Chasing Fry Feeders in the Spring: Two Great Fry Patterns for Early Lough Fishing

With the new year celebrations a distant memory now it is  this time of year a lot of anglers start to turn there attention to the early cool days on the Loughs soon to come. I have found over the years that fishing Irish Loughs in February and early March can be difficult and frustrating at times. The fish can be very moody and quite, this not being helped with little or no fly life about if we experience a cold start to the spring.
Now I have experienced both sides of the boat during this time of the year, one being on the great Western Lakes freezing hoping for a pull of a trout and the other going out on the opening day on the Corrib and returning five or six nice lumps through out the day. Over the last number of seasons it has been the Midland lakes, especially Lough Owel that are my early haunts and they proved to be just as frustrating as any other lake in the spring. However, I do manage to have some good days during the early months and it normally involves horsing out sinking lines and stripping back fast fry patterns. Not only by doing this do I feel I have a good chance of aggravating a trout into taking my lure but it also keeps the blood flowing and helps to take your mind off the cold wet lines and cutting breezes.

Here are two Fry patterns that have produced some fish in the early months, I normally fish them on a Di 3-5 sinking lines or Di 3-5 Sweep line; with two flies on the cast and vary my depths and retrieves till I get some action.

Fly No. 1 The Grey Minky 

Hook: Dohiku W 12sl or 10sl
Thread: Piscarifly fine strong Kevlar silk
Tail: Pinch of red holographic dubbing
Body: Sliver UV holographic micro fritz
Wing: Grey minky rabbit strip with a strand of sliver holographic tinsel down each side
Beard: Pinch of red holographic dubbing

This is a very natural looking fry pattern that moves really well in the water and can take a couple of fussy and lazy fish when little else will work. It is a sleek minky when wet and it also can be tied in a black version by just replacing the grey strip with a black rabbit minky strip.

Fly No.2 The Humongous

Hook: Dohiku W 12sl or 10sl
Thread: Piscarifly fine strong Kevlar silk
Eyes: Bead chain sliver filled with Neon Yellow UV nail varnish
Tail: Black rabbit fur with sliver holographic tinsel strips down each side 
Body: Sliver UV holographic micro fritz
Hackle: Grizzle ribbed with clear mono
Beard: Pinch of red holographic dubbing

Now the Humongous lure can be tied in a countless number of forms and colours, and it is a great early season lure; with those chain beads they can fish well down in the water and pick up the low lying fish. For me this is one of my better combinations, it looks fantastic in the water and is a cracking point fly on a Di 3 or 5 sweep. I am not one hundred percent sure if filling the holes left from cutting the bead chain a real game change but they look dam good on a dark spring day in murky waters.
So when you are heading out on the water this spring and there is little fly life about and the dabblers just are not picking up the fish try something a little larger in these from and you could turn a cold bleak session into a day where you pick up a couple of fish.

I hope you have enjoyed reading this post and enjoy tying these flies; if you would like to stock up your boxes for this coming year make sure and contact me through Facebook or email. If you have any questions or queries please feel free to contact me. Also make sure and check out my website www.piscari-fly.com for all your tungsten beads, Dohiku barbless hooks, Tommi-fly products,the amazing Syndicate Fly Rods, Reels, leaders and much more. Thanks for reading.
Also check out my new YouTube channel for all my latest tying and hot tips. 

The Peter Ross Dabbler, Lake fishing In Ireland

My first memory of the Peter Ross would be from as a young angler buying them to swing down and across the fast pools of the Avonmore River in the Co Wicklow mountains hunting for wild brown trout, similarly so on the sea trout rivers all over the East Coast of Ireland through out my youth. They were, and still are a  very effective pattern and produced some great memories from an adventurous youth. 

Following on from there I have had several designs and patterns of this fly in my lough wet fly box for as far back as I can remember, and they remain to be one of my go too point fly patterns through out the entire season.

Here is one of the developments from those size 12's that were sold for less than a pound.

Using a size 10/12/14 kamasan B175 attach black tying thread and add a tail of golden Pheasant tippets. 

The rib is sliver wire and it is wound up over Mylar flat sliver and through the grizzle body hackle, only half way up the body or shank of the hook.

Making a dubbing brush and using red Gleamy dubbing  wind the brush up the second half of the body leaving enough room for the cloak. Brush out the dubbing so the red fibers will resemble a hackle of sorts.

Using light bronze mallard form a sparse cloak over the body of the fly and add in a folded bronze mallard wing on top. The wing should be slightly darker than the cloak.

To finish the fly take two snippets of holographic red tinsel and form to cheeks, whip finish and seal with your preferred varnish. Jungle Cock cheeks can be effective here also.

A good fly that will take its rightful place in you box and one that will make many visits to my leader right through out the season this year. I hope you get the same results as I have for many years. I hope you have enjoyed reading this post and can take something from it to enhance your angling. If you have any questions on the blog or any of the posts you can contact me here or on my details to the right. If you would like any of the flies on this blog tied or your own dressings do not hesitate to give me a shout and I will en-devour to accommodate your requests. Thanks for reading.

A versatile duck fly pattern

Here is a good dressing for this time of year on Irish loughs. Early April sees the development of the Duck fly hatches to their peak and trout are stuffing them selves on these little treats. The fish can be feeding on these flies as emergers, buzzers or adult flies getting this right can lead to regular hook ups during your day. The duck fly do tend to hatch in what is called a duck hole; where the weed and underwater conditions suit the hatching fly and once you find this location then you will be on the fish.

Hook: size 12-10 B175 Kamasan 

Thread: Black twist thread 

Rib: Flat mylar tinsel

Dubbing: Black blend dubbing

Legs: black daddy legs

Wing: CDC natural looped forward

Thorax: Orange spectra dubbing  

Shoulder Hackle: Black hen hackle

When you tie in the CDC by the tips then add in the orange thorax and loop forward the CDC over the thorax.

This fly is a very versatile pattern you can pull in on intermediate lines to pick up fish on the emergers or you can fish it dry to represent the adult duck fly. I have also caught a lot of fish on this fly during the Hawthorn hatches and during the Autumn months when hoppers and daddies are on the menu. This is a real fish catcher of a lough fly and I hope you have as much success on it as I have. 
I hope you enjoy reading this post and if you have any comments or questions on early season patterens just drop me a line below, also you can sign in and follow us. Thanks for reading.