USD Flies *

[Traditionalist]

your USD hare is easier to tie than Bob Wyatt's pattern.

I agree. The fly is also far more aerodynamic and the whole "no negative trigger"   concept is  more logical  and easier to relate to than the esoteric  positive trigger counter argument. Yes, most fish will take just about anything but  for spooky, hard to catch fish not having a hook hanging from the flies arse must surely  be a plus.  Can't wait to try this out, a really innovative piece of fly design.

What is actually very interesting indeed, is that not only the hook is a negative trigger, but the hackle itself on many dry flies is a major negative trigger! 

How many flies have you seen with a hundred legs radiating from their heads! ?   

That hackled flies like this work at all is really quite amazing.  If one removes the hackle ( which other people have done very successfully with "No-Hackle duns "for extremely wary fish, see "Swisher and Richards et al), and the hook from the fishes view, then one has actually removed TWO major negative triggers!

TL
MC

[Wildfisher]

Mike, Well known angler Paul Proctor and his pals come up here and fish the Aberdeenshire Don each year with great  success.  A difficult river  most days holding monster wild trout that are no mugs. I believe they tend to use no hackle designs – comparadun in particular.

[Traditionalist]

Hi MC, Does the usd hare lie flat (upside downn off course) on the surface or like a klinkhammer in it?
cheers col

It lies more or less flat ON the surface usually. You can make it ride higher by using NO! underfur in the dubbing, and brushing some out as "legs"  it then sits on these legs.

Normally, the abdomen won?t sink at all, as it is supported by the tippet.  If you want an emerger pattern with a sunk abdomen, then you may be better served with one of these;



Although usually, you can fish all day with the USD pattern, ( the same fly as well! ) it works well at all stages of the hatch. It also works very very well as a "general searcher".

Once again, the lack of "negative triggers", seems to make it generally more attractive, and even fish feeding on other stuff will take it readily.

TL
MC

[Wildfisher]

If you want an emerger pattern with a sunk abdomen, then you may be better served with one of these;

Mike,

Is there anyway you could use the material you use for the detached bodies to "hybridise"  with the USD dun to  produce a sunk   abdomen style emerger pattern with no subsurface hook to act as a negative trigger ?  Or is that just too complex?

[Traditionalist]

Mike, Well known angler Paul Proctor and his pals come up here and fish the Aberdeenshire Don each year with great  success.  A difficult river  most days holding monster wild trout that are no mugs. I believe they tend to use no hackle designs – comparadun in particular.

Comparaduns are a very good fly.  Try them with hare fur!   They are even better!  Deer hair floats fairly well as long as it is dry, but it is coarse and heavy, and air resistant!  It also waterlogs quite quickly. This makes it less suitable for small flies generally, and it is difficult to handle and use.

In answer to another e-mail:  Of course you can use feather hackle fibres if you want to, but it is rather pointless.  They will soak up water, and also cause other completely undesirable problems!  Just try it, and you will see what I mean.

I have mainly used hare fur here, but there are a whole range of furs you can use if you want different coloured wings. For small flies grey squirrel is first class, and as it is mottled, is an excellent imitation as well. Of course you can also dye it any colour you like. Unlike many feathers, the fur and hair used in these flies takes marker very well, so you only need a ( grey) squirrel pelt, and a set of markers, and you can produce perfect wings of any colour you like;



What I have tried to show here, is the basic design, and I have used a very successful "generic" pattern to do it.  The Hare?s Ear is a very successful fly anyway. Adding the wings in the manner described, simply makes it a very great deal better! As it removes or disguises a number of negative triggers, and also solves some other problems. Of course this "negative trigger" business is merely a theory of mine, a working hypothesis which has proven itself to work. It is not absolute scientific fact, neither is anything else in this regard, but it is easy to understand without getting into esoteric discussions about fish perceptions or abilities, and when practically applied, it simply works! It is NOT!!!!!! anthropomorphising!!!  merely the judicious application of Occam?s razor.

For specific patterns, you can experiment and modify to your heart?s content. However, I would strongly advise against using any feathers at all. The best genetic hackle in existence is still vastly inferior to the worst hare fur, ( or many other furs) you can find! So it is absolutely pointless to use it on these flies.

The fact that these flies are cheap and easy to produce does not make them inferior. Also, I don?t use the fur because it is cheaper!  I joked around about that a bit.  In point of fact, I have several hundred of the finest genetic hackle capes and saddles available, not to mention a conservative estimate of about twenty thousand pounds worth of assorted materials and ancillary equipment, merely for fly dressing, and exclusive of my fishing gear.

Price was never really an issue for me. If I wanted something I simply bought it!  If I had discovered how to make these USD fur flies, ( and a lot of other things) many years ago, then I can assure you I would have bought a very great deal less!  I have a lot of stuff I hardly use any more. For me, fishing and fly-dressing are not just "hobbies" they are a passion which I have followed all my life. I don?t expect others to go to such extremes.

Also, with regard to the time one spends on these things. It is not at all unusual for me to spend 12 or 14 hours a day fly-dressing. Since I retired, often for a week at a time. When I go fishing for a "day" I am out from before dawn, until after dusk, and often through the night as well! When I am not fishing or dressing, I think about it a lot, read a lot, and discuss it a lot, so it is hardly surprising that I have learned a great deal about it. Most people can simply not even afford the time involved, even were they so inclined.

