Fishing Knowledge

Traditional Yorkshire Wet Fly Patterns

Blue Partridge

A simple but very effective pattern.

Treacle Parkin

The Treacle Parkin is a very old North Country Fly; the fact that it has been around so long would imply that it is also very effective.

Whistling Dun

So called because it uses a feather from the Golden Plover or Whistling Plover as it was known in some parts of the North Country

Snipe and Purple

Like the Partridge and Orange the Snipe and Purple is one of the commonest flies used on the river. Simple but deadly.

Partridge and Orange

In Yorkshire this fly is sometimes tied with a gold rib. At its most basic, as here, it is a cracking fly.

Brazzle Fly

The Brazzle Fly (probably the Brazil Fly) is a very old fly. This version comes from the pages of the Fishing Gazette – 22 Dec 1917. More commonly fished lower down the Ribble in Lancashire the body is tied thicker than on North Country Spiders. Perhaps Marabou floss would be better?

Silver March Brown

A fly I took from Malcolm Greenhalgh’s splendid little book The Spider Guide. A great fly for all waters – it works well as a lake fly too.

Butcher Spider

A spider version of the more famous upwinged fly. Roger Fogg fishes this fly  in tandem on point and dropper because he feels that the fish take it for one fry chasing another.

Woodcock and Red

The Woodcock and Red is a classic early season fly.

Waterhen Bloa

A classic North Country Spider. When wet the yellow silk and mole fur combine to give the body an olive cast. The mole also moves in the water like the gills along the side of a small insect.

Snipe Bloa

A cracking fly for early sesson – I had a great day with this fly last year when nothing else would move them.

Grouse and Claret

A fly devised by Harold Howorth of Lancashire. A great sea-fly pattern, a variant of the Mallard and Claret another standard on the Upper Ribble.