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Post by Sewinman on May 12, 2006 5:38:37 GMT -5
I *think* I know what a may flay looks like but looking on the net, mainly US sites, the term seems to be used for lots of different flies.
Does anyone have a picture of a UK may fly?
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Post by ben wynde on May 12, 2006 5:43:51 GMT -5
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Post by stylie on May 12, 2006 5:48:43 GMT -5
I *think* I know what a may flay looks like but looking on the net, mainly US sites, the term seems to be used for lots of different flies. Does anyone have a picture of a UK may fly? I'll get back on the 27th and should have a few pics
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Post by Sewinman on May 12, 2006 5:54:41 GMT -5
Thanks guys. What pattern would one use when there is a hatch of these brutes?
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Post by FlyBri on May 12, 2006 6:04:58 GMT -5
On the whitewater last year during the mayfly they'd take pretty much anything big which had upturned wings. I played around and couldn't seem to find a mayfly imitation which they'd turn down. Towards the end of the hatch as they got more fussy I found humpys and royal wulfs quite handy.
Bri
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Post by stylie on May 12, 2006 6:09:58 GMT -5
Thanks guys. What pattern would one use when there is a hatch of these brutes? Brutes ?? Apologise this instant !! LOL With out them we wouldnt have the duffers forthnight Dry In a wave i use a size ten or twelve yellow/green/olive wulff On days where presentation is paramount, a yellow/green/olive fanwing or detached body Wet Any of the tradional Irish patterns, very bushy size tens Goslings,French Partridges/Octupus etc... color is important again yellow/green/olive Spent Andersons gnat is pretty good,,,but any dry size ten gray in color and wings perpendicular to the body,,the body should be black and white Nymph <??> Walkers mayfly, but i never had any success on the nymph,,so have no reference to go on
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Post by dryflyaddict on May 12, 2006 6:10:53 GMT -5
If you buy a copy of trout & salmon this month there is a nice free matching the hatch guide in it, the section on may fly is actually quite good. I think what pattern you use varies around the country but certainly on the Avon, Bourne, Wylye, Nadder I have always had fantastic sport fishing a Grey Wulff and a White Wulff. You tend to have to switch to the white later in the may fly period, duffers month as it is on the Avon You'll notice a marked difference in colouration of the flies and know when you should be changing over... I remember one day last year in late may wading a wide stretch of the Avon where I was covered, literally in big white mayfly, lovely lovely sight. just swarms over the river, thousands and thousands
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Post by Braveheart on May 12, 2006 6:23:33 GMT -5
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Post by Sewinman on May 12, 2006 6:43:52 GMT -5
Great stuff chaps. Can't wait to see one of the blighters
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Post by job67 on May 12, 2006 6:48:01 GMT -5
I would agree with dryflyaddict, so another vote for Grey and White Wulff.
I think we both fish S&DAC water though.
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Post by The Otter Startler on May 12, 2006 6:55:40 GMT -5
I use a natural coloured deer hair funnel dun, but it is scruffy, huge and slightly fragile - but the trout love it. The only problem is I have to carry the flies around in a special box as fly boxes are too small and flatten the hackle.
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Post by richardw on May 12, 2006 12:37:00 GMT -5
Thanks guys. What pattern would one use when there is a hatch of these brutes? flyforums.proboards53.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=flytying&thread=1085580497&page=1This is cut and paste from a 2004 thread. They work quite well for me: I would be very interested in the mayfly pattern you use, mine look brilliant to me but the trout are not convinced and their opinions are more important than mine, rgds Paul I use varieties of three mayflies. The changes I ring with them are based on size and some colour changes. When drake start hatching early in the mayfly season the trout seem to be scared of them at first, yet they will attack (literally) the flies in the build up to taking them with apparent confidence, so we have a chance. It is at this time I find a fly smaller than the natural can get a better rise. For these I use variants of the Grey Wulff (which to me is a variant of the Grey Duster anyway). I tie these on size 10 and 8 normal shanked hooks and 12, 10 and 8 long shanked hooks. The big sizes I'll explain lower down. Sometimes I use 6 reddish centre tail fibres from a cock pheasant for the tail instead of the natural grey squirel tail fibres but the squirrel tail fibred version is very good in the early stages of a hatch. Maybe the trout see the tail as a stuck shuck? The wing (NB singular, two wings are hopeless) is either natural squirrel tail or unbleached squirrel tail dyed yellow or "picric". This is a good pattern to see and if permafloated well is good to hop skip and jump about on the surface in little attempts at a fluttering take off. Yesterday my first fish came to this tactic and it was over 2lb. It will also present very gently and can be made to land as lightly as flies half its size, the big forward leaning wing acts as an excellent airbrake. White bodied mayflies have been around for many years and when the hatch is well under way and the fish seem to be eating drake with confidence a white bodied fly stands out in the crowd and gets "Darwin'd" (selected). On the Peacock water I have