Perfect Mayflies:
Our mayfly tying DVD shows you how to tie each of the following (7) seven mayfly patterns. These
patterns (tied using various hook sizes and colors prescribed in our recipes on the CD) will imitate any
stage of life of any of the mayfly species that trout feed on in the United States. Once you learn to tie
these, you will never need to tie another mayfly pattern. The flies shown do not imitate any particular
species of mayflies. The colors of materials should match those in the recipes provided on the CD
depending on the particular mayfly you desire to imitate.
Perfect Fly Mayfly Emergers:
1. Perfect TS Emerger:
When the nymphal shuck splits and the dun
emerges, the shuck often sticks to the duns
tails. Even if it doesn't stick, there is a short
period of time the empty shuck is still
attached to the tail. This transition must occur
in order for the dun to emerge. When this
occurs the mayfly is very subject to being
eaten by a trout. This fly imitates the duns
and nymphal shucks for size 10 and smaller
mayflies when the dun has emerged but the shuck
is still stuck to its tails. This represents most all
mayflies that hatch on or near the surface of the
water.
2. Perfect Super TS Emerger:
This fly imitates the larger duns and nymphal
shucks for size 10 and larger mayflies when
the dun has emerged but the nymphal shuck
is still stuck to its tails.
A different method and materials are used
for this large size emerger because of the
size limitations of biots. The ribbed and
specially applied dubbing imitates the
segmentation of the larger mayflies body well.
The split CDC wings represent the real
unfolding wings of the large emerging
mayflies. This fly floats low in the surface
skim like the real ones.
Perfect Fly Mayfly Duns:
3. Perfect Dun:
This is our basic dun pattern for mayflies
up to a hook size 12. This fly will probably be
the most used fly of all the patterns we have
simply because anglers like fishing the dry fly.
The dun is only available for a very short time
it is on the surface of the water. This varies
from species to species, stream to stream and
the environmental conditions at the time. Most
often it is only a few seconds. It's biot body
imitates the real segmentation of the duns
body well. Divided upright wings and a split
tail closely resembles the real mayfly.
4. Perfect Drake:
This is our dun pattern for the large mayflies,
mostly drakes. Biots only get so long and do
not work for the large drakes. The ribbed
segmentation used for the body of this fly
appears quite realistic although it requires a
few extra steps to tie. In fact, the entire fly
realistically imitates the large drakes very well.
The process used for the extended body and
tails of the mayfly works much better than
most other methods of tying extended bodies.
The split hen feather wings and parachute
hackled legs add to the realism of this fly.
In other words, it looks like the real drakes.
Perfect Fly Mayfly Spinners:
5. Perfect Spinner:
This is our basic spinner pattern for mayflies
that are a hook size 12 and smaller. It uses
bots for the body, split mayfly tails, hen
feathers for wings and soft hackle for the legs.
When wet, hen feathers tend to appear clear
like the wings of most spinners. We feel they
more accurately imitates the wings much
better than any artificial material on the
market. The turkey and goose biots looks
much like the real segmented body of a
mayfly. The split mayfly tails accurately
represent the long tails of real mayfly spinners.
6. Perfect Drake Spinner:
This is our spinner pattern for mayflies
that are a hook size 10 and larger. These
large mayflies are mostly drakes. The
segmented bodies of these large spinners
require a special ribbed, dubbed body to
closely imitate them. Like the smaller spinner
patterns above, the hen feather wings, split
tails, soft hackle legs together with the ribbed
segmented body, closely imitates the real
drake spinners. Most large mayfly spinner
flies look fake. These look more like the real
brown, golden, yellow, and green drake
spinners.
7. Perfect Wet Dun:
Imitates those nymphs that hatch below
the surface or on the bottom and (with
much less tailing material, those mayflies
that dive to deposit their eggs on the
bottom. An example of one that hatches on
the bottom is the Quill Gordon. Several
species of blue-winged olives dive and
deposit their eggs on underwater objects.
The fly should be weighted depending on
water speed and depth as well as for the
purpose, diving egg layers or hatches. You
will be amazed at the effectiveness of this fly.
Our mayfly tying DVD shows you how to tie each of the following (7) seven mayfly patterns. These
patterns (tied using various hook sizes and colors prescribed in our recipes on the CD) will imitate any
stage of life of any of the mayfly species that trout feed on in the United States. Once you learn to tie
these, you will never need to tie another mayfly pattern. The flies shown do not imitate any particular
species of mayflies. The colors of materials should match those in the recipes provided on the CD
depending on the particular mayfly you desire to imitate.
Perfect Fly Mayfly Emergers:
1. Perfect TS Emerger:
When the nymphal shuck splits and the dun
emerges, the shuck often sticks to the duns
tails. Even if it doesn't stick, there is a short
period of time the empty shuck is still
attached to the tail. This transition must occur
in order for the dun to emerge. When this
occurs the mayfly is very subject to being
eaten by a trout. This fly imitates the duns
and nymphal shucks for size 10 and smaller
mayflies when the dun has emerged but the shuck
is still stuck to its tails. This represents most all
mayflies that hatch on or near the surface of the
water.
2. Perfect Super TS Emerger:
This fly imitates the larger duns and nymphal
shucks for size 10 and larger mayflies when
the dun has emerged but the nymphal shuck
is still stuck to its tails.
A different method and materials are used
for this large size emerger because of the
size limitations of biots. The ribbed and
specially applied dubbing imitates the
segmentation of the larger mayflies body well.
