The brown trout season opens on March 15th and after a long dark and usually harsh Shetland winter most anglers are chomping at the bit to get a line into the water. Success at this time of the year is very weather dependant, if there is prolonged mild spell the water can have warmed enough to go kick start the aquatic eco system into life with corresponding trout activity, however if it is cold (and cold winter weather can continue well into April or even May) fishing can be hard going. The shallow areas of the lochs warm up first and this is where the feeding trout are likely to be foraging for anything they can find such as shrimp, cased caddis, stickleback, and snail. Insect hatches are not likely and tactics should be geared towards searching the shallows with a mobile approach with patterns suggestive of the above food items. It can be a mistake to fish deep water i.e. over about 5 feet this time of the year because although a large proportion of the fish might be there ,they are unlikely to have woken from the winter slumber. Early season is the perfect time to fish the shallower lochs of Shetland before the weed makes them unfishable.
By inclination I am a big fish angler and my fly patterns reflect this interest. My favourite early season tactic is to paddle out in a float tube and cast back into shore, usually with an intermediate line and weighted fly on the point to get everything down quickly and enable a lot of water to be covered.
By inclination I am a big fish angler and my fly patterns reflect this interest. My favourite early season tactic is to paddle out in a float tube and cast back into shore, usually with an intermediate line and weighted fly on the point to get everything down quickly and enable a lot of water to be covered.
VIVA
There are as many variants of the viva as there are anglers and everybody has their favourite dressing. In essence the fly has a green tail, with a black body and marabou wing with a bit of flash and rib. This basic black/green/sparkle Viva template is swapped, changed, played around with, new materials incorporated and there are many deadly Viva variants. I find it hard to choose a particular dressing as being better than others and on looking through my box I picked out one that I would be happy to fish with though there are plenty of variations on the theme.
Though associated with sink line tactics this fly is equally deadly in a shallow water early season scenario , and even if the trout are not taking and the temptation to keep changing flies creeps, in the viva can safely be kept somewhere on the cast because it is a time proven catcher of wild brown trout.
Hook- B 175 size 14-6- usually a size 10
Tail- It can be hard to know what colour floss to use for the tail should it be glow brite 12 fluorescent green or should it be glow brite 11 fluorescent chartreuse, both deadly fish catching colours- the solution is to mix the two together to take in the best of both colours. I'm not sure who to credit this deadly colour mix to but it works.
Body -can be seal fur, ostrich herl, peacock herl, chenille, flat mirage or silver, or as in this fly a mixture of black seal fur with various colours of lite brite to give peacock sheen. (70 % black seal fur with 30% made up with a pinch of red, blue and green lite brite)
Rib- various tinsels such as holographic silver or mirage
Wing- black marabou plus the sparkle of your choice
Optional Throat/Head Hackle-black, red or orange hen, blue jay
Optional cheeks- jungle cock or goose biot
There are as many variants of the viva as there are anglers and everybody has their favourite dressing. In essence the fly has a green tail, with a black body and marabou wing with a bit of flash and rib. This basic black/green/sparkle Viva template is swapped, changed, played around with, new materials incorporated and there are many deadly Viva variants. I find it hard to choose a particular dressing as being better than others and on looking through my box I picked out one that I would be happy to fish with though there are plenty of variations on the theme.
Though associated with sink line tactics this fly is equally deadly in a shallow water early season scenario , and even if the trout are not taking and the temptation to keep changing flies creeps, in the viva can safely be kept somewhere on the cast because it is a time proven catcher of wild brown trout.
Hook- B 175 size 14-6- usually a size 10
Tail- It can be hard to know what colour floss to use for the tail should it be glow brite 12 fluorescent green or should it be glow brite 11 fluorescent chartreuse, both deadly fish catching colours- the solution is to mix the two together to take in the best of both colours. I'm not sure who to credit this deadly colour mix to but it works.
Body -can be seal fur, ostrich herl, peacock herl, chenille, flat mirage or silver, or as in this fly a mixture of black seal fur with various colours of lite brite to give peacock sheen. (70 % black seal fur with 30% made up with a pinch of red, blue and green lite brite)
Rib- various tinsels such as holographic silver or mirage
Wing- black marabou plus the sparkle of your choice
Optional Throat/Head Hackle-black, red or orange hen, blue jay
Optional cheeks- jungle cock or goose biot
Hares Ear Muddler
I first read about this fly in Stan Headleys essential book - Trout Flies of Scotland, where it is described as deadly in a buzzer hatch when tied in small sizes.
