Soft Hackled March Brown

The month of March for most of Irish anglers sees our return to the natural fisheries of the countryside, the river and lakes will become our second home for the next nine months of spring and summer. But we are not the only creatures heading out on the waters for the first time after the winter; insects and flies make there timely return also, few in numbers but hatching fly's can be about. 
This can be a challenging time for the angler trying to lure the trout who are barely awake from the migration of the spawning months, but with some attractive and simple patterens and a positive approach it wont take long before you are landing the first fish of this year. 
Here is a nice wet fly that has caught some fish for me in the early months and is a trusted point fly when casting across the rivers in the spring.

Hook: Size 14 B175 Kamasan or 12 -10 for lake 
Thread: olive twist thread
Tail: Natural grey partridge 
Tag: Glo-brite no 5
Rib: Fine gold wire 
Dubbing: Hares ear mixed with a little UV ice dubbing brushed out well
Wing: Paired hen pheasant wing 
Hackle: Both natural CDC and natural grey partridge wound on together.


A very slight but effective variation of the original tying of this fly, the tag gives the trout something to aim at and the dual hackle gives the fly lovely movement in the water with a nice profile when wet. 
This dressing is also worth tying on larger sizes for the olive hatches on the lakes in later spring and trust me it wont let you down. Over the next few weeks ill be preparing my boxes with some good early season wets and nymphs so keep an eye here and ill show you what I have planned for the trout in March. 
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.