Here is a picture of my fly-dressing storage room, and I have more stuff elsewhere.  I don?t want for materials, I have more than many  suppliers!



My bench after a one day dressing session;


Juts a couple of my vices etc Some commercial, some built by myself.



I also dress in front of my computer and in other places. I am typing this in between dressing various flies! In point of fact I dress and design more flies than many professionals!  I just don?t publicise them, or sell them. What is actually more germane is I design them specifically to catch fish, and not to sell them! Professional dressers, and indeed many others involved, are not at all interested in showing people how to do things easily, quickly, and cheaply. It damages their sales!

If you will allow me to lapse into my native vernacular for a moment, "I want for nowt I?ve got".  I build rods, make reels, vices, tools, I collect and prepare roadkill and skins from hunters, I dye fur and feathers, and a host of other stuff. I give ( FREE!) casting and fishing lessons to several hundred pupils per year, and I also even go fishing occasionally! I would not say money is no object, but I spend more on these things, especially time, than very many other anglers.

I use these Hare fur flies because they are SUPERIOR to the others. Price is not a factor for me here.  Although it may well be for others. Somebody just starting to dress flies ( FOR FISHING!) will be grateful to learn that he can do so using cheap and easily obtainable materials, and still have very very good flies.

As I already wrote a number of times, it is no skin off my nose what anybody uses. They may use elephant?s testicle hair, fluff from a camel?s hump, or haggis mould, if they want to. I am merely attempting to point out that there are better materials, and easier ways of doing things. I am not FORCING anybody to do anything at all.

I can well imagine that you are miffed if you have just paid 150 pounds for genetic capes, and have now discovered that you can dress better flies with a lump of old fur coat, but that is hardly my fault!  ( This is true incidentally! Witness the following photo!);



I have already dressed hundreds of flies from this old hare fur coat, as have some of my friends. I bought it at a flea-market for a pound.

Nor am I criticising other people?s work in any manner at all. I did not mention Bob Wyatt?s patterns, others did.

Also, I am not telling you your capes and saddles are useless, you can still use them if you want. If anybody is crying, at having spent a fortune on materials he now barely uses, it should be me! I know I come across to many as a terrible clever-shite. There is nothing to be done about that I fear. If you try what I say, ( of course there is no obligation), you will easily discover that I am not simply talking out of my arse........................

TL
MC

[Traditionalist]

If you want an emerger pattern with a sunk abdomen, then you may be better served with one of these;

Mike,

Is there anyway you could use the material you use for the detached bodies to "hybridise"  with the USD dun to  produce a sunk   abdomen style emerger pattern with no subsurface hook to act as a negative trigger ?  Or is that just too complex?

I have actually done this, and also made up some "heads" from the same material, but it complicates matters, and I see no real advantages. Also it is quite difficult to sink the stuff! Brings in too many complicated variables I fear. I still mess on a lot with these things. But I have found no really significant improvements on the basic simple design. Just the fur "V" wings and a dubbed body.

I also dressed some USD hare flies with extended bodies, but I have not really tried these properly, so I can?t really comment. They look nice, but I don?t know whether they will work very well.I can post a few pictures if you like so that you and others may experiment.

TL
MC

[The General]

Hey - -   Whats wrong with Haggis mould?

Just took an hour nearly to tie one of those bugger things with a bit out of my wifes
sink plug chain.  Will have to try and master this split thread thingy.  I'm struggling
with splitting size 6/0, I don't know how you cope with size 14/0.
You have been a breath of fresh air Mike. Thank you.

PS   Salmon season starts tomorrow on the River Ness hee hee, will try the bugger thingy.

Davie

[Traditionalist]

Hi Mike , problems. Having tank tested a usd hare its floating not usd but rwu what am i doing wrong

Difficult to say, can you post a picture?

TL
MC

[Traditionalist]

Hey - -   Whats wrong with Haggis mould?

Just took an hour nearly to tie one of those bugger things with a bit out of my wifes
sink plug chain.  Will have to try and master this split thread thingy.  I'm struggling
with splitting size 6/0, I don't know how you cope with size 14/0.
You have been a breath of fresh air Mike. Thank you.

PS   Salmon season starts tomorrow on the River Ness hee hee, will try the bugger thingy.

Davie

Haggis mould may be the best material available actually!  I have never tried it! Or even seen it!  Although I did once find a very interesting looking growth in my bagpipes......................

Use a sharp needle, and lay the thread over your index finger. To hold the split open, put a piece of wool or similar in it.

My pleasure.

Tight lines for the Ness then!

TL
MC 

[Traditionalist]

These are the flies I dressed and photographed for these articles over the last couple of days. They were lying on my bench. Normally I would use watershed, (gink mats the fibres somewhat unless one false casts the flies after application ) but  I just ginked these lightly and chucked them in the bowl of water;






As you can see though, even with somewhat matted wings, they still float perfectly and correctly. They also do the same if I pick them up and drop them in again.  I know they work even better with watershed pre-treatment, but any floatant will work. The two flies on the left of the lower picture are the USD?s , the others are the extended body, and the sunk abdomen flies.

TL
MC