The split CDC wings represent the real
unfolding wings of the large emerging
mayflies. This fly floats low in the surface
skim like the real ones.
Perfect Fly Mayfly Duns:
3. Perfect Dun:
This is our basic dun pattern for mayflies
up to a hook size 12. This fly will probably be
the most used fly of all the patterns we have
simply because anglers like fishing the dry fly.
The dun is only available for a very short time
it is on the surface of the water. This varies
from species to species, stream to stream and
the environmental conditions at the time. Most
often it is only a few seconds. It's biot body
imitates the real segmentation of the duns
body well. Divided upright wings and a split
tail closely resembles the real mayfly.
4. Perfect Drake:
This is our dun pattern for the large mayflies,
mostly drakes. Biots only get so long and do
not work for the large drakes. The ribbed
segmentation used for the body of this fly
appears quite realistic although it requires a
few extra steps to tie. In fact, the entire fly
realistically imitates the large drakes very well.
The process used for the extended body and
tails of the mayfly works much better than
most other methods of tying extended bodies.
The split hen feather wings and parachute
hackled legs add to the realism of this fly.
In other words, it looks like the real drakes.
Perfect Fly Mayfly Spinners:
5. Perfect Spinner:
This is our basic spinner pattern for mayflies
that are a hook size 12 and smaller. It uses
bots for the body, split mayfly tails, hen
feathers for wings and soft hackle for the legs.
When wet, hen feathers tend to appear clear
like the wings of most spinners. We feel they
more accurately imitates the wings much
better than any artificial material on the
market. The turkey and goose biots looks
much like the real segmented body of a
mayfly. The split mayfly tails accurately
represent the long tails of real mayfly spinners.
6. Perfect Drake Spinner:
This is our spinner pattern for mayflies
that are a hook size 10 and larger. These
large mayflies are mostly drakes. The
segmented bodies of these large spinners
require a special ribbed, dubbed body to
closely imitate them. Like the smaller spinner
patterns above, the hen feather wings, split
tails, soft hackle legs together with the ribbed
segmented body, closely imitates the real
drake spinners. Most large mayfly spinner
flies look fake. These look more like the real
brown, golden, yellow, and green drake
spinners.
7. Perfect Wet Dun:
Imitates those nymphs that hatch below
the surface or on the bottom and (with
much less tailing material, those mayflies
that dive to deposit their eggs on the
bottom. An example of one that hatches on
the bottom is the Quill Gordon. Several
species of blue-winged olives dive and
deposit their eggs on underwater objects.
The fly should be weighted depending on
water speed and depth as well as for the
purpose, diving egg layers or hatches. You
will be amazed at the effectiveness of this fly.
Tying Perfect Mayfly
Emergers,Duns and Spinners
Emergers,Duns and Spinners
Emergers:
Imitation can only represent the emerging insect at a specific stage at a specific time during this short
interval of time. Trout take advantage of the emerging mayflies during this transition time, eating them
with ease.
Some mayflies emerge on the bottom or somewhere in between the bottom and the surface, and swim to
the surface as duns. Our "ts" or emerging combination nymph and dun, has the shuck still hanging or
trailing on the "almost" emerged dun. The "ts" nymph resembles a mayfly taking a jump suit off. Our
"Ea", emerging adult or wet fly imitation, represents those mayflies that emerge below the surface.
Imitation can only represent the emerging insect at a specific stage at a specific time during this short
interval of time. Trout take advantage of the emerging mayflies during this transition time, eating them
with ease.
Some mayflies emerge on the bottom or somewhere in between the bottom and the surface, and swim to
the surface as duns. Our "ts" or emerging combination nymph and dun, has the shuck still hanging or
trailing on the "almost" emerged dun. The "ts" nymph resembles a mayfly taking a jump suit off. Our
"Ea", emerging adult or wet fly imitation, represents those mayflies that emerge below the surface.
Mayfly duns have six legs, not sixty like some impressionistic patterns suggest. The trout can't count
them but the shape and configuration of 60 legs looks quite different than 6 to the trout. The duns float,
depending on the size and species of mayfly, more or less flush with the surface film, not high out of the
water standing on their feet like imitations tied with traditional vertically wound hackle. Depending upon
the smoothness of the water, the legs and tails leave an imprint (as anglers usually call it) on the surface,
but the silhouette of the fly as the trout views it varies greatly due to many factors.
We have two basis types of dun patterns, a biot version that represents the majority of the species and an
extended body version for the large mayflies. Both the biot body flies and the larger extended body flies,
have small amounts of material, usually soft hackle, tied in a horizontally wound parachute style to
represents the mayfly's legs. In other words, all our duns are parachute style flies, but we do not use a
post. Finally, mayflies have either two or three tails, not ten or fifteen like many imitations. We know that
the tails are used on many standard imitations to help float the fly, but it is not necessary to have more
support than the tails we use to float our dun patterns.
them but the shape and configuration of 60 legs looks quite different than 6 to the trout. The duns float,
depending on the size and species of mayfly, more or less flush with the surface film, not high out of the
water standing on their feet like imitations tied with traditional vertically wound hackle. Depending upon
the smoothness of the water, the legs and tails leave an imprint (as anglers usually call it) on the surface,
but the silhouette of the fly as the trout views it varies greatly due to many factors.