I first became aware of the effectiveness of this fly on Spiggie loch where there used to be(and hopefully still is- if the water quality improves) phenomenal hatches of greeny olive buzzers that the fish locked onto .This pattern tied on a size 16 hook was utterly deadly and I remember one night the loch was boiling with fish and using this pattern I was catching fish after fish, whilst some anglers in a boat were cursing the air with frustration because the trout were ignoring their flies but lunging themselves at this pattern.
I also remember catching a 9.15 pound trout from one of Shetlands infamous big fish waters on a size 16 during a buzzer hatch the fight from which I still tremble today.
During buzzer hatches I would fish this fly near static amongst visibly feeding fish on a thin but strong leader such as stroft GTS. I never gink this pattern as it performs best fished subsurface , the buoyant deer hair adds a bit of counter balance and slows down the sink rate, the jungle cock is suggestive of the wing buds of hatching buzzers. The body comes from old dressings of hares ear that incorporate a yellow under body that when wet turns a translucent olive that is illuminated by the transparent pearl tinsel.
Tied on 14-10 hooks this works well as a general pulling pattern on the middle dropper where it is suggestive of a variety of invertebrate life and on this mixed fly cast I would use it on hooks from size 14-10. Works best in clear waters and I consider this an essential fly for Shetland throughout the season.
There is great scope for experimentation in the above old blend of hares ear over yellow in other patterns such as emergers and hackled wets.
Hook size 16-10 B 170
Tail and wing- summer duck (available from cookshill fly tying)
Thread yellow- 8/0
Body a thin dub of lemon yellow seal fur or synthetic substitute with hare’s ear dubbed over the top
Rib- pearl over ribbed with mono for strength
Head - sparse muddler deer hair, I use very soft stuff I picked up from a jarl squads cast offs
Cheeks - small jungle cock
I first read about this fly in Stan Headleys essential book - Trout Flies of Scotland, where it is described as deadly in a buzzer hatch when tied in small sizes.
I first became aware of the effectiveness of this fly on Spiggie loch where there used to be(and hopefully still is- if the water quality improves) phenomenal hatches of greeny olive buzzers that the fish locked onto .This pattern tied on a size 16 hook was utterly deadly and I remember one night the loch was boiling with fish and using this pattern I was catching fish after fish, whilst some anglers in a boat were cursing the air with frustration because the trout were ignoring their flies but lunging themselves at this pattern.
I also remember catching a 9.15 pound trout from one of Shetlands infamous big fish waters on a size 16 during a buzzer hatch the fight from which I still tremble today.
During buzzer hatches I would fish this fly near static amongst visibly feeding fish on a thin but strong leader such as stroft GTS. I never gink this pattern as it performs best fished subsurface , the buoyant deer hair adds a bit of counter balance and slows down the sink rate, the jungle cock is suggestive of the wing buds of hatching buzzers. The body comes from old dressings of hares ear that incorporate a yellow under body that when wet turns a translucent olive that is illuminated by the transparent pearl tinsel.
Tied on 14-10 hooks this works well as a general pulling pattern on the middle dropper where it is suggestive of a variety of invertebrate life and on this mixed fly cast I would use it on hooks from size 14-10. Works best in clear waters and I consider this an essential fly for Shetland throughout the season.
There is great scope for experimentation in the above old blend of hares ear over yellow in other patterns such as emergers and hackled wets.
Hook size 16-10 B 170
Tail and wing- summer duck (available from cookshill fly tying)
Thread yellow- 8/0
Body a thin dub of lemon yellow seal fur or synthetic substitute with hare’s ear dubbed over the top
Rib- pearl over ribbed with mono for strength
Head - sparse muddler deer hair, I use very soft stuff I picked up from a jarl squads cast offs
Cheeks - small jungle cock
Pearly Invicta
The pearly Invicta is a great fish catcher in a variety of conditions, throughout the season and out of all the Invicta family this is my favourite. It works particularly well on sunny days but can perform at any time. Suggestive of a variety of aquatic life it could be taken for a stickleback or shrimp, corixae and I have done well in hatches of buzzers in small sizes.
