Since discovering the joys of fishing with the fly, I've learned about lures, buzzers, nymphs and dries in their many forms and have a fair idea when and how to use each.

But I discover that hidden amongst my accumulated fly-collection there is a good number of wet-flies that I have absolutely no idea about when to select them and how to fish them (I'm fishing still-waters mostly).

Looking through the magazines I've collected, with plenty of articles on fishing blood-worm, czech-nymphs, etc I'm still none the wiser, though I get the impression that wets are for fishing Scottish lochs, or for sea-trout and salmon, or rivers, in which case should I put them in the spare tackle box and forget about them?

I have had many a rainbow from small waters on traditional wets, and are often the first flies I try. Lost count of the rainbows that have taken a wet greenwell fished along the bank

When lure fishing on small stillwaters, I often use a trad. wet on a dropper. It catches plenty! Course, when I want to fish a bit slower or deeper, I tend to put a nymph on the dropper instead, but it's a nice easy change of pace to make without re-doing your leader.

Wets are a valuable tool in the fly fisher's armoury and should be tried before lures. I use the following:
Alexandra
Black & Peacock Spider
Black Pennell
Black Spider
Blae & Black
Bloody Butcher
Coachman
Gold Ribbed Hairs Ear
Greenwell's Glory
Invicta
Mallard & Claret
Red Tag
Soldier Palmer
Zulu

BK

Used an Alexandra for the first time yesterday.

All I can say is ...wow. I can see why it got banned.

For about 2 hours, I could do no wrong, and really was getting a fish a cast (wild browns too, not stockies).

The weird thing was that I'd just been flogging the same patch of water with nymphs, then various other wets (Peter Ross, Dunkeld, Teal Blue and Silver), with absolutely no response. Switched to the Alexandra as an 'oh well, never tried it, might as well see what happens', and the water went mad. Got my two best fish from that loch in the space of 20mins.

Is this normal???

Hi Matt

The Alexandra is one of my favourite flys and when it works it's deadly. Unfortunately, trout are fickle creatures and tomorrow it may be ignored and another fly preferred. Its always worth a try though.

BK

Hi
I believe trad wets are NOT just for fishing Scottish ( or any other ) lochs.
I have successfully used them on the Midland reservoirs and smaller still waters. Its just a matter of if the trout are fed up of larger lures but still are happy to chase and take faster moving (vaguely imative ) flys.
Green Peter's , Silver Invicta etc work well.
Don't resign your wets to the spare tackle box and forget about them !

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Fished Blagdon Wednesday and my boat partner caught one fish to a spider all be it a beefed up version of the river fly, taken as emerging sedge or crippled buzzer I would think. And hedgehog (not sure this is qualified, but was fished wet).

In the tying section there are some very good modern twists on some traditional wets that have a lot of mileage in them.

Invictas and soldier palmers, connemara black, mallard and claret get on my leader for the stills and work.

Mark

Mallard & Claret was one of my best flies ,surprisingly for rainbows I have most success with it fished really slow almost static .
Bob

I always did well with the following traditional wets: Teal and Black, Invicta, Soldier Palmer and Bloody Butcher. I must start using them again as I am sure they are as effective as they have always been.