It's a while since we've published one of these as we've been crazy busy recently, but here goes with another one!
As the new trout season is approaching now is the time to get those fly boxes filled up with the early season patterns like the Snipe and Purple, Partridge and Orange, March Brown, Greenwells Glory and this one, the Waterhen Bloa.
Not as well know as some of the others mentioned above but it is equally as effective, in fact some would argue more effective.
The Waterhen Bloa has been around for over 200 years now and credit to its creation is given to T.E. Pritt. It was designed to be fished as a wet fly on the rivers and streams around Yorkshire, but it very quickly gained a great reputation as a fish catching pattern and it spread around the Northern waters and even became a popular loch fly in Scotland.
Very effective as an early season pattern, but it will fish well throughout the year. It comes into its own when there are dark olives or iron blue duns on the water. It can be fished anywhere on the cast from the point to the top dropper. It has been taken as a nymph on the point but is also very effective on the top dropper as a bob fly when the iron blues can be seen on the surface. I have had the most success with it on the middle dropper. Some people have also had great success with it greased up and fished as a draw when hatches of dark olives and IBD's have been taking place. That's the beauty of fly fishing, no hard and fast rules!
The pattern is very simple to tie, although Water Rat fur isn't easy to obtain nowadays. Two possible substitutes for these which can be easily obtained are Mole fur or the grey back fur off a Pine Squirrel. Personally I prefer the Pine Squirrel as I find that Mole fur is a little too dark from what the original was and has no guard hairs, unlike the Pine Squirrel. However both furs will still work as long as the fly is dubbed sparsely.
The dressing is -
Hook - Down eyed 12-16
Tying Silk - Waxed Yellow
Body - Dubbed water rat (or substitutes of Pine Squirrel or Mole). The fur must be dubbed lightly and teased out so the yellow silk shows through. When done correctly the the body should have a faintly ribbed appearance
Hackle - Under feather from Waterhen (Moorhen) wing. The feather you want is spear shaped, blae in colour and glossy on one side.
Head - Yellow tying silk finished with clear varnish
The key to dressing this fly is thin dubbing and sparsely hackled. How you fish it is down to you!
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