Claret Dun picture taken behind Liathach in Torridon last weekend.

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Don't worry, be happy.
Sandy
Carried it in full, then carry it out empty.

Hi, lovely pic! I climbed Liathach just a few weeks ago. On which loch did you find the claret dun, and did you fish it? I'd like to try my hand at an imitation with a CDC wing & maybe a dyed peacock quill body.

Lovely image,..claret and mallard springs to mind with the claret and bronze colours.

These little beauties hatch off at my local, so I spent the spring trying to come up with a suitable imitation. (Baetis- mine did involve a split CDC wing.) Sadly, not had a chance to try it out yet and suspect that now I am almost too late.

Maybe there's something wrong with my eyes, but I wouldn't have said that was "claret" coloured. More "shiny brown". Or does the name "claret" apply to all stages of its life and, in fact, it is the spinner which is more obviously claret coloured?

Anyway, I suspect any suitably dark coloured imitation will do for all that a fish is going to see of the colour from below. At least, I have been tying on that basis!

I find they hatch out on most hill lochs at this time of year. I use a wet Iron Blue Dun #12 with red tying thread showing at the head and tail.

__________________
Don't worry, be happy.
Sandy
Carried it in full, then carry it out empty.

'Shiny brown' is correct, in fact it looks similar to the colour of a glass of rum or brandy. I reckon anything dark coloured, maybe with a translucent wing, would do the trick on the kind of hill lochans I fish. Which brings me to the B.W.O. or 'sherry' spinner: if this insect is indeed sherry coloured, then why do most imitations have an orange body? Just another confusing thread from the world of fly fishing lore...