A friend of mine swears by size 12 silver Invicta in Shetland but for me it is the pearly one that catches most fish .
Tail - gp topping
Hook - b 175 14-8. Usually use a 10
Thread black
Body - pearl tinsel
Rib - silver wire
Wing -hen pheasant
Body hackle, sparse light brown or ginger cock palmered
Throat- a few strands of blue jay.
jungle cock cheeks optional
The pearly Invicta is a great fish catcher in a variety of conditions, throughout the season and out of all the Invicta family this is my favourite. It works particularly well on sunny days but can perform at any time. Suggestive of a variety of aquatic life it could be taken for a stickleback or shrimp, corixae and I have done well in hatches of buzzers in small sizes.
A friend of mine swears by size 12 silver Invicta in Shetland but for me it is the pearly one that catches most fish .
Tail - gp topping
Hook - b 175 14-8. Usually use a 10
Thread black
Body - pearl tinsel
Rib - silver wire
Wing -hen pheasant
Body hackle, sparse light brown or ginger cock palmered
Throat- a few strands of blue jay.
jungle cock cheeks optional
Black Country Man
This fly is essentially a pearl bodied woolly bugger / humungous hybrid. The dressing has been played around with and refined over many seasons and it has caught lots of big wild brown trout from various waters.
I sometimes fish a big fly like this singly which really focuses the mind on what that fly is doing in the water in that all attention is fixed on it forcing concentration and effort to make the fly come alive in the water. A varying retrieve gives a great action and every season this fish catches big wild browns from a variety of lochs.
For deep water fishing with sinking lines from a boat or tube or in coloured water the original Humungus dressing with its body of sparkly silver gold fritz probably works better.
One problem with fishing weighted flies like this as part of a team is that if a fish is hooked on the dropper there is a danger of the chain eyed fly getting stuck on the bottom with almost certain disaster to follow if the fish is big. I know because it has happened to me a few times, but the combination of heavy head and mobile marabou is a time proven catcher of trout all over the world which is why I use patterns like this all the time.
Hook. Size 10 or 8 long shank. I like a kamazan b830 or b 200
Chain eyes tied on top super glued in place- this causes the fly to fish upside down minimising the risk of snagging when fished close to bottom.
Tail black marabou. With bit of pearl crystal flash and UV tinsel. Don't overdo the sparkle
Thread black
Body - flat pearl
Rib silver wire
Palmer - sparse black cock
Head hackle a few turns of straggly natural metallic black hen. Similar feathers can be found on mallards and lapwings
Head- dubbing of peacock mix over chain eyes (70 % black seal fur with 30% made up with a pinch of red, blue and green lite brite
This fly is essentially a pearl bodied woolly bugger / humungous hybrid. The dressing has been played around with and refined over many seasons and it has caught lots of big wild brown trout from various waters.
I sometimes fish a big fly like this singly which really focuses the mind on what that fly is doing in the water in that all attention is fixed on it forcing concentration and effort to make the fly come alive in the water. A varying retrieve gives a great action and every season this fish catches big wild browns from a variety of lochs.
For deep water fishing with sinking lines from a boat or tube or in coloured water the original Humungus dressing with its body of sparkly silver gold fritz probably works better.
One problem with fishing weighted flies like this as part of a team is that if a fish is hooked on the dropper there is a danger of the chain eyed fly getting stuck on the bottom with almost certain disaster to follow if the fish is big. I know because it has happened to me a few times, but the combination of heavy head and mobile marabou is a time proven catcher of trout all over the world which is why I use patterns like this all the time.
Hook. Size 10 or 8 long shank. I like a kamazan b830 or b 200
Chain eyes tied on top super glued in place- this causes the fly to fish upside down minimising the risk of snagging when fished close to bottom.
Tail black marabou. With bit of pearl crystal flash and UV tinsel. Don't overdo the sparkle
Thread black
Body - flat pearl
Rib silver wire
Palmer - sparse black cock
Head hackle a few turns of straggly natural metallic black hen. Similar feathers can be found on mallards and lapwings
Head- dubbing of peacock mix over chain eyes (70 % black seal fur with 30% made up with a pinch of red, blue and green lite brite
