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Dry Flies
Olives
and Midges
Iron Blues
Sedges
The Iron Blue
(Alainites muticus) has long been
known as a fly that trout are quite partial too –
therefore it is little surprise that many patterns have
evolved. These two examples of the many I could have
chosen come from the vices of Freddie Rice & Pat
Russell.
Rice’s Iron Blue Dun
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Hook: |
Size 16 Up Eyed Dry Fly Hook |
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(e.g. Kamasan
B440 Dry Fly Hook)
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Thread:
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Olive (e.g. Sheer 14/0 olive green)
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Body: |
Heron herl natural |
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(or dyed olive using
picric acid)
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Wing: |
Pair slips taken from |
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starling primary wing
feathers
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Hackle:
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Dark Olive Brown cock hackle
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Russell’s
Iron Blue Dun
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Hook: |
Size 16 Lightweight Down-Eyed Dry Fly Hook
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(e.g.
Drennan Wet Fly Sproat)
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Thread:
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Crimson (e.g. Uni-Thread 8/0 Wine)
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Tail:
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Dark Slate Blue (Iron blue dun) cock hackle fibres
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Tag: |
Neon Magenta Thread, Yarn or Floss
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(e.g. here
is Glo Brite Floss Shade 1)
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Body:
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Heron herl natural
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Hackle: |
Dark Slate Blue (Iron blue dun) |
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cock
hackle two short fibre hackles |
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palmered
from the thorax area to the head.
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Heron Blue
Another dry fly designed to imitate the iron blue dun
and one of only a trio of flies to have ‘Heron’ in their
name.
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Hook:
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Size 14 Dry Fly Hook (e.g. Kamasan B440)
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Thread:
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Ash Coloured (e.g. Uni-Thread 8/0 Grey)
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Tail:
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Iron blue dun cock hackle fibres
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Body:
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Thread underbody wrapped with Heron herl.
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Hackle:
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Iron blue dun cock hackle
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Super Grizzly
A fly from the vice of John Goddard. Notable for the
long tail design – not as long as the tails on Ron
Holloway flies but they do act as a very stable design.
The microfibbets (synthetic tails) I use are cut from
the bristles of a B&Q Ultrafine Finish paintbrush – a
fraction of the cost of commercial microfibbets and one
paint brush provides a lifetime supply plus you can
always make it look like you are off to do some painting
and get ‘brownie points’ with the wife!
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Hook:
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Size 12-16
Lightweight Down-Eyed Dry Fly Hook
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(e.g. Drennan Wet Fly
Sproat) |
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Thread:
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Purple
(e.g. Uni-Thread 8/0 Purple)
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Tail:
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A bunch of pale coloured ‘Microfibbetts’
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Body:
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Heron herl.
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Hackle:
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Matching grizzle and natural red cock.
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Autumn Dun
 This is the dressing of the Iron
blue dun (Alainites muticus), frequently seen
during the autumn. The pattern is taken from Frederick
Halford’s 1896 book ‘Floating
flies and how to dress them’
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Hook: |
16 -18 Up-eyed Dry Fly Hook |
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(e.g. Drennan
Dry Fly)
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Thread:
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Grey (e.g. Uni-Thread 8/0 Grey).
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Body:
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Heron herl.
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Wings:
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Pair slips taken from snipe primary wing
feathers.
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Hackle:
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Palest blue dun cock hackle.
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