We have two basis types of dun patterns, a biot version that represents the majority of the species and an
extended body version for the large mayflies. Both the biot body flies and the larger extended body flies,
have small amounts of material, usually soft hackle, tied in a horizontally wound parachute style to
represents the mayfly's legs. In other words, all our duns are parachute style flies, but we do not use a
post. Finally, mayflies have either two or three tails, not ten or fifteen like many imitations. We know that
the tails are used on many standard imitations to help float the fly, but it is not necessary to have more
support than the tails we use to float our dun patterns.
Spinners:
When mayflies become sexually mature, they lose their dull outer covering and become what anglers call
spinners. Our "S" patterns represent the spinners. Although some specie of these spinners may die and fall
in ripples and faster moving water, they eventually wind up concentrated in eddies or smoother flowing
water such as pockets and the tail end of pools. This is usually where the trout go to take in the easy
offerings. Again, our "Perfect Fly" imitations are selected to catch trout in the type of water that trout feed
in depending upon the particular species of mayfly. Presentations made in turbulent water will drown most
of our spinners. In that event, you probably presented the fly in the wrong place, but even so, that is
exactly what happens to natural spinners that fall in turbulent water. They get drowned and even then,
your fly is properly imitating the natural.
The wings of spent spinners lie flat on the water, not upright like the duns. This fact, added to the fact
that spinners float low in the surface film, make them difficult to see even in the best situations, especially
the smaller spinners- the real ones and the fakes ones.
When mayflies become sexually mature, they lose their dull outer covering and become what anglers call
spinners. Our "S" patterns represent the spinners. Although some specie of these spinners may die and fall
in ripples and faster moving water, they eventually wind up concentrated in eddies or smoother flowing
water such as pockets and the tail end of pools. This is usually where the trout go to take in the easy
offerings. Again, our "Perfect Fly" imitations are selected to catch trout in the type of water that trout feed
in depending upon the particular species of mayfly. Presentations made in turbulent water will drown most
of our spinners. In that event, you probably presented the fly in the wrong place, but even so, that is
exactly what happens to natural spinners that fall in turbulent water. They get drowned and even then,
your fly is properly imitating the natural.
The wings of spent spinners lie flat on the water, not upright like the duns. This fact, added to the fact
that spinners float low in the surface film, make them difficult to see even in the best situations, especially
the smaller spinners- the real ones and the fakes ones.
Spinners are yet a different body and wing color from that of the dun, sometimes drastically different.
They are thinner, slimmer and usually have clear or transparent upright wings and a tail that is usually
longer than the duns tail. The female spinners are either involved with the mating process and are generally
not available for the trout to eat; or they are in the process of laying their eggs and may or may not be
available for the trout; or they have collapsed after laying their eggs with spent wings and a body that is
void of eggs. The male spinners may or may not be available, depending on where they die, on water or
on land.
They are thinner, slimmer and usually have clear or transparent upright wings and a tail that is usually
longer than the duns tail. The female spinners are either involved with the mating process and are generally
not available for the trout to eat; or they are in the process of laying their eggs and may or may not be
available for the trout; or they have collapsed after laying their eggs with spent wings and a body that is
void of eggs. The male spinners may or may not be available, depending on where they die, on water or
on land.
Purpose:
If anglers are to be consistently successful on a variety of trout waters, their imitations must look and act,
like the real bugs throughout their lifetime activities, on and in the water. That is what the "perfect fly"
concept is all about.
If anglers are to be consistently successful on a variety of trout waters, their imitations must look and act,
like the real bugs throughout their lifetime activities, on and in the water. That is what the "perfect fly"
concept is all about.
Patterns:
The mayfly patterns including in this program are selected to imitate the 43 (forty-three) categories of
mayflies that are included in our "Imitating Aquatic Insects - Mayflies" program. We attempted to keep the
number of different patterns and recipes as low as possible. The result was forty-three categories. These
categories closely represent over one hundred species taken from the genera of all the important families
of mayflies. In each of the 43 categories, there are usually 5 (five) and may be as many as 6 (six) different
patterns specifically selected to cover the various stages of the mayfly specie or species covered in that
category. We believe that there is enough difference in the naturals in each of the categories to justify
tying and fishing specific imitations that represent them. Keep in mind, this covers the entire United States
and you may only be concerned with the mayflies that are prevalent in the area you fish. You can further
eliminate the ones needed even more by obtaining the "Digital Hatch Guide" for the area you fish. This
way, you may only want to be concerned with tying the flies you need for the streams you fish within that
area.
Remember, all the flies are cross referenced using an alphanumerical reference to the "Imitating Mayfly"
programs; the various programs in the "Understanding Trout" series; and the "Choosing the Right Fly".
Important Point to Consider:
If you feel like you must be able to see your fly floating high on the water all the times to catch fish, then
we suggest that you view our "Perfect Presentation" program as well as some of the "Understanding
Trout" series of programs. While this is without question the way most of us would prefer to fish, it is a
fact, the odds are more against you than they are in favor of your consistently catching trout.
The mayfly patterns including in this program are selected to imitate the 43 (forty-three) categories of
mayflies that are included in our "Imitating Aquatic Insects - Mayflies" program. We attempted to keep the
number of different patterns and recipes as low as possible. The result was forty-three categories. These
categories closely represent over one hundred species taken from the genera of all the important families
of mayflies. In each of the 43 categories, there are usually 5 (five) and may be as many as 6 (six) different
patterns specifically selected to cover the various stages of the mayfly specie or species covered in that
category. We believe that there is enough difference in the naturals in each of the categories to justify
tying and fishing specific imitations that represent them. Keep in mind, this covers the entire United States
and you may only be concerned with the mayflies that are prevalent in the area you fish. You can further
eliminate the ones needed even more by obtaining the "Digital Hatch Guide" for the area you fish. This
way, you may only want to be concerned with tying the flies you need for the streams you fish within that
area.
