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T H E F L Y D R E S S E R S ’ G U I L D

Sussex Branch

Newsletter

Oct 2014

Our Autumn Auction

A Date for Your Diary

Our Autumn Auction will be on Thursday 16th

October 2014

At our usual venue of Patcham Community Centre, Ladies

Mile Road, Patcham, Brighton. (please ignore the date on the

tying programme, which wrongly shows the auction on a

different day).

This yeas’ auction has a few differences from previous

auctions, and the main changes are listed below:-

THE AUCTION WILL START 15 MINUTES

EARLIER, STARTING AT 7.30PM. VIEWING

WILL BE FROM 6.45PM - 7.30PM.

(if you arrive at 7.30pm when the auction has started,

you will still be able to register with Roy Gurney and

therefore bid. You will not be able to view).

THERE WILL BE NO BUYERS PREMIUM

(what you bid is what you will be asked to pay, if you are the

successful bidder. Nothing will be added).

This years’ autumn auction will be a mixed auction

with a combination of fly tying materials, books and

fishing tackle. Under the following categories:-

FLY TYING MATERIALS

FLY TYING TOOLS AND STORAGE BOXES

FLIES AND FLY BOXES

CLOTHING

A WIDE RANGE OF FISHING TACKLE

RODS

REELS

FLY LINES

BOOKS AND DVD’S

MISCELLANEOUS

The catalogues for the autumn auction is attached to the

newsletter. Please print it off, as you will need it on the night.

For our auction to be a real success we need two things:-

1. A wide variety of lots for you to bid on

2. Lots of people to come along to bid and to support

the event.

The first part is complete – we have over 300 lots for you to

bid on, now we need people to come along on the night.

So if you have not already done so, now is the time to pencil

the evening of Thursday 16th October into your diaries.

In addition to coming along on the night, you can help in

another way – all of you have friends who fish, or tie flies, or

even do both. You can show your support for this club event,

by telling them about the auction, and encouraging them to

come along as well. OUR AUCTION IS OPEN TO ALL,

NOT JUST CLUB MEMBERS, WITH EVERYBODY

WELCOME.

I can promise you an enjoyable evening, a great chance to top

up on material, tackle and books, and to treat yourself, and

most importantly LOTS OF GOODIES AT BARGAIN

PRICES!

See you on the night

Tony Harrison

Club Fishing Outing

Grayling Fishing on The River Test

Saturday 8th November

Cost Approx £40

e-mail or phone Paul Davis to reserve your

placeflytyer@inbox.com 01306 621157

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Who’s the Daddy? A Fly to Try in October

The summer is over, daytime temperatures are

dropping and the nights are drawing in. These are not

things to be sad about because it heralds the start of

some of the best sport on our stillwaters. This time of

year makes the dry fly trout angler think of one thing

Daddy Long Legs or Craneflies if you prefer their correct

name.

Daddys actually hatch all year around because there are

327 recorded species in the UK. The smallest is only

3mm long (body length)and the largest (Tipula maxima)

has a leg span of 100mm (that’s 4 inches in old money!)

and a body up to 32mm (1¼ inches). This largest

species actually hatches from April to October (with the

peak hatch in September & October) and is very

common around stillwaters as the female lays her eggs

in the damp mossy fringes of ponds, ditches and

streams. On hatching, the larvae take to an aquatic

existence just below the water surface, before

continuing their development in submerged leaf litter.

The Daddy of them all - Tipula maxima (Photo by

Graham Calow)

The most common species is Tipula oleracea and these

also hatch from April to October although the peak

hatch for this species is June to August. This species

(along with most of the other Cranefly species) has a

terrestrial larval stage – known as 'leather jackets' -

which get themselves a bad name from gardeners and

farmers by feeding on the root system of grasses.

The common Tipula oleracea (Photo by David Nicholls)

What makes all of the craneflies so good to imitate is

that they often hatch together and in large numbers.

This, combined with the fact that they are poor fliers in

all but the gentlest of breezes, means that they are

often blown out onto the water where trout take

benefit of this protein packed foody windfall.

Looking at the pictures above there are a number of key

factors when tying a Daddy imitation. Firstly size -

Tipula oleracea has a body length of up to 25mm (1

inch). So these are big insects, so tie them big. Colour

is a major factor – shades of brown are the order of the

day – most Daddys bodies are tan or grey/brown.

