The Peeping Caddis Nymph

Some years ago I traveled to the Welsh River Dee, to learn how to upstream nymph with Gwilym Hughes. Over the course of the weekend I learned many fly patterns and methods to catch fish, some have stuck with me ever sense. I returned home with a nymph tied on a size 12 jig hook and was told that it would catch fish in the dark waters that I normally fish. Armed this one of many new flies I approached a pool in my local river with the water slightly colored and deep, I flicked the nymphs into the water and held my arm out straight as I had been told to do and stay in contact with my nymphs. The nymphs sank to the bottom and hardly traveled more than a foot along the bed when the fly line that was on the water acting as the indicator snapped forward and I struck into a lovely wild golden brown trout. For the rest of that day I took fish after fish on that fly it was called The Peeping Caddis.

This nymph has remained as one of my favorite and most productive nymphs I have ever tied, I have fished it in rivers across the World and it has never let me down some days producing more fish than others. I have often been told by great fly-fisher men that simplicity is often the best when it comes to fly-tying and fly-fishing and this nymph is surely simply. It can be tied on several sizes to fish different depths of water I tie it as big as a size 6 and the smallest being 14 preferable on Hends jig hooks for the smaller ones. You also can vary the colour of the tail and mix some different colours into the dubbing to match the bed of your river, including some different colour dubbing behind the beads. This nymph is also tied with a lead under body; with this and the tungsten head it will search those deep pools and pockets where some of the better fish tend to hang out.

The peeping caddis can be fished either as an anchor nymph in fast heavy waters or I get great success in flooded conditions, also on its own on the smaller sizes in good fast water, either conditions of the river this nymph is undoubtedly one of those trusted flies that in your box and will always return good sport fishing in all conditions.

Quill Bodied CDC Dries

Another season has just gone for the trout fishing on the rivers and looking back at a busy 2012 I have to say I had some great sport on the various rivers I fished through out Ireland and Europe, unforgettably the heavy rains that fell from May on-wards did slow down the productive fishing that was had in March and April. Some of the tributaries to the River Nore fished outstanding at this early part of the season and the quality of the trout that theses small rivers were producing was almost unbelievable at times. So soon enough ill begin to ponder over last seasons successful fly patterns and remove or develop the ones that did not lure the fish. Above is one of the flies that will remain in my fly box for another swim next year. Its a quill bodied CDC dry fly and is an excellent trout catcher; on a size 16 Hends 404 Dry fly hook, Coq De Leon Tail, stripped peacock quill body and natural CDC wing with a spun light brown CDC hackle to finish it off. A simple and very effective fly that worked right from the start of the season for those early olives.

Some more flies that will hold there slots in the fly box: is this fly also tied on the Hends 404 hooks with the same body and tail of the above fly, it has a white CDC wing and darker brown CDC feather hackled on instead of being spun. The fly below is a great fly for fishing the faster waters of the river, its under wing of deer hair with the natural CDC top wing give it great floating ability. The body is natural Peacock stripped and it has a lime green Hends Body Quill tag for to help get the attention of the waiting fish in the stream. 

The fly below is for those late spring and early summer evenings when the rise is developing, it is tied on a size 18 and is very slender in build. The body is primrose under thread with olive Hends body quill wrapped over leaving a tag of primrose thread exposed. The wing is one small CDC natural feather with a turn of thread behind the wing to keep it standing up from the body slightly. 

These patterns are well wort having in your box for the start of next season. Tying with the two main components of quill bodies and CDC is very simple and very productive, you should not be afraid to experiment with these materials in different ways and discover there ability to catch fish. Over the next few months ill be posting some of the nymphs, streamers, and wet flies that I will be stocking my 2013 boxes with so check in and see whats in store for the trout. 

Last Days on the Nore, Kilkenny

This year the Nore proved to be a challenging venue due to the heavy rain fall and its large catchment area. Even though I did get some good fishing on the nymphs earlier on in the season, April and May was very good fishing producing some cracking brown trout and a nice Salmon on the streamers and my five weight fly rod. The Nore is a vast river and there is many places to fish for trout, the salmon anglers do tend to hold preference on some beats but the majority of the river is open to all anglers and permits are easily obtained for a range of prices; one of my favorite marks would be Durrow in Co Laois and day tickets are available in the local news agents for 20 euro per day or a yearly one for 40 euro.

The river was a bit high on Friday and the water temperatures have dropped slightly, knowing that the streamers would be the best method to extract some fish but in my hast to get to the river I left my five weight streamer line at home. So I tackled up the three weight nymphing rod, I began in a nice flow of water and it took a few changes to find the right nymph and more importantly the right weight of nymph. Once I got the weight right I hit a few sporting fish and foul hook a good fish that took some playing before i could get him to the net. I fished on and picked up some fish in the calmer margins of the run, on a large peeping caddis and a pheasant tail with a bright green thorax. The fish seemed to be lying in out of the heavy currents and this proved to be the case for the rest of the day.

I moved up through the river and fished several nice runs picking up a few fish here and there, nothing to exciting but a productive enough day was had, the majority of the fish all came to the fore mention flies and a light Hares ears jig hook nymph that is a great fly in dark waters and is a real go to fly when the fishing is tough.
This particular stretch on the river is generally fished by Salmon anglers and the evidence of a lot of fishing could be seen on the banks of the river perhaps this has taking its toll on the trout stocks. However this water is usually stuffed with big trout and is a pleasure to fish,  when the river is fishing well it is right up there with the likes of the Suir and its other sister rivers, also the beats are only a short drive from the house and town center. The local club is very active and keep the banks well trimmed and fishing without permits will result in fines. 
The flies were both on Hends jig hooks and had a 3.2mm sliver tungsten beads, which i found more productive than gold beads this season. A few turns of lead in the under-body, and for the pheasant tail I used  Hends spectra dubbing on the thorax and burnt orange wire for the rib. The hares ear is just made of two different colors of the dubbing brushed out through a sliver rib and partridge tail. I recommend that any angler passing by the Marble City next year should stop off and sample some of its fine fishing.