Corixa

[thewaterbouys]

    Thanks Mike

                     There is just a wealth of information there,thats why i love this site ask the question and there is always someone there help. It is going to take a bit of time to learn but i like the challenge.

            Henry

       

[Traditionalist]

One can never learn everything, but it is fun learning as much as possible.  With regard to the woven flies, some do look very nice indeed, but as a rule they are inferior fish catchers to dubbed patterns and the like.  I think this is mainly because they lack translucence.

They do look very nice in the box!  Or to show to friends, but somehow the fish never seem very impressed.  i saw some oiled silk woven flies which looked good and were also apparently translucent, but I never actually made any. Maybe they would work better than  the "solid" woven stuff?

I really don?t want to discourage you, but after dressing quite a few of these flies, most especially some stone flies which I thought were really attractive, I was quite disappointed in the results fish-catching-wise.  Whether you do it or not really rather depends on what you want, do you want an effective fish-catching pattern, or do you want to learn the technique?

There may even be some really good fish catchers made by weaving, but I have not found any yet!

TL
MC

[Clan Ford]

Of all the fish I have caught and examined, there was hardly a one without at least a couple of such beetles in its stomach, and many had dozens of them! These creatures are very widespread, and are found in all waters.

I can honestly say that I have never come across a corixa in any trout I have caught from a river and very few from still waters (although I once did very well on Threipmuir with them).  Maybe they are not so common this far north - mind, I do see them in some of the back waters on the Earn.

Norm

[Traditionalist]

Hmmm...rather odd that, but I must admit that I have mainly fished in Europe for the last thirty or so years, so it is indeed possible that the insects are less common further North?

They are present in every single water here, even roadside ditches, and it is rare to catch a feeding trout which does not have at least a couple in its gut. 

They are also often responsible for "ghost" rises on still waters. For some reason the fish wait until they are at the surface gathering air, and then slash or boil at them like sedges ( as somebody else noted here), I don?t know why this is, but it happens quite often.

Indeed, this is now my first line of attack if I am seeing such rises and no sedges or other insects.

TL
MC

[thewaterbouys]

I have been tying up a few corixa patterns ,the last one  i tyed was getting hit hard on the top of water but no response on the retrieve. That was a floatting one,the same fly weighted no response tried all kind off retrieves no sucess. Tying was Black thread ,Black foam tyied in at tail, Flash bright silver butt end,a mix of number 9 slf and hares ear rest of body ,Goose biot either side of hook Black,Brown thin round rubber band for oars,foam pulled over,and a small black hackle.Works on top of water same fly weighted no responce.Must be getting took for some other form of beatle as the colour is all wrong.

           Henry :?

[thewaterbouys]

This is a picture of the fly i am trying to imitate.
It just says fish to me.
Henry

[.D.]

 :soapbox

This isn't exactly "need to know": approach with caution :| 

Corixa = Lesser Water boatman

Notonecta = Water boatman or Backswimmer

Not beetles, but aquatic bugs (of the order Hemiptera).

In running water they're restricted to the slowest stretches. Common enough in lochs though.

Cheers,

.D.

[Traditionalist]

QUOTE
This is a picture of the fly i am trying to imitate.
It just says fish to me.
Henry
UNQUOTE

Indeed, it looks good, but in this case, the action, ( behaviour), is a lot more important than how it looks to an angler!

QUOTE .D.  UNQUOTE   Perfectly correct, but similar enough that most patterns will actually work well for both.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notonecta_glauca

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corixidae

http://www.arkive.org/species/ARK/invertebrates_terrestrial_and_freshwater/Notonecta_glauca/

http://www.plantpress.com/wildlife/o118-corixapunctata.php

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/wildfacts/factfiles/428.shtml

Hmm.....it seems that the insects are maybe not found in the North, see distribution map UK

http://www.plantpress.com/wildlife/search.php?name=(search%20text)&pl=5&adv=1&ot=&r=0&g=0&p=1&o=153

Or is the map shown not a distribution map? Merely for England?  Other sources say "Common throughout Britain and Europe"

TL
MC

[.D.]

Hmm.....it seems that the insects are maybe not found in the North, see distribution map UK

http://www.plantpress.com/wildlife/search.php?name=(search%20text)&pl=5&adv=1&ot=&r=0&g=0&p=1&o=153

Or is the map shown not a distribution map? Merely for England?  Other sources say "Common throughout Britain and Europe"

TL
MC

Try these, Mike.


http://www.searchnbn.net/gridMap/gridMap.jsp?allDs=1&srchSpKey=NHMSYS0000527565

http://www.searchnbn.net/gridMap/gridMap.jsp?allDs=1&srchSpKey=NHMSYS0000527524

They're gappy, but give a reasonable impression.

Cheers,

.D.

[Traditionalist]

Thanks!  Quite a bit of conflicting info about this it seems! Both are very common here, and I have found both in rivers ( and trout!) very often.

The rig described, with a floater and weighted version, has worked very well indeed for me in lots of places.  The flies are also pretty simple to dress as well.

TL
MC