Dry Fly - Improved

This is a highly visible dry fly which originated in Devon. It was invented by Peter Deane and named by him after a hill, Culmstock Beacon, which overlooked one of those beautiful Devon rivers, the River Culm. It floats excellently and is representative of many of the lighter coloured Olives to be found on the river. Our version does away with the original split wings and replaces them with tufts of CDC whilst still retaining the general essence of the original pattern.

A pattern for almost all rivers, this pattern imitates the Baetis Olive which is quite widespread on running waters. In addition, it is a very good general use pattern, suitable for searching water which is showing no obvious sign of a hatch. Our version does away with the original split wings and replaces them with tufts of CDC whilst still retaining the general essence of the original pattern.

This is another imitation of a fly which is very widespread on our waters. It is quite distinctive, having three tails, unlike the other Olives which only have two. We have combined the head hackle with CDC which greatly aids the floating ability of the fly. CDC is also more natural to the Trout as it collapses in the fishes mouth once taken, making it easier for the angler to set the hook as they are less likely to eject it .

This is a modernised version of the classical Dry fly invented by Canon William Greenwell. It has more than stood the test of time, probably ranking in the top five of any cross-section of river Fishermen. It is representative of all of the Olive insects. We have replaced the original split wings and replaced them with tufts of CDC whilst still retaining the general essence of the original pattern.

This is a broad-spectrum dry fly which is suitable for all types of water. It is representative of many insect species without actually being imitative in a real sense of any. It is reasonably Moth like in some ways, midege like in others. Suffice to say this pattern has been around for some time and doean’t look like losing its popularity anytime soon.

A wonderful pattern often used by fishers to explore water which would be unknown to them, such is the allure of this pattern. Although a representation of the actual March Brown insect, now regarded as being a rare species on many of the rivers that it once frequented, it is a fair imitation of many other species of insect. Its dark outline and silhouette are easy to see and with the aid of the addition of CDC, a good high-riding pattern, especially for fast stretches of water.

A good pattern for early and late in the season. It is an imitative pattern of one of the most commonly found small Mayflies to be found on our wateways. Again, we have added some CDC instead of the traditional split wings, creating a thoroughly modern slant on an essentially traditional imitative pattern.

This imitates the freshly hatched sub-imago of many of the upwing Olives to be found on our rivers and lakes. We have taken the liberty of removing the fragile split-wings of the original and replaced them with subtle clusters of CDC, maintaining the overall shape of the original but with much more durability.

Yet another variation on the Dark Olive imitative series. This is a highly regarded pattern by many fishermen, probably due to its ability to fish as a general representation of many of our other river species. It is a wingless pattern and we have combined the hackles with CDC in order to provide better stability and floatability to the pattern.

This is a general representation of the lighter coloured Olives and the Pale Watery series of flies. It is a simple hackled pattern that, nonetheless, is very effective and the pattern remains very much in use today. We have combined the hackles with CDC plumes to aid floatability and presentation of the pattern.

Another fabulously representative pattern, covering the Iron Blue Dun and other Olives of the rivers. It is a sister of the Ginger quill, and is more favoured by certain anglers for fishing in the middle of the day. We have altered the original by removing the split wings and replacing them with plumes of CDC. This gives greater balance and allows the pattern to sit lower in the water, thus creating a more realistic immitation to the fish.

One of the very best imitative flies in the latter stages of a BWO hatch, particularly as the spinners start to return to the water surface to lay their eggs. The Trout often become completely occupied on this stage of the hatch, to the exclusion of all other stages that might be occurring at the same time. One of the classics not to be overlooked. We have added CDC to the hackles in order to provide better stability to the pattern and give it a better footprint on the water surface.

A pattern of great renown, the Tups is a superb Pale Watery Olive imitation, highly regarded and still well used by many fishermen. The original contained a veritable mix of wool from the scrotum area of a young Ram (!), Lemon Spaniel hair, Cream Seals Fur and later, some Crimson Seals Fur which many fishers acclaimed as improving the pattern. Many people think that a flat Pink colour is what is required, but this is not so. The original colour is difficult to recreate commercially due to material limitations (Obviously). This version is a slight variant, using subtle synthetic fly dubbings to recreate the original colours and some CDC in the hackle to improve presentation and floatability.

This is most definitely what was known as a "Fancy Fly", commonly known today as an attractor pattern. There is a link with emerging sedges, but this is probably due to its visibilty in the late evening, due to its Gold body, and its representative silhouette. We have replaced the original plit wings with tufts of CDC to create a more modern version of this long standing pattern.