Thirdly – legs - there are 6 and they are long and spindly

with three joints. Daddys float, so make sure your

imitation floats (yes I know that a gold head daddy is a

fish killer but I think that it works, not because the fish

think it is a Daddy but, as a lure with vibrating mobile

rubber legs).

So how do we make a Daddy pattern based on this

knowledge – well firstly you need a detached body and

there are a myriad of ways to do this but I think the best

two are using a foam tube or using very fine cord. The

foam version has plenty of patterns and is easily found

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in books and on the web. The cord method was

mentioned to me and invented by Simon Young who

lives in Sussex (Simon will be on Fly Tyers Row at iFISH

so make sure you go and see him at work). Charles

Jardine rated a Daddy with cord for the detached body

as the best Daddy pattern of them all! I like it because

it is quick and easy and because the cord is soft – just

like the real insect. It also behaves naturally when the

fish rises to take the fly – the snout of the fish hits a dry

fly first – so if the fly feels stiff and hard the fish knows

something is wrong and often aborts the take. With a

cord detached body it moves and bends as the trout’s

snout hits it so, to the fish, it feels natural.

The fly below takes account of using a cord detached

body, it has long pheasant tail legs, it incorporates

foam, a waterproof dubbing and a genetic hackle to

keep it floating plus it has large wings like the original. I

can vouch for its success and have caught quite a few

rainbows on this pattern through the summer months

and into autumn.

Daddy Cool

Hook: Size 10 Curved Buzzer/Grub (I

have used a Charles Jardine Pupa/Grub Hook)

Detached Body: Very fine Polypropylene cord

coloured with permanent

marker and soaked in

Watershed

Thread: Tan (I have used Brick Beige

Nano Silk)

Legs: Pheasant Tail – long fibres

knotted twice

Body: Tan Dubbing (I have used

Beaver as it is naturally waterproof)

Thorax Cover: Tan Foam Tube.

Hackle: Pale Brown Genetic Cock Saddle

Hackle

Wings: Cree Indian Cock Hackle Points

Key points to remember

Remember you need a man-made fibre cord –

polypropylene is the most widely available – but don’t

use cotton – it soaks up water and sinks! Also you need

to melt the end of the cord to get a nice blob o the end

that looks like the genitalia on a real Daddy – compare

the fly with the photo of Tipula oleracea. Also to add

further floatability soak the cord in Watershed (a

permanent waterproofing that needs to be applied at

least 24 hours before using the fly).

Use the longest pheasant tail fibres you can find for the

legs – they are easier to knot and look more realistic.

To make knotting the fibres a breeze use a very fine

crochet hook (a few pence at a Charity Shop) or a boilie

baiting hook (if you’re a coarse fisherman).

You don’t need to add wings for the fly to work but they

do set the fly off nicely – Cree (natural ginger grizzle)

feathers look very similar to the wings on Tipula

maxima.

As always - need any further advice or help tying these

patterns or need any of the materials – just call me on

the shop number – 01273 252504 – Mon to Fri 9 to 5.

Tight Threads

Paul Davis

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Branch Outing – Fishing Ashbourne 21/09/2014.

For late September the weather was very kind, apart

from a breeze that made casting in some areas round

the lakes rather challenging. Eleven members arrived to

fish the Ashbourne estate and they enjoyed a sunny

day, good fishing and a superb bar-b-que at lunch time.

Unlike last year when not many of the anglers caught

their 3 fish limit, this year the fish were far more co-

operative, 6 anglers caught their limit. The lakes were

also in beautiful condition, in that the bottom lake was

not full of weed and so could be fished properly.

The two lakes at Ashbourne are set amongst trees and

the grass surrounds are beautifully mowed. The fishing

got underway at just after nine o’clock and finished at 4

o’clock with the weigh in, see results table.

As one would expect most fish were caught using the

various types of sunk flies that are allowed. The rules

stating a single fly, maximum size 10 and all brown trout

must be returned. However there were several fish

caught on dry flies, the most successful angler in this

respect was Barry Markham who caught all his fish on

dry flies. Janice was affected by the brown trout rule, as

she caught a 2lb-08.5oz brownie and had to return it

and did not manage to land any rainbows.

