Hackle: Brown and grizzle, mixed, and tied parachute-style around base
of wing post
Gray Wulff
Hook: Dry fly, sizes 8 to 14
Thread: Black 6/0 or 8/0
Tail: Brown bucktail, stacked
Body: Grey dubbing
Wings: Brown bucktail or deer body hair, or white calf tail
Hackle: Blue dun
Humpy
Hook: Dry fly, sizes 10 to 16
Thread: 6/0/or 8/0 to match body colour
Tail: Light elk hair, stacked
Underbody: Tying thread, colour to choice from red, yellow, green or to
choice
Body: Light elk hair pulled over thread underbody
Wing: Formed from the tips of the body hair, pulled upright and divided
Hackle: Brown and grizzle, mixed
Stimulator
Hook: 3X long shank, sizes 6 to 16
Thread: Orange 6/0 or 8/0
Tail: Natural tan elk hair, stacked
Ribbing: Undersize grizzle hackle, palmered
Abdomen: Yellow fur or synthetic dubbing
Wing: Natural tan elk hair
Thorax: Yellow or orange fur or synthetic dubbing
Hackle: Grizzle, palmered over thorax
Terry Lawton is a passionate nymph fisherman who caught his biggest wild brown trout (in the UK) - 4lb 2oz - on a home-tied variant of a goldhead, Sawyer-style pheasant tail nymph.