Remember, all the flies are cross referenced using an alphanumerical reference to the "Imitating Mayfly"
programs; the various programs in the "Understanding Trout" series; and the "Choosing the Right Fly".
Important Point to Consider:
If you feel like you must be able to see your fly floating high on the water all the times to catch fish, then
we suggest that you view our "Perfect Presentation" program as well as some of the "Understanding
Trout" series of programs. While this is without question the way most of us would prefer to fish, it is a
fact, the odds are more against you than they are in favor of your consistently catching trout.
We placed this real "white fly" beside three of its store
bought imitations; a spinner, a dun and an emerger. How
close do you think the fakes match the real fly? Yes, it is
usually very late in the day or at night when the white
flies emerge, but even so, how close do you think the
shape of the fake flies will match the real white fly when
they are floating in the water?
bought imitations; a spinner, a dun and an emerger. How
close do you think the fakes match the real fly? Yes, it is
usually very late in the day or at night when the white
flies emerge, but even so, how close do you think the
shape of the fake flies will match the real white fly when
they are floating in the water?
Example Script:
Of course, there is really no such thing as "the Perfect Fly". Flies have one and only one purpose and that is
to catch fish. The mayfly is by far the most imitated insect and the most popular type of fly there is. Most
anglers envision mayflies as dainty, little sailboat figures floating downstream just waiting to be eaten by
hungry trout. They also tend to think that the larger the mayflies are, the larger the trout will be. Anglers are
also easy fooled into thinking that the more mayflies there are on the water, the more fish they are going to
catch.
There are several things wrong with these scenarios. First, during the time mayflies are emerging, the duns
usually float on the surface for only a very short time -usually just it is just a matter of seconds, rarely
minutes. Secondly, during multiple hatches, it is not uncommon for trout to feed on smaller mayflies even
when larger ones are available. Thirdly, sometimes a large number of mayflies on the water make it more
difficult to catch trout. Even when you have a good match of the natural, your odds of hooking up are
decreased due simply to the mathematics of probability.
Now you may rightly ask to question, "What does this have to do with tying flies"? The answer is "almost
everything". Our imitations must mimic the "behavior" of mayflies as well as their looks. This includes the
large part of their life as a nymph on the bottom; the stage when the nymphs change to duns and are very
susceptible to being eaten by trout; the ultra short life of the dun on the water; and in some cases, the
female eggs layers and the male and female spinners that may fall on the water and die. Good imitations
must look and act natural, not so much from our overhead viewpoint, but much more so, from the trout's
underwater viewpoint. Not from the standpoint of our relatively good vision, but from the standpoint of the
trout's relatively poor vision.
The looks, size and shape of the emergers changes quickly. Your mayfly nymphs have six legs, not
twenty or thirty like many standard imitations. The legs extend out along the sides of the nymph. Mayflies
do not have several legs on each side extending out of the same spot.
They have three, or sometimes two, tails; not six or a two dozen like many imitations. We know
mayflies can't count, but several tails provides a shape, size and form unlike that of real mayfly tails.
Although gills are present in certain areas, the abdominal section of most mayfly nymphs is basically
smooth and segmented, not solid or fury. At some point of departure from a fly that looks like the real one
to a fly that remotely resembles a the real fly; depending on many factors such as the length of time the fish
has to examine the fly, the clarity of the water and many others; trout can tell the difference. If this were
not true, you as well use dough balls for flies.
Our "Perfect Mayfly" imitations of emerging mayfly nymphs, our "Et" or emerging combination nymph
and dun, represents the emerging mayfly with the shuck still hanging or trailing on the "almost" emerged
dun. This one resembles a mayfly taking a jump suit off.
Imitation can only represent the emerging insect at a specific stage at a specific time during this short
interval of time. Trout take advantage of the emerging mayflies during this transition time, eating them with
ease.
Some mayflies emerge on the bottom or somewhere in between the bottom and the surface, and swim to
the surface as duns. Our "Ea", emerging adult or wet fly imitation, represents those mayflies that emerge
below the surface.
Fully emerged adult mayfly duns, our "D" patterns, have two main upright divided wings like real
mayflies. They do not have a single wing or just totally lack wings like some mayfly imitations. When
upright, these wings sit back at an angle to the body, not straight up like the many imitations that do have
wings. We don't go so far as to add the tiny hind wings for those species that have them, but we do think
the main wings, which represent almost half of the total configuration or silhouette of a mayfly, should be
somewhat realistic and visible to the trout.
Mayfly duns have six legs, not sixty like some impressionistic patterns suggest. The duns float, depending
on the size and species of mayfly, more or less flush with the surface film, not high out of the water
standing on their feet like imitations tied with traditional vertically wound hackle. Depending upon the
smoothness of the water, the legs and tails leave an imprint (as anglers usually call it) on the surface, but
the silhouette of the fly as the trout views it varies greatly due to many factors.