a hunch that after a few days of the festivities some of the fish have developed the ability to feed confidently but be incredibly quick at expelling a fly that must feel a bit wrong. So I devised a soft bodied fly using ethafoam strip about 3mm wide cut out of sheets of wrapping material that computer and audio visual goods often come wrapped in. One type has a sealed side that acts like a skin and makes the material much stronger in use. This became the EBM (Ethafoam Bodied Mayfly) This is easy and quick to tie: Hook: 6, 8, 10 LS Thread: Brown wide (Danvilles Monocord in my case) Tails: 6 Reddish fibres from a cock pheasant's centre tail feather Body: Ethafoam strip tied in at the tail, leaving the tying thread hanging at this point, the strip is wound up to the start of the body and back to the the thread in overlapping turns, this can be done twice if a fatter (even softer) body is required, tied in with three or four touching turns going back to the root of the tail. Rib: The tying thread wound forward one open ribbing turn and then several touching turns to make a dark brown band about 1mm wide and about 2mm away from the touching turns made at the root of the tail then open ribbing turns forwards to the front of the body. 3 Hackles comprising: 2 badger cock, optional 1 white hackle dyed (yellow, green, picric, crimson, scarlet I have used all but yellow is a good start) in place of one of the badger hackles, 1 partridge breast feather (this can be natural brown, natural grey, or dyed yellow or picric). I find it best to prepare all the hackles and lay them on top of each other and tie them in all at the same place with the partridge feather at the bottom of the pile so it is wound last and at the very front of the fly. A well varnished whip finish with the eye cleared whilst the varnish is wet (use one of the tweaked off hackle points as a pull-through) makes this a durable fly. The other fly is the PPSG (Poly Prop Spent Gnat) see the fly tying forum for details. SIZES In some years smaller trout get caught too much. Simple mindedly I thought big bait = big fish or rather big bait = no small fish. So I started making what I thought were oversized flies. I soon realised that they were in fact the right size and were only the same size as the real thing. So I made some even bigger. It worked. I used massive Wulf variants and massive EBMs. On the days when the real flies are everywhere these big flies are excellent. The little fish can't cope with them and the big fish do a Darwin on them. Beware though there are disadvantages: They drink floatant in copious volume. They need heavy leaders or you will cast them off after half an hour. The strike has to be timed very slowly and then must be quite hard. They are banned on some waters (check the rules for hook sizes before you start fishing). There is no panacea mayfly so I get round it by these simple flies that allow me a wide variety of colours, sizes, profiles and presentation. Have fun richard
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Post by Sewinbasher on May 12, 2006 12:52:05 GMT -5
I learnt a valuable lesson on Sheelin when I arrived with some (if I say so myself) superb close copy Copydex spents. Stuart McTeare crushed me by saying that they were no good - because they were too good.
How were the trout going to pick them out from tens of thousands of naturals? He advised me to use a large Grey Wulff as it was about right but stood out from the naturals - he was dead right as the fish seemed to pick it out.
The lesson - a light hatch use close copy - heavy hatch use something different.
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Post by ACW on May 12, 2006 15:41:21 GMT -5
Great stuff chaps. Can't wait to see one of the blighters Better book one of my Kennet days fast them ,will even give you a Water Walker Mayfly dun pattern to try . I remember seeing my first mayfly some where stillwaterish in Surrey some 30 years ago and thinking Sh1t man you gotta leave the Acid alone ,wow they are big even daddys are 1/2 the bulk . They really are some thing special ,Our US freinnds might compare the Hexagania
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Post by The Otter Startler on May 13, 2006 3:38:35 GMT -5
SIZES In some years smaller trout get caught too much. Simple mindedly I thought big bait = big fish or rather big bait = no small fish. So I started making what I thought were oversized flies. I soon realised that they were in fact the right size and were only the same size as the real thing. So I made some even bigger. It worked. I used massive Wulf variants and massive EBMs. On the days when the real flies are everywhere these big flies are excellent. The little fish can't cope with them and the big fish do a Darwin on them. Beware though there are disadvantages: They drink floatant in copious volume. They need heavy leaders or you will cast them off after half an hour. The strike has to be timed very slowly and then must be quite hard. They are banned on some waters (check the rules for hook sizes before you start fishing). There is no panacea mayfly so I get round it by these simple flies that allow me a wide variety of colours, sizes, profiles and presentation. Have fun richard I think this is an explanation as to why mine works, other than the added advantage of being an "upside down" fly so no hook penetrates the water. It has a bunch of deer hair for a tail tied just a bit down the hook bend and spayed slightly ( fish can’t count - use many more than three hairs! ), and a body of the deer hair that also goes makes the splayed funnel hackle. All that deer hair makes it very buoyant. They are around 2” long and the hackle is around 1.5" at the open end of the "funnel". Scary looking things but they work. They float hook up, and don't twist the hell out of my leader like some Mayfly patterns.
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