Heron Bloa

[flyfishwithme]

Thought I might share this pattern with you,. Not a great photo though.

I fish the Wharfe a lot. For example, the season opened on my home water on the 28th March and I have been out 5 times since then. The Large Dark Olives are hatching and some days it can last for 4 hours and the fish are really on them at the moment. I have had quite a lot of fish and all caught on this pattern:



Hook: The one shown is a Tiemco 103bl, I have now swapped this to a Kamasan B525, Both in size 16 & 16
Thread: Pearsalls Purple (Modern) waxed.
Body: 2 strands of heron herl ribbed with very fine gold wire. Need to be able to see the thread between the turns of herl.
Hackle: Very pale blue dun hen hackle.

I have watched closely the emergence of many LDO's over the past week and this fly, when wet, is a very close resemblance in colour and translucency. I fish it up and down and it is at its most deadly when cast up from a rising fish (a metere) and let swing in front of it.
The takes are solid.

This is the quality of fish so far this season:



Hope you enjoy.

[GlassJet]

Wow, what a superb fish!

I hooked one that size last year on a bit of the river that was two strides wide, in a small pool, and it took off like a steam train! Frightened the life out of me!

I'll have a go at that pattern - seen a few LDO's on the water the other day, but as yet no signs of the fish coming up for them. Can't be too long now though.

Andrew.

[tie2fish]

With no access to heron herl, I've tied this pattern using mallard flank fibers as a sub, and it still catches fish when olives are about.

[Ruard]

Hi Philip,

We have been to the Wharfe last juin but have never seen such a beatiful fish.

Can you make a better photo so we can see the goldtinsel also??

Greeting

[flyfishwithme]

Hi Ruard,
I am not sure where you went on the Wharfe.
I am a member at Bolton Abbey and the fish are much smaller there. I am also a member of the Appletrewick Barden Burnsell AC and that fish came from those waters. The Wharfe under that club is lightly fished.
I will do a better photo for you this week. And on the Kamasan B525 straight eyed hook.

[Ruard]

Hi Ruard,
I am not sure where you went on the Wharfe.

One day we could fish on the Balton Abbey and there I caught 3 fish of about 35 cm.

We fished also much more upstream and could not get anything.

Greeting

[Otter]

Nice looking pattern Philip.

[letumgo]

Terrific fly. I love the look of the heron herl rib. Lovely effect.

The color on that fish is gorgeous!

[flyfishwithme]

Hi Ruard,
I am not sure where you went on the Wharfe.

One day we could fish on the Balton Abbey and there I caught 3 fish of about 35 cm.

We fished also much more upstream and could not get anything.

Greeting

Very interesting Ruard.
I am convinced that, unless you are targeting specific individual fish, upstream produces less fish. Now this is contrary to what Mike Connor may argue but fished properly, downstream can be deadly.

[Otter]

Philip,

Tied up one of these last night and put it under the tap - interesting result that bears no resemblance to the dry version - definitely one for consideration for the LDO's

Your sucess whilst fishing downstream " when fished correctly" - can u describe the method u use. I catch quite a number each season on downstream dry , but that is to specific fish that continue to rise after I have passed them out on my way upstream. I find in general that you will get one shot only then they go down - the only exception being when there is a lot of caddis activity and the skating dry at the end of the cast does not scare every fish in its vicinity. How do you avoid this, and are u fishing a single spider/wet or a team. Also what methods do you employ to overcome the usual hooking problems when fishing downstream.
Whilst the aruments in favour of upstream presentation are extremely convincing I am keen to consider your findings for one very simple reason - on the more productive stretches of my local river more often than not when we get a stiff breeze , it is generally downstream and to be able to use rather than fight the wind could make on occasion a less frustrating day out.