something borrowed, something blue
As my season on the river progresses, my knowledge of river fishing continues to increase with each and every session. While I expect to never tire of fishing for the wonderful wild brown trout it contains, I decided to set another challenge for myself; daytime sea trout!
It may very well be doomed to failure but I am willing to give it a go. Night time sea trout fishing isn’t an option for me and I am assured that it is possible to catch sea trout during the day on the river, although no doubt, night time may be the better option. Research suggests they will likely be in areas of heavy cover and I hope to conduct my sea trout sorties during dull, overcast, windy days in the last few months of the season. My ticket allows me to fish for salmon, sea trout and brown trout. I have the tackle to hand so why not; the worst that could happen would be spending a fishless day on the river, which is still a better day than spending a great day at work.
There was one piece of essential kit I didn’t have however (or so I thought anyway) and that was sea trout flies. A bit of research however showed that I could use some of my existing loch trout flies. But here is the thing; I wanted something different in my fly box, a different kind of fly!
The first fly pattern I thought of tying was of course, the Teal Blue and Silver. It just had to be done! Later, when doing my initial research on sea trout flies the one thing that seemed to stand out was the prevalence of the colour blue in the dressings. That seemed a fitting place to start. The Teal Blue and Silver seems to have been first tied no earlier than the 1856 as synthetic dyes (for the hackle) weren’t around prior to this date. I couldn’t find when it was first tied, but since its invention it has proved itself a worthy salmon and sea trout fly pattern. I was a bit nervous about tying a winged pattern after years of not having done so, but I was pleasantly surprised by the outcome of my tentative efforts. I didn’t have any blue hen hackle so instead I used a turn or two of teal blue grizzle hen.
The next fly I thought I could tie was that other well known seat trout fly, the Medicine Fly, created by Hugh Falkus. Again this was another winged sea trout wet fly to tie, this time using bronze mallard; of which I didn’t have any in my materials drawer! Not to worry, I had some mottled brown hen which I thought would make a passable fly, especially as I was just getting started. As with the Teal Blue and Silver, I used teal blue grizzle hen for the hackle.
What are the next steps then in adding some more sea trout wet fly patterns to the box? Well, I said I wanted something different in the box and I understand that a Stoats Tail and Silver Stoat may stand me in good stead. I began thinking too, of other hairwing salmon patterns that I could maybe take inspiration from and tie on small single hooks for daytime sea trout. To that end, I have ordered some grey squirrel tails, dyed and natural, to tie some hairwing flies with. I have to say that I am really looking forward to tying these flies and seeing what comes off the vice. Until the next post, tight lines and happy fly tying everyone!
SoftHackles 