Soft Hackle Water Boatman Pattern

[Mataura mayfly]

Ray...... have you been drinking?

[letumgo]

Jeff - Unfortunately not...

[Mataura mayfly]

Well - it is well after 5pm here.
Couple of NZ patterns are as follows.

Backswimmer (Narrower body than the water boatman and carries it's air bubble under it's abdomen, the boatman holds his under his wing.)
Hook: #10-14
Body: Dubbed rabbit fur
Wing case: Black Pukeko plumage (or substitute), tied at the base, pulled over and secured as a beetle, trimmed leaving two barbs which are pulled back and secured in that position by winding on the thread to finish the head, then cementing.

A variation of this pattern uses flat silver tinsel which glints, suggesting the insect's air bubble. To accentuate this, some like to put a twist in the tinsel.

Weddell's Water Boatman
Hook #12-14
Body: Olive green synthetic dubbing or grey Ostrich herl
Legs: Biots of a Mallard primary
Back (wing case): Dark grey or brown primary feather, hen pheasant, goose, pale turkey etc.

Marsh's Water Boatman
Hook: #16
Body: Green yellow polywing mix
Wing case: Green Kea (*good luck finding that one!) or substitute
Legs: Pheasant tai fibres

* The Kea is a NZ native high country parrot which could be shot at will back into the 1960's and is now heavily protected.

[William Anderson]

Paparex, I can appreciate that the pattern you showed is effective and in the sense that a minimal spider pattern can at times represent a natural better than a realistic pattern by offering a couple important triggers (action and color). Does a partridge and orange really approximate a caddis? I usually feel more confident when a pattern also considers profile, especially for such a portly bug, but I would not discount the spider as taking fish as you've described. I have no experience fishing this"hatch" so I wouldn't venture a guess. If you get a chance to do a little side by side fishing of the two patterns shown...I'd love to hear about that.

Wow, Jeff, that's a great little bug. Especially the black pukeko looks great. Nice post. (1:30pm, sober).

[CreationBear]

You know, I've not got a chance to try this yet, but I've got an experiment in mind for various hydrofuge-y patterns like diving caddis ties or now, in this case, MM's water boatman.

Equipment You Will Need:

1.) One (1) Tenkara rod and line

2.) A tungsten bead or two pegged on the tippet two feet above the fly

and

3.) The fly of your choice (e.g. a hydropsyche pattern) coated with Frog's Fanny or other paste desicant

No doubt the Tenkara purists would have a stroke, but I could imagine a fellow working this outfit like a "jig-n-pig" through likely riffles and plunge pools (depending on what insect you were trying to imitate. "Carolina kebari," perhaps?

[Kelly L.]

Jeff, that was a great Water Boatman pattern!

[paparex]

Thanks everyone for your input. I have a number of the Water Boatmen and Backswimmer patterns similar to Jeff's contributions. I have never attempted the soft hackle I was trying to locate. But, wanted to tie some up because they are elegant... Hopefully, they fish well even during a corixa "hatch." I did try a #14 hook with olive-yellow dubbing body, turkey feather shell back, flash trailing, a brown partridge feather wrapped at the 2/3 length to approximate legs and a olive-yellow dubbing head. Not too bad looking. I'm sure it will hunt. Thanks for the ideas