The Master: Tom Ivens

[maharg]

Tom Ivens is concidered by many to be the father of stillwater fly fishing in this country. He took advantage of the reservoir boom in the post war years that brought trout fishing to the masses.
His book, Still Water Fly Fishing was a bible to many. In it he discussed distance casting and the development of lines and rods. A rod that he developed was called the, Iron Murderer, you can imagine what it was like to fish with!
He was a great believer in fishing very slowly, a 30 yard cast taking 2 minutes to retreive. I think this lesson is lost on many of us.
Flies he developed include,
Jersey Herd, Black and peacock spider, green and brown nymph and the green nymph all pictured below. They are not hard ties and well worth fishing.

Jersey Herd,

• Hook L/S 6-10
• Tail Peacock herl trimmed short
• Underbody orange floss to form a slim taper
• Body two layers of copper tinsel, the original taken from a milk bottle top.
• Hackle orange cock
• Back 6 strands of peacock herl taken forward from the tail
• Head two strands of herl twisted together.

Black and peacock spider

• Hook wet fly size 14-8
• Body peacock herl twisted and would together.
• Hackle Black hen

Green and Brown nymph

• Hook wet fly 14-8
• Tail, back and head peacock herl as for Jersey herd
• Body green and brown ostrich herl twisted together
• Rib fine gold tinsel or wire.

The green nymph

• Hook wet fly 12-8
• Body flouro' green floss or thread over ribbed with clear nylon or horse hair
• Hackle Brown partridge

I think this one would be taken for a sedge and it is suggested an orange underbody is worth a try.
The black and peacock is a favourite of mine and I have had a good few fish on the green and brown. The Jersey Herd remains untried as yet.

[silversedge]

I still use the green and brown nymph and the b&p spider right through the season,and they take a lot of fish,classics

[sewinbasher]

I read the book some years ago and it greatly influenced my stillwater fishing with his Green and Brown Nymph being a favourite. An old girl friend lived within sight of Hollowell Reservoir which was featured heavily in the book but sadly by the time I got there it had ceased as a trout fishery.

[guest21]

Originally Posted by sewinbasher

...Hollowell Reservoir which was featured heavily in the book but sadly by the time I got there it had ceased as a trout fishery.

Me too! However, I did fullfil my ambition to fish there ... only for pike in the winter.

When I started to fly fish on reservoirs my patterns were almost exclusively Ivens. Black and Peacock, Green Nymph, and the Jersey Herd. Later when I started to fish Ravensthorpe I used the little Green and Yellow Nymph to great effect during the evening rise - a simple but super pattern.

[Fishing Junkie]

B+P Spider still has a place in my box. I also like the look of the Jersey Herd, I'm sure it would work well on a lot of small stillwaters but in smaller sizes than the original (10 - 14's). I'll knock a few up this evening and post my results.

[maharg]

The one in the picture is tied on a nymph hook size 12 as like you I think the longshank size is too big.

[dabhoy]

I also ocassionally fish a B and P and would imagine that it was probably a fly that a lot of tyers started with.