a Bibio variant
In my previous post I mentioned that I would like to fish more palmered wet flies this coming season and that, was a perfect excuse, to get tying over the winter months and refresh the palmered wet flies section of the fly box. I thought I would start with one of my favourite patterns: the Bibio or more accurately a Bibio variant.
In my usual Bibio pattern I incorporate claret SLF dubbing in the dressing but in the Crested Bibio I used crimson SLF dubbing. The variant also differs from my usual Bibio pattern by incorporating a silver tinsel tag underneath a golden pheasant crest tail. The rest of the fly is the same: silver wire rib, black palmered hackle (cockerel or hen) and a black hen hackle at the front of the fly. I like how ambient light interacts with the tail, shining through the yellow fibres. The silver tag below the tail, along with the rib add a bit more sparkle to the fly.
I can imagine fishing this Bibio variant just under the surface during the early and later part of the season but equally, I can envisage it being a useful pattern to have on the cast at any time of the year. Similar to my take on the original Bibio, but with a bit more use of bright colour and flash, I am already looking forward to fishing this pattern next season for brown trout in the lochs.
Crested Bibio – Tag: silver tinsel Tail: golden pheasant crest Body: 1/3 black SLF, 1/3 crimson SLF, 1/3 black SLF Palmer Hackle: black hen Rib: round silver wire Hackle: black hen
SoftHackles 