TERRESTRIALS
Where to begin? I don?t believe that it would be wrong to state that the Art of Fishing Terrestrial Imitations for Trout and Grayling is not the most popular aspect of fly fishing in the United Kingdom.
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TERRESTRIALS
Where to begin? I don?t believe that it would be wrong to state that the Art of Fishing Terrestrial Imitations for Trout and Grayling is not the most popular aspect of fly fishing in the United Kingdom.
I am a strong supporter, of the use of terrestrial fly patterns. Different categories of fly patterns go in and out of fashion over time.
I found me a paperback copy of "Trout and Terrestrials" by Lou Stevens, in a half price book store. I is 108 pages of very wonderful writing and diagrams of the various insects as well as photos and how to dress them.
I have found the book to be very helpful, when I am attempting to dress a terrestrial pattern for catching fish.
The first Fly of the Week article back on September 1st, 1997, was " Steeves' Firefly" by Harrison R. Steeves from his book "Terrestrials: A Modern Approach to Fishing and Tying with Synthetic and
Natural Materials"by Harrison R. Steeves III and Ed Koch. Published by Stackpole Books.
Side Note: Jack Gartside's site has a wonderful article and instructions for Jack Gartside's "Wet Mouse" pattern, which uses the aftershaft's, from the bird cape, that most tiers toss away, not knowing how effective they are when dressed on a hook and fished. Mice are terrestrials too!
My Beginner's Only Swap members, will be doing a terrestrial fly pattern for the last of five fly swaps in April.
So if you do not have terrestrial fly patterns in