Waterhen Bloa

[dalesbloke]

I have been tying Waterhen Bloa in #14 and 16# and the smallest feather from the wing of a coot seems to provide a hackle that looks too large. I have thought of trimming the feather with scissors but am I missing a trick?

[Ephemerella]

wing of a coot

I always thought 'Waterhen' refered to Moorhen wing feathers? This is what Cookshill supply.


Jackdaw or Snipe feathers are useful Waterhen substitutes for this fly.

[christy27]

Originally Posted by Ephemerella

I always thought 'Waterhen' refered to Moorhen wing feathers? This is what Cookshill supply.


Jackdaw or Snipe feathers are useful Waterhen substitutes for this fly.

Yup, Waterhen is an alternative name for a Moorhen.

[maharg]

Trimming the feather is not an option, it will ruin the fly. Better to make one turn with a longer hackle if you dont have any small ones.

[Spider]

The Waterhen Bloa is designed to look like that. It looks wrong to our eyes, but better when wet....the long hackles cloak the fly and make it very nymph like. Not my fav pattern, but very deadly.

[North Country Angler]

Here's a thing. I personally prefer my bloas to be tied with snipe or plover. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of waterhens in my box, but traditonalist leanings aside, I find that the snipe in particular is a more robust feather to hackle with (dabchick hackle can be a bit fragile) and the ever so slightly browner hue suits better the natural LDOs which I find on my local rivers.

I would have thought coot would be a bit too black to perform the purpose of imitating early season olives?

M

[arkle]

To effectively shorten the fibres, tie in & wind the hackle in 1/3 or so back from the eye, then force the fibres forward & cover the roots with tying thread, so that they point towards the eye in a clump around the shank. Then wind the body up to the shoulder & stroke back the fibres to their normal position. Then hold them back with a couple of turns of thread as normal before finishing the head.

[maharg]

Good solution to the problem Arkle

---------- Post added at 07:47 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:43 PM ----------

Here is a link to a nice piece of work by NCA
The Classics: Waterhen Bloa

[Spider]

[QUOTE=North Country Angler;836851]Here's a thing. I personally prefer my bloas to be tied with snipe or plover.

Stone the heretic!!!

Actually I tend to agree Matt. In fact I practically only use Snipe and Plover these days, but really only for dry fly fishing. I just cant "get on" with Wet fly fishing, although nymphs etc are fine....its the down and across lark with a 10ft rod.....cant connect with it....

[wingman]

Forgive me if I'm wrong (and I usually am) but I thought the use of plover was banned these days, unless it was a certain kind of plover, but i know there are substitutes for this.