What have you tied today?

[Wildfisher]

Same thing only darker. Years ago I was fishing on Loch Sletil during a green drake hatch and caught more and better fish on this fly (which I was first given by Bob Wyatt) than another guy who was using a "proper" mayfly with the gay fan partridge wings and the correct colouration. 

The body of this fly is a 50/50 blend of claret and black seal fur and the wing is dark roe deer. I don't bother with a rib, just dub the body then spiral the thread down and back up again to reinforce it as Bob suggests. No head cement either. Takes a minute to tie.

Why would this fly work better than a complex, hard to tie, highly styled imitation?

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[Lochan_load]

Less to put them off maybe? If it's all bells and whistles the fish might be more suspicious, but who knows, I've got some natural whit deer hair sometimes put a few strands of that on to help sighting it

[Lochan_load]

I fish ones like this quite a lot, can use them like a wet fly or touch of gink in the wing and twitch it semi dry. In this size knotted pheasant would probably be better but it doesn't last, boar bristles are bomb proof!
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[Lochan_load]

Just a wee lightly dressed bumble
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[Wildfisher]

The smaller the hook the trickier, or more fiddly these deer hair winged flies become to tie. I got this on a size 14, I'd think 16 would probably be the limit.

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I'm certain this will be effective in a spring LDO hatch.

[Wildfisher]

And on  a 16. Fiddly but still quick to tie.

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[loch coulter]

Utter simplicity, takes minutes to tie ( I don't even bother with head cement) and I'll bet it out-fishes most other dry flies on river and loch.

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Hares Ear - Deer Hair Sedge (Wyattt)

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underside.

would you mind telling me what kind of deerhair this is and maybe where to purchase.

                                                               tommy.

[Wildfisher]

That's a very good question Tommy. I'm no expert on deer hair, I have often said I don't enjoy tying with it, I have mild allergic reaction to some of the stuff I have used in the past (streaming eyes that feel like they have something in them - I have also had that with some cats so I don't tie with cats  :lol:!)   although the current stuff I have seems OK

I have used a few types on the DHS flies shown above. The dark stuff is roe deer, the other is medium texture - no idea what species of deer it's off.

Coastal deer hair tends to be  much softer and finer, does not flare as much and is probably better for the smaller flies.

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A coastal deer hair patch- from Cookshill

To be honest it's a bit of a lottery and you are probably better seeing it before you buy. That said Cookshill is a good supplier (or at least used to be) of various kinds of deer hair, so it might be worth asking there.

This next fly is tied with soft coastal deer hair on a size16, you can see it's possible to get a bulkier wing on the same fly because it is a much finer hair. This fly will float better than the size 16 above.

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So, I suppose the bigger the fly the coarser the hair you can use - but remember if you want it  to flare for making muddler heads etc the fine hair is not great - it also has to be deer hair as Elk hair does not flare

[corsican dave]

so I don't tie with cats  :lol:! 

best use for cats, IMHO.... :lol:
joking aside, is it possible to spin fox hair, or is it too soft? I was thinking it might make good bread flies?

[loch coulter]

That's a very good question Tommy. I'm no expert on deer hair, I have often said I don't enjoy tying with it, I have mild allergic reaction to some of the stuff I have used in the past (streaming eyes that feel like they have something in them - I have also had that with some cats so I don't tie with cats  :lol:!)   although the current stuff I have seems OK

I have used a few types on the DHS flies shown above. The dark stuff is roe deer, the other is medium texture - no idea what species of deer it's off.

Coastal deer hair tends to be  much softer and finer, does not flare as much and is probably better for the smaller flies.

[attachimg=1]
A coastal deer hair patch- from Cookshill

To be honest it's a bit of a lottery and you are probably better seeing it before you buy. That said Cookshill is a good supplier (or at least used to be) of various kinds of deer hair, so it might be worth asking there.

This next fly is tied with soft coastal deer hair on a size16, you can see it's possible to get a bulkier wing on the same fly because it is a much finer hair. This fly will float better than the size 16 above.

[attachimg=2]

So, I suppose the bigger the fly the coarser the hair you can use - but remember if you want it  to flare for making muddler heads etc the fine hair is not great - it also has to be deer hair as Elk hair does not flare

thanks for the info will phone cookshill and get their advice, really like the look of those flies