The results of a very enjoyable day are as the table

below:-

Name 1 2 3 Total Comments

Peter

Winder

1lb-

15oz

1lb-

12oz

1lb-

14oz

5lb-

09oz

3rd

Peter

Buss

1lb-

08oz

1lb-

12oz

- 3lb-

04oz

8th

Janice D - - - Returned

a BT 2lb-

08oz

Nathan

Winter

1lb-

09oz

1lb-

15oz

1lb-

12oz

5lb-

04oz

4th

Roy

Gurney

1lb-

14oz

1lb-

08.5oz

- 3lb-

06.5oz

7th

Tony H 1lb-

11oz

1lb-

07oz

- 3lb-

02oz

9th

Tony W 1lb-

14oz

- - 1lb-

14oz

10th

Fred

Wassell

1lb-

06oz

1lb-

08oz

1lb-

10oz

4lb-

08oz

6th

Colin Avis 1lb-

08oz

1lb-

13oz

1lb12oz 5lb-

01oz

5th

Bill Black 1lb-

15oz

2lb-

00oz

1lb-

120z

5lb-

11oz

1st equal

Barry

Markham

2lb-

00oz

1lb-

15oz

1lb-

12oz

5lb-

11oz

1st equal

A final note needs to be added, towards the end of the

day Roy managed to immerse himself in the lake, he

was 3 times lucky. He didn’t hurt himself, he didn’t

break his rod and most importantly it wasn’t the middle

of winter. At the weigh in he seemed none the worse

for his adventure.

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Bill Black

Chairman’s Chat

Providing facilities for the upstream migration of fish is only

half the battle. The other half of the cycle is of course the

subsequent downstream migration of smolts and kelts of

Atlantic salmon. Pacific salmon do not survive spawning,

hence no kelts.

Taking smolts as an example, massive losses occur due to

predation by birds and fish. Obstructions cause further losses.

In particular hydropower sites (not Archimedean Screws)

where losses are typically 15%. The turbines kill by damage

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and the stilling bay downstream of turbines may become super

saturated with nitrogen. Given that many rivers in the USA

(and Scotland) may have many hydropower sites in a length of

river, the overall impact of such structures can be

considerable.

So how can these problems be mitigated?

In the UK adult Atlantic salmon and sea trout are intercepted

in the pools just above the saline limit and electro fished out,

spawned on site (when ripe) and the eggs taken to the

hatchery. Unripe fish are retained for spawning later. The

adults are returned to the river alive and the smolts are

released in due course to their “natural” river. A further

benefit of this system is that hatchery reared smolts do not

suffer bird and fish predation. This technique used to be

carried out on the Adur and Ouse but has subsequently been

discontinued. I suppose our friends at the EA considered it

“unnatural”.

In the USA they adopt much more radical solutions. Firstly

on some rivers they collect literally billions of smolts and

transport them downriver by barge past the hydro sites for

release. They also fit travelling smolt screens in front of the

turbines. In addition they replace the estimated 15% turbine

losses by raising adults in fish farms. If that was not enough,

they fit their turbines with blades which have a minimal

impact on smolts. This choice of impeller is not carried out in

the UK to my knowledge.

This shows adults being raised in the hatchery at Bonneville

Dam.

Some of the fish reach a large size, but not the 4.5m long

sturgeon which are kept for visitor interest.

I hope that I am not the only angler who finds this interesting.

Tony W

Sometime adverts say it for themselves!

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VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

To Help With the iFISH Fly Fair

iFISH is on Saturday 22nd November at

Clair Hall, Haywards Heath.

About 20 volunteers are needed for many

jobs on the day.

Each volunteer is required for only 3 hours

work.

Volunteers get free entry to the show

(worth £5).

e-mail Paul Bond to offer your assistance

paul.bond13@btinternet.com

Published by the Sussex Branch of the Flydressers’ Guild

Chairman: Tony Woolnough 01273 483833

Secretary: Paul Bond 01273 420410

Treasurer: Roy Gurney 01273 581519

Editor: Andy Steer, Flat 6 Southdown House,

2 Silverdale Road, Eastbourne,

East Sussex BN20 7AL

Phone: 01323 439688

E-mail: a.v.steer@talk21.com

Visit our web site

Sussexflydressers.org.uk

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