86 - Top Tips: Fly tying special effects: 5 Top materials and ways to boost your patterns!

Fly tying special effects: 5 Top materials and ways to boost your patterns!

Regardless of the fish species or setting, it is so important to have complete confidence in our fishing flies. So often, a simple tweak or a hint of extra attraction is just the way to provide an edge, whether it’s a hot spot for fish to home in on, or a touch of UV flash.

Hemingway’s materials are high quality, practical and great fun to use. SW author and guide Dom Garnett suggests five patterns for the coming season, each finding an easy way to utilise a special ingredient.

Flash Shrimp  (Hemingways Flash Back Foil (green pearl) )

Hook: Turrall Bronze Grub, 12-14

Thread: Tan or grey

Shellback: Hemingway’s Flash Back

Rib: 5lb Fluorocarbon

Body dubbing: 50/50 mix hare and Hemingway’s UV dubbing

Legs: Partridge

Flash back foil is such a superb, versatile ingredient. Just a single cheek, thorax cover or shellback adds a lot of attraction, and with 13 Hemingway’s colours to choose from, the possibilities go way beyond the bog standard flashback PTN. 

This pattern is an all-round shrimp that is especially good for grayling, as well as trout. The trick is to cut a perfect “slip” for the back using sharp scissors, and align this good and square with the back of your hook. Offering a balance of natural appeal and bling, this little shrimp is an absolute killer, standing out even in less than perfect conditions when you want a bit of extra “pop” in stained water.

Quill Buzzer (Hemingway’s Synthetic Tapered Peacock Quill)

Hook: Turrall Barbless Sproat 12-16

Thread: Light olive / Black

Body: Synthetic quill (olive)

Cheeks: Jungle cock or UV flash

For so many fly patterns, quill provides a beautiful, segmented effect that simply looks beautifully lifelike and edible. Traditionally, it’s river flies like the Ginger Quill and Beacon Beige that make use of this finish- but it also works a treat with buzzers.

The beauty of synthetic quill is ease of use- no more fiddly stripping of materials, and the synthetic stuff is so much stronger and more durable! For years I’ve also used the real thing, but have to say the artificial material wins hands down. Not only is it easier to use and stronger, but the colours are stronger and you have endless options! That said, my current favourite use is to make small, ultra convincing buzzers, which are ace for browns as well as rainbows. A lot of the natura flies are not big and black, like standard shop bought patterns, but small and olive (try a light thread base beneath your quill to help the colours stand out). You can, of course, use flashy materials for “cheeks” - but here I have gone with traditional Jungle Cock.

Exmoor Yellow Stone (Hemingway’s Stonefly Wings)

Hook: Turrall Barbless 14-16

Thread: Pale Yellow

Tail: Strands of ginger grizzle cock

Rib: Fine gold wire

Body: Pale yellow dubbing

Wings: Hemingways

I’ve been intrigued by high numbers of stoneflies on Exmoor for several seasons, but if I’m honest, I’ve never really gone to town with a specific pattern to copy the “Yellow Sally”. If ever a fly pattern called for a specific outline and ingredients, this is it! They are not overly huge insects, hence I trimmed down the size M artificial wings. Nor do the wings splay out on the real insect, but sit on the back most of the time. This looks so much more the part than flies such as the Wickhams Fancy and others I usually improvise with. I can’t wait to try it out this season!

There are stacks of wings for other fly patterns, too, from Hemingways. What I love best is that they are easy to tie in and durable- much more so than traditional feather wings. The only slight caveat is that in bigger sizes they can spin and kink tippets, so if you are going to scale up for mayflies and daddies, step up your leader a little.

Check out the full range of wings, along with brilliant bodies, tails and other realistic components HERE.

Simply May Nymph (Hemingway Bug Flesh)

Hook: Long shank nymph, 12

Thread: Cream

Tail: Pheasant fibres

Body: Bug Flesh (cream)

Thorax: Pheasant

Legs: Partridge

For all kinds of sinking flies, soft, rubbery body materials are fun and effective to make bodies. Over the years, I’ve made bodies from all manner of materials- including cutting sections from disposable gloves to make flies for roach and other coarse fish! Bug Flesh is so much easier to use, and you get a whole whack of colour choices, from subtle to strong.

This is my crack at a mayfly nymph for the new season. Partly because I have dozens of dry mayflies, but few wets! I must say, I find a lot of the classics like Walker’s Mayfly Nymph very heavy- so I wanted something lighter and subtler, for the sake of casting as much as anything else.

Deer Hair Wickham’s Fancy (Red and Gold Hemingway’s Buzzer Quill)

Hook: Dry fly or Sedge 10-14

Thread: Brown
Rib: gold wire

Body: Hemingway’s Buzzer Quill, Red and Gold

Body hackle: Ginger grizzle cock

Head/wing: pinch of deer hair

This fly is intended to provoke fish in fast water and “pockets”. Where trout only get a second to react in boisterous water, I want my fly to shout rather than murmur. The deer hair makes this fly highly buoyant and visible- while a “bling” body makes it even easier to pick out. The main point here being that you don’t always have to use materials according to the tin, of course, and Hemingway’s flashy buzzer foils are also bang on when you want flashy bodies for your lures and dry flies.