Quite a few of these around yesterday as the sun went down, couldn't net any airbourne specimens, they're very wary and fly away when you approach within about 5 metres but lifted this one from from the water in an eddy behind an obstruction -



The specks on it are a bit of 7 spice left in the hastily procured specimen jar...

There were a few sedges around too but zero response from the fish despite the steady stream of drowning duns and spinners over a few known hot spots. Literally millions of midges had hatched and the sunbeams and water were thick with them. It was very bright and cold, about 4°C . The Taff looked it's usual over-engineered rubbish strewn self but nature finds a way and the wagtails were out in force on the evening before the new trout season.

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Musha rig um du rum da

Right now, they are in flight everywhere in Europe. Here is a male spinner:

Nice pics, and from them its clear that stripped peacock herl is still one of the best materials around to form the body.

100% correct, Klunk. ja

I agree too Clunk and I'm lucky enough to have some dyed quills from Lucian which I must get round to using.

Yet more LDO pics, a dun from the Teifi at the weekend. A little terracotta at the thorax of a dry wouldn't go far wrong, I wonder how the purple works with the Imperial?

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Musha rig um du rum da

Lovely shot of the male L.D.O diawl bach.

Purple and Kite's Imperial you say? Lovely combination when 'oiled'; below all from previous threads:

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Save the softmouth trout

The thread in that last picture looks bang on FM but not exactly purple to my eye though.

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Musha rig um du rum da

I think it must be when the sun hits the body in a certain light the purple show up. My car is purple but you only see the purple when the sun hits it at a certain angle.

Great pictures, and i do agree about the thorax Teracotta. I wonder if turkey biots might work for the body?

I have tied some Kites Imperial for tomorrow but i might try something different now I have studied the pictures

Thanks for sharing
Ian

I know there has been a discussion before about a definitive Kite's Imperial, but do people here tie up both darker and lighter imperials? The imperials I have are quite light in comparison with the first photo.