We have two basis types of dun patterns, a biot version that represents the majority of the specie and an
extended body version for the large mayflies. Both the biot body flies and the larger extended body flies,
have small amounts of material, usually soft hackle, tied in a horizontally wound parachute style to
represents the mayfly's legs. In other words, all our duns are parachute style flies, but we do not use a
post. Finally, mayflies have either two or three tails, not ten or fifteen like many imitations. We know that
the tails are used on many standard imitations to help float the fly, but it is not necessary to have more
support than the tails we use to float our dun patterns.
When mayflies become sexually mature, they lose their dull outer covering and become what anglers call
spinners. Our "S" patterns represent the spinners. Although some species of these spinners may die
and fall in ripples and faster moving water, they eventually wind up concentrated in eddies or smoother
flowing water such as pockets and the tail end of pools. This is usually where the trout go to take in the
easy offerings. Again, our "Perfect Fly" imitations are selected to catch trout in the type of water that trout
feed in depending upon the particular species of mayfly. Presentations made in turbulent water will drown
most of our spinners. In that event, you probably presented the fly in the wrong place, but even so, that is
exactly what happens to natural spinners that fall in turbulent water. They get drowned and even then, your
fly is properly imitating the natural.
The wings of spent spinners lie flat on the water, not upright like the duns. This fact, added to the fact that
spinners float low in the surface film, make them difficult to see even in the best situations, especially the
smaller spinners- the real ones and the fakes ones.
Spinners are yet a different body and wing color from that of the dun, sometimes drastically different.
They are thinner, slimmer and usually have clear or transparent upright wings and a tail that is usually
longer than the duns tail. The female spinners are either involved with the mating process and are generally
not available for the trout to eat; or they are in the process of laying their eggs and may or may not be
available for the trout; or they have collapsed after laying their eggs with spent wings and a body that is
void of eggs. The male spinners may or may not be available, depending on where they die, on water or on
land.
So, if anglers are to be consistently successful or a variety of trout waters, their imitation must look and
act, like the real bugs throughout their lifetime activities, on and in the water. That is what the "perfect
fly" concept is all about. If you feel like you must be able to see your fly floating high on the water all the
times to catch fish, then we suggest that you view our "Perfect Presentation" program as well as some of
the "Understanding Trout" series of programs. While this is without question the way most of us would
prefer to fish, it is a fact, the odds are more against you than they are in favor of your consistently catching
trout.
We believe color, or at least the right shade of color; can be important under certain conditions. We
strongly believe that the size and shape of the fly is for the most part, very important. Color is difficult to
describe and even difficult to distinguish exactly as intended due to the fact that colors look different under
different types of lighting conditions. Also, are far as your ability to see the color is concerned, keep in
mind that you may be viewing the program on a monitor or TV with less than perfect color balance,
saturation and hue adjustments. Even at the fly tying table, artificial and natural light can make a big
difference.
As mentioned before, we do not think trout count the number of tails and legs on a fly, but we do think the
more closely the imitation matches the natural nymph, emerger, dun or spinner, the more effective the
fly will be.
If the mayfly emerges on the shore, the Ea or emerging adult pattern would not be included. If the mayfly
does not emerge on the bottom or midway between the bottom and the surface of the water, and the vast
majority of them don't, then the wet imitation would not be included. In some cases there is a substantial
difference in the size and color of the sexes, both as adult and as spinners. In these cases two patterns are
included, one for the female dun or spinner, and one for the male dun or spinner. Altogether there are over
three hundred specific mayfly imitations.
Off hand, you may think that this is a tremendous number of flies. Actually it is not. Most of the "Perfect
Flies" are just variations of the same thing, differences in color and size of the main features such as
length of tails, size of the thorax, etc. There are only a few basic patterns. Once you learn to tie a dozen or
so mayflies, you can tie all of them.
The mayfly patterns including in this program are selected to imitate the 43 (forty-three) categories of
mayflies that are included in our "Imitating Aquatic Insects - Mayflies" program. We attempted to keep the
number of different patterns and recipes as low as possible. The result was forty-three categories. These
categories closely represent over one hundred species taken from the genera of all the important families of
mayflies. In each of the 43 categories, there are usually 4 (four) and may be as many as 6 (six) different
patterns specifically selected to cover the various stages of the mayfly species covered in that category. We
believe that there is enough difference in the naturals in each of the categories to justify tying and fishing
specific imitations that represent them. Keep in mind, this covers the entire United States and you may only
be concerned with the mayflies that are prevalent in the area you fish. You can further eliminate the ones
needed even more by obtaining the "Choosing the Right Fly" for the area you fish. This way, you may only
want to be concerned with tying the flies you need for the streams you fish within that area.
Remember, all the flies are cross referenced using an alphanumerical reference to the "Imitating Mayfly"
programs; the various programs in the "Understanding Trout" series; and the "Choosing the Right Fly".
If you carry flies representing all the patterns for all stages of all the mayflies in this program, you will be
able to imitate just about any specie of mayfly encountered in the United States, and most anywhere else for
that matter. There are some specie that are rarely encountered on trout streams or still water, species that
are marginal warm water mayflies and specie that appear extremely sparse in density that we do not have
specific imitative patterns for. If you encounter such a bug, then we feel certain that one of the patterns
you have will come close enough that you or the trout will never know the difference.
We suggest that you obtain "Choosing the Right Fly" program for the area you fish and at least, attempt
to tie the mayfly patterns listed for the particular streams that you intend to fish. If you use the same
approach for our terrestrial, streamers, caddisfly, midge, stonefly, damsel and dragonfly programs and then
fail to catch fish, then you certainly shouldn't be able to blame it on not having the right fly.
You will notice most of our patterns utilize biots for the bodies, if not, some other form of segmented or
ribbed pattern. That is because the real mayflies, nymphs and other stages of life, have segmented bodies.
You can use synthetics tubing of various types and depending upon the particular brand you have may even
look somewhat realistic. Some of the tubing will work for specific sizes of flies, but so far, we have found
none that imitate the segmentation of all the various sizes of mayflies. A hook size 6 is one thing and a size
26 is quite another thing. Even when you stretch the material to make it smaller, using it may drastically
change the number of segments of the mayfly body. The trout may not be able to count but they may
recognize that a nymph with 4 segments or 44 segments doesn't look much like the real ones that usually
have ten.
We are partial to biots for many other reasons. One is that you can buy them pre-stripped and dyed in
several different colors or you can strip and die them yourself in any colors. Biots have two very different
sides. One side of the goose biot has a tiny row of barbules that looks a lot like gills on some species of
nymphs. The other side is smooth.
You can use different forms of added materials to enhance the segmentation and gills or a waterproof
making pen to add colors to the segments making them even more distinguishable. But the most important
feature is the natural finish of the biots.
A turkey biot that is over an inch long is a long one. They are usually less than an inch long and rarely over
an inch and a quarter long. Turkey biots are longer than goose biots and are usually needed for hook
size 14 and larger flies. A one inch long goose biot is a long one. Although turkey biots work for the small
flies too, the goose biots are better for flies size 16 and smaller because they are better proportioned for
them. They are usually narrower than turkey biots. They are transparent however, and do not offer the
same appearance as goose biots.
When you want the smooth segmentation it is best to slightly overlap the biot to help conceal the barbules.
The overlapping takes a slightly longer biot than if it were butted.
(The above is just a portion of the script)
Of course, there is really no such thing as "the Perfect Fly". Flies have one and only one purpose and that is
to catch fish. The mayfly is by far the most imitated insect and the most popular type of fly there is. Most
anglers envision mayflies as dainty, little sailboat figures floating downstream just waiting to be eaten by
hungry trout. They also tend to think that the larger the mayflies are, the larger the trout will be. Anglers are
also easy fooled into thinking that the more mayflies there are on the water, the more fish they are going to
catch.
There are several things wrong with these scenarios. First, during the time mayflies are emerging, the duns
usually float on the surface for only a very short time -usually just it is just a matter of seconds, rarely
minutes. Secondly, during multiple hatches, it is not uncommon for trout to feed on smaller mayflies even
when larger ones are available. Thirdly, sometimes a large number of mayflies on the water make it more
difficult to catch trout. Even when you have a good match of the natural, your odds of hooking up are
decreased due simply to the mathematics of probability.
Now you may rightly ask to question, "What does this have to do with tying flies"? The answer is "almost
everything". Our imitations must mimic the "behavior" of mayflies as well as their looks. This includes the
large part of their life as a nymph on the bottom; the stage when the nymphs change to duns and are very
susceptible to being eaten by trout; the ultra short life of the dun on the water; and in some cases, the
female eggs layers and the male and female spinners that may fall on the water and die. Good imitations
must look and act natural, not so much from our overhead viewpoint, but much more so, from the trout's
underwater viewpoint. Not from the standpoint of our relatively good vision, but from the standpoint of the
trout's relatively poor vision.
The looks, size and shape of the emergers changes quickly. Your mayfly nymphs have six legs, not
twenty or thirty like many standard imitations. The legs extend out along the sides of the nymph. Mayflies
do not have several legs on each side extending out of the same spot.
They have three, or sometimes two, tails; not six or a two dozen like many imitations. We know
mayflies can't count, but several tails provides a shape, size and form unlike that of real mayfly tails.
Although gills are present in certain areas, the abdominal section of most mayfly nymphs is basically
smooth and segmented, not solid or fury. At some point of departure from a fly that looks like the real one
to a fly that remotely resembles a the real fly; depending on many factors such as the length of time the fish
has to examine the fly, the clarity of the water and many others; trout can tell the difference. If this were
not true, you as well use dough balls for flies.
Our "Perfect Mayfly" imitations of emerging mayfly nymphs, our "Et" or emerging combination nymph
and dun, represents the emerging mayfly with the shuck still hanging or trailing on the "almost" emerged
dun. This one resembles a mayfly taking a jump suit off.
Imitation can only represent the emerging insect at a specific stage at a specific time during this short
interval of time. Trout take advantage of the emerging mayflies during this transition time, eating them with
ease.
Some mayflies emerge on the bottom or somewhere in between the bottom and the surface, and swim to
the surface as duns. Our "Ea", emerging adult or wet fly imitation, represents those mayflies that emerge
below the surface.
Fully emerged adult mayfly duns, our "D" patterns, have two main upright divided wings like real
mayflies. They do not have a single wing or just totally lack wings like some mayfly imitations. When
upright, these wings sit back at an angle to the body, not straight up like the many imitations that do have
wings. We don't go so far as to add the tiny hind wings for those species that have them, but we do think
the main wings, which represent almost half of the total configuration or silhouette of a mayfly, should be
somewhat realistic and visible to the trout.
Mayfly duns have six legs, not sixty like some impressionistic patterns suggest. The duns float, depending
on the size and species of mayfly, more or less flush with the surface film, not high out of the water
standing on their feet like imitations tied with traditional vertically wound hackle. Depending upon the
smoothness of the water, the legs and tails leave an imprint (as anglers usually call it) on the surface, but
the silhouette of the fly as the trout views it varies greatly due to many factors.
We have two basis types of dun patterns, a biot version that represents the majority of the specie and an
extended body version for the large mayflies. Both the biot body flies and the larger extended body flies,
have small amounts of material, usually soft hackle, tied in a horizontally wound parachute style to
represents the mayfly's legs. In other words, all our duns are parachute style flies, but we do not use a
post. Finally, mayflies have either two or three tails, not ten or fifteen like many imitations. We know that
the tails are used on many standard imitations to help float the fly, but it is not necessary to have more
support than the tails we use to float our dun patterns.
When mayflies become sexually mature, they lose their dull outer covering and become what anglers call
spinners. Our "S" patterns represent the spinners. Although some species of these spinners may die
and fall in ripples and faster moving water, they eventually wind up concentrated in eddies or smoother
flowing water such as pockets and the tail end of pools. This is usually where the trout go to take in the
easy offerings. Again, our "Perfect Fly" imitations are selected to catch trout in the type of water that trout
feed in depending upon the particular species of mayfly. Presentations made in turbulent water will drown
most of our spinners. In that event, you probably presented the fly in the wrong place, but even so, that is
exactly what happens to natural spinners that fall in turbulent water. They get drowned and even then, your
fly is properly imitating the natural.
The wings of spent spinners lie flat on the water, not upright like the duns. This fact, added to the fact that
spinners float low in the surface film, make them difficult to see even in the best situations, especially the
smaller spinners- the real ones and the fakes ones.
Spinners are yet a different body and wing color from that of the dun, sometimes drastically different.
They are thinner, slimmer and usually have clear or transparent upright wings and a tail that is usually
longer than the duns tail. The female spinners are either involved with the mating process and are generally
not available for the trout to eat; or they are in the process of laying their eggs and may or may not be
available for the trout; or they have collapsed after laying their eggs with spent wings and a body that is
void of eggs. The male spinners may or may not be available, depending on where they die, on water or on
land.
So, if anglers are to be consistently successful or a variety of trout waters, their imitation must look and
act, like the real bugs throughout their lifetime activities, on and in the water. That is what the "perfect
fly" concept is all about. If you feel like you must be able to see your fly floating high on the water all the
times to catch fish, then we suggest that you view our "Perfect Presentation" program as well as some of
the "Understanding Trout" series of programs. While this is without question the way most of us would
prefer to fish, it is a fact, the odds are more against you than they are in favor of your consistently catching
trout.
We believe color, or at least the right shade of color; can be important under certain conditions. We
strongly believe that the size and shape of the fly is for the most part, very important. Color is difficult to
describe and even difficult to distinguish exactly as intended due to the fact that colors look different under
different types of lighting conditions. Also, are far as your ability to see the color is concerned, keep in
mind that you may be viewing the program on a monitor or TV with less than perfect color balance,
saturation and hue adjustments. Even at the fly tying table, artificial and natural light can make a big
difference.
As mentioned before, we do not think trout count the number of tails and legs on a fly, but we do think the
more closely the imitation matches the natural nymph, emerger, dun or spinner, the more effective the
fly will be.
If the mayfly emerges on the shore, the Ea or emerging adult pattern would not be included. If the mayfly
does not emerge on the bottom or midway between the bottom and the surface of the water, and the vast
majority of them don't, then the wet imitation would not be included. In some cases there is a substantial
difference in the size and color of the sexes, both as adult and as spinners. In these cases two patterns are
included, one for the female dun or spinner, and one for the male dun or spinner. Altogether there are over
three hundred specific mayfly imitations.
Off hand, you may think that this is a tremendous number of flies. Actually it is not. Most of the "Perfect
Flies" are just variations of the same thing, differences in color and size of the main features such as
length of tails, size of the thorax, etc. There are only a few basic patterns. Once you learn to tie a dozen or
so mayflies, you can tie all of them.
The mayfly patterns including in this program are selected to imitate the 43 (forty-three) categories of
mayflies that are included in our "Imitating Aquatic Insects - Mayflies" program. We attempted to keep the
number of different patterns and recipes as low as possible. The result was forty-three categories. These
categories closely represent over one hundred species taken from the genera of all the important families of
mayflies. In each of the 43 categories, there are usually 4 (four) and may be as many as 6 (six) different
patterns specifically selected to cover the various stages of the mayfly species covered in that category. We
believe that there is enough difference in the naturals in each of the categories to justify tying and fishing
specific imitations that represent them. Keep in mind, this covers the entire United States and you may only
be concerned with the mayflies that are prevalent in the area you fish. You can further eliminate the ones
needed even more by obtaining the "Choosing the Right Fly" for the area you fish. This way, you may only
want to be concerned with tying the flies you need for the streams you fish within that area.
Remember, all the flies are cross referenced using an alphanumerical reference to the "Imitating Mayfly"
programs; the various programs in the "Understanding Trout" series; and the "Choosing the Right Fly".
If you carry flies representing all the patterns for all stages of all the mayflies in this program, you will be
able to imitate just about any specie of mayfly encountered in the United States, and most anywhere else for
that matter. There are some specie that are rarely encountered on trout streams or still water, species that
are marginal warm water mayflies and specie that appear extremely sparse in density that we do not have
specific imitative patterns for. If you encounter such a bug, then we feel certain that one of the patterns
you have will come close enough that you or the trout will never know the difference.
We suggest that you obtain "Choosing the Right Fly" program for the area you fish and at least, attempt
to tie the mayfly patterns listed for the particular streams that you intend to fish. If you use the same
approach for our terrestrial, streamers, caddisfly, midge, stonefly, damsel and dragonfly programs and then
fail to catch fish, then you certainly shouldn't be able to blame it on not having the right fly.
You will notice most of our patterns utilize biots for the bodies, if not, some other form of segmented or
ribbed pattern. That is because the real mayflies, nymphs and other stages of life, have segmented bodies.
You can use synthetics tubing of various types and depending upon the particular brand you have may even
look somewhat realistic. Some of the tubing will work for specific sizes of flies, but so far, we have found
none that imitate the segmentation of all the various sizes of mayflies. A hook size 6 is one thing and a size
26 is quite another thing. Even when you stretch the material to make it smaller, using it may drastically
change the number of segments of the mayfly body. The trout may not be able to count but they may
recognize that a nymph with 4 segments or 44 segments doesn't look much like the real ones that usually
have ten.
We are partial to biots for many other reasons. One is that you can buy them pre-stripped and dyed in
several different colors or you can strip and die them yourself in any colors. Biots have two very different
sides. One side of the goose biot has a tiny row of barbules that looks a lot like gills on some species of
nymphs. The other side is smooth.
You can use different forms of added materials to enhance the segmentation and gills or a waterproof
making pen to add colors to the segments making them even more distinguishable. But the most important
feature is the natural finish of the biots.
A turkey biot that is over an inch long is a long one. They are usually less than an inch long and rarely over
an inch and a quarter long. Turkey biots are longer than goose biots and are usually needed for hook
size 14 and larger flies. A one inch long goose biot is a long one. Although turkey biots work for the small
flies too, the goose biots are better for flies size 16 and smaller because they are better proportioned for
them. They are usually narrower than turkey biots. They are transparent however, and do not offer the
same appearance as goose biots.
When you want the smooth segmentation it is best to slightly overlap the biot to help conceal the barbules.
The overlapping takes a slightly longer biot than if it were butted.
(The above is just a portion of the script)
Copyright 2008 James Marsh, All Rights Reserved
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Get Your Ph.D. in Fly-Fishing Right Here!
Duns:
Fully emerged adult mayfly duns, our "D" patterns, have two main upright divided wings like real mayflies.
They do not have a single wing or just totally lack wings like some mayfly imitations. When upright, these
wings sit back at an angle to the body, not straight up like the few imitations that do have wings. We don't
go so far as to add the tiny hind wings for those species that have them, but we do think the main wings,
which represent almost half of the total configuration or silhouette of a mayfly, should be somewhat
realistic.
Fully emerged adult mayfly duns, our "D" patterns, have two main upright divided wings like real mayflies.
They do not have a single wing or just totally lack wings like some mayfly imitations. When upright, these
wings sit back at an angle to the body, not straight up like the few imitations that do have wings. We don't
go so far as to add the tiny hind wings for those species that have them, but we do think the main wings,
which represent almost half of the total configuration or silhouette of a mayfly, should be somewhat
realistic.
| M101S |
| M101D |
Can you tie
imitations of
the mayflies
shown here?
imitations of
the mayflies
shown here?
We have
closeup shots
of almost all of
the mayflies
that are
important to
anglers.
closeup shots
of almost all of
the mayflies
that are
important to
anglers.
Tim Doyle demonstrates each procedure in a step-by-step, easy
to follow manner. Three separate camera angles show all the
details and makes fly tying easy. A wide view of the entire scene, a
macro closeup
view of the fly from the front and an over the shoulder view of the
fly in the vice make it clear for you. The purpose and method of
presentation of each fly is covered so that you know exactly what it
is to be used for and how to use it.
to follow manner. Three separate camera angles show all the
details and makes fly tying easy. A wide view of the entire scene, a
macro closeup
view of the fly from the front and an over the shoulder view of the
fly in the vice make it clear for you. The purpose and method of
presentation of each fly is covered so that you know exactly what it
is to be used for and how to use it.
Learn to tie our 7 "Perfect Mayfly Emergers, Duns and
Spinners". By varying the size and color of materials
according to our recipes (on the included CD) you will be
able to tie over 120 highly effective specific imitations of all
the important mayfly species of duns, spinners and
emerging duns that trout feed on from coast to coast.
A separate CD includes recipes or specific instructions for
each stage of life of every important mayfly species.
Spinners". By varying the size and color of materials
according to our recipes (on the included CD) you will be
able to tie over 120 highly effective specific imitations of all
the important mayfly species of duns, spinners and
emerging duns that trout feed on from coast to coast.
A separate CD includes recipes or specific instructions for
each stage of life of every important mayfly species.
Under construction
These are the seven (7) basic patterns:
1. Perfect TS Emerger
2. Perfect Super TS Emerger
3. Perfect Dun
4. Perfect Drake
5. Perfect Spinner
6. Perfect Drake Spinner
7. Perfect Wet Dun
1. Perfect TS Emerger
2. Perfect Super TS Emerger
3. Perfect Dun
4. Perfect Drake
5. Perfect Spinner
6. Perfect Drake Spinner
7. Perfect Wet Dun
$29.95 (DVD and CD)
