Nothing new here I'm afraid, but a fly which returns maximum reward for minimum effort, with great scope for variation. Being the lazy sod that I am, 90% of my river bugs follow this basic format.

Tung head hare's ear
Hook: Kamasan B175 #14
Bead: Black tungsten 2.8mm
Underbody: Fine lead wire (0.40mm)
Thread: 14/0 tan
Tails: Olive PT
Rib: Fine copper
Body: Dubbed hare's ear.

1. Slip on the bead and wedge about 4 turns of the lead wire up behind it, into the recess at the back of the bead.



2. Run on the thread and secure the lead turns.



3. Catch in the PT fibres (approx 4nr) and bind down to rear of shank. Trim off waste butts.



4. Catch in the wire rib and bind down to rear or body, then use the thread to form a tapered body.



5. Dub on your hare's ear roughly.



6. Wind up the wire rib, secure behind the bead, wiggle to break off waste and whip finish the fly.





As I mentioned, tons of variation possible. The one below is identical save for a red wool tail and a thorax of peacock ice dub - a good pattern for the grayling on my rivers....




Matt

__________________
The sun pushed dark spokes of melt and sparkle
Across the fields of hoar. And the river steamed -
Flint-olive.


http://northcountryangler.blogspot.com

Nice wee bug there Matt....simple yet effective,what more do ye need...
Have a nice Xmas mate....

Aye, and you James!
M

__________________
The sun pushed dark spokes of melt and sparkle
Across the fields of hoar. And the river steamed -
Flint-olive.


http://northcountryangler.blogspot.com

Perfecto M,i have used a similar model recently to good effect on the Eden,i might post a pic later,

P

__________________
Wanted spare spool for ionica 3/4/5

Also spool for BBS11 titanium prefered but would consider black

I like the wraps of lead behind the eye.

Nice one.

Super sensible dressing there,simple and nowt complex,bet they catch well.
Not been using heavy bugs at all this season as water low and the plop spooks my fish!

__________________
Andy Wren
Winter grayling taking a year off !
Claret not just a great dubbing colour!

I've been using that pattern or similars since 1990 so I've lost count of the 000's of trout & grayling that have scoffed it. The only difference is that Austrian grayling prefer copper tungsten - haven't the faintest idea why, but copper outfishes black by 10-1. Actually, I don't care why. My boxes are full with about 500 copper tungstens and maybe 50 black just in case they have one of those silly days!

Hi Matt, nice simple effective pattern will give it a try.Where is the best place to purchase the beads?
Pedro

That bug looks in great proportion. I bet on a B175 with the bead and lead wire it goes down like the Bismarck.

Cheers Pedro. Pat Stevens at Flytek sorts me out for all my ballast - a great range of different colours, and he does some really tiny sizes too.

M

__________________
The sun pushed dark spokes of melt and sparkle
Across the fields of hoar. And the river steamed -
Flint-olive.


http://northcountryangler.blogspot.com