Morning,
I managed to venture out onto the water for an hour or so on Monday evening - it was epic!
The wild fish on my local Derwent are usually pretty selective when feeding, and usually refuse any offering I pass by their noses.
However, on Monday, it had rained for most of the day, but in the evening, it cleared up. I arrived at my favourite pool and could hear some very splashy rises - I couldn't see anything specific hatching, but could see the fish attacking something very vigorously.
After a little time spent watching, I saw a couple of Mayfly dip onto the surface to lay eggs - so I tied on a Mohican Mayfly - and the fish went nuts for it! I only had a couple with me (as I was not expecting to be using Mayflies for at least another couple of weeks). I did have some Detached Body Duns & 'Spent' patterns, which I used to the very same effect.
It was one of those "Red Letter Evenings" that keep you coming back for more!
Up here in our corner of North Yorkshire, we very rarely see a Mayfly before the end of May, the Mayfly last night must not have received the memo - I've a feeling it's to do with the nice and settled warm spell we experienced earlier in the month.
As well as focussing on the 'detached body' Mayfly variants in today's missive, I've also a bit of a treat for you ..
Introducing ...
The 'NEW' Mayfly Tombola
I've been thinking of a way to do something nice for all of our loyal community - yes, that's you - and then the penny dropped when I was at a local village craft fair over easter!
Let's do it like a tombola, but instead of picking a raffle ticket that ends in either a '5' or a '0' - and winning a jar of jam that you will pass on to next year's raffle - let's do something a little different.
Our Mayfly Tombola will run until midnight tomorrow. You'll have to scroll to the end of this email to find out all the details!
But, back to the detached body Mayflies ...
On my local river, I usually find the best sport to be had is in the evening, from around 6pm into the dusk - so only a few hours - but the signs are very positive for the coming weeks - I may have to leave the fly fairies to it, and take a few afternoons off!
The afternoon is when the Dun / Spinners come out to play, and in the evenings, the 'Spent' mayfly patterns are king.
As a quick reminder, the majority of Mayflies only live for one day. During this time, they:
- Hatch (Pattern Match: Emerger)
- Mature into an adult (Pattern Match: Dun)
- Mate (Pattern Match: Spinner); and
- Die (Pattern Match: Spent)
It's the ones that have had their fun and gone to the river in the sky that we are trying to imitate on a late evening. When a mayfly expires, they float on the water with their wings outstretched, as below:
TOP TIP: Reducing Leader Twist - when fishing with flies which have large wings - like Mayflies, this will induce twist in your leader (there's nothing you can really do to stop it). The majority of Mayfly patterns (especially the spent ones) have wings which act just like helicopter rotor blades and spin when you cast them. The best way to combat this is to:
- Reduce the length of your leader
- Increase the diameter of your leader
Try shortening the overall length of your tapered leader to around 6ft and step up your tippet diameter - use 3X or 4X. Once the fish really switch on to the Mayfly they become indifferent to your tippet, so step it up where you can.
As we are discussing the Mayfly (and why shouldn't we, this is the exact time of year to do it), we have a pretty special offer on the very best detached body Mayflies we can supply - The Mohican Mayfly, Mayfly Dun & Spemt Mayfly - they are works of art, you won't know whether to hang them on the wall or fish with them!
When fishing the Mayfly hatch during an afternoon and evening, there's no better fly to use than a Detached Dun style imitation - and these are the very best, they are all tied on the stunning AHREX FW525 barbless hook.
*** These may not be the cheapest 'mayflies' on the market, but they are by far and away the best ***
We have these available now and ready to find a new home in your fly box.
Here they are:
Mohican Mayfly
If you arrive at the water in the mid-afternoon, remember you are looking for sections of river which are below a slow-running silty section and preferably where the river narrows. This funnel effect will act as a conveyor belt, delivering the Mayfly to the waiting trout. The better-sized trout will be at the head of the pool, so steadily work your way up. Once the emergers appear on the water, it's time to break out the detached body Mayfly Dun and Spinner imitations.
Detached Body Mayfly Dun
Ok, you've sold me on them, "What's the price?" I hear you ask - we are making all of these flies available to you either individually (for only £3.00), or in packs of 5 or 10 from only £12.75 - which includes FREE Delivery to anywhere in the UK - in our Eco-Friendly packaging.
The Spent Mayfly
If you see Spinners dancing above you on an evening, pay very close attention to the water for softly rising fish, and look for dead Spinners caught in small pockets of dead water behind rocks or debris. If you find any, pick them up so you can get a good idea of their size and colour and then select an appropriate pattern.
Slightly darker in colour to the spinner, some mayflies die as soon as they hatch. These are an easy target for trout, sometimes they actively target these in preference to the hatching flies. In which case these are the go-to flies.A classic mayfly imitation, super buoyant and tied to exacting standards. This pattern imitates those mayflies which die hatching or after mating. One of the most effective Mayfly imitations when spinners are on the water.
All of our individual Mayfly patterns are available either individually (from only £2.75), in packs of 5 or 10 (from only £12.00) - which includes FREE Delivery to anywhere in the UK - in our Eco-Friendly packaging.
We also have our Mayfly patterns available as a full selection - which includes all of the above patterns and all emerger styles - a total of 16 flies, for only £36. Click on the button below to view the selection in more detail:
Get them while you can, as we did run out last year!
Go on, you know you want to!
The Barbless Mayfly Tombola
We've been thinking of a way to let all our loyal community - yes, that's you - get a little 'extra', and then the penny dropped when I was at our local craft fair!
Let's do it like a tombola, but instead of picking a raffle ticket that ends in either a '5' or a '0' - and winning a jar of jam which you will pass on to next year's raffle - let's do something a little more digital.
So here's the deal:
- Just place an order with us before midnight tomorrow (15th May), it doesn't matter how much for - we're good like that, we would appreciate it if the order was over £20, but it's not a requirement!
- If your order number ends in an even number, then we will add one of our "Limited Edition" Mayfly Beermats to your order for free.
- That's it.
We've only around 100 of our beermats available for the tombola, so they will only last us a day or two. This virtual tombola will run from the time you receive this email until midnight tomorrow (15th May), or until we run out of beermats - whichever is the sooner!
Have fun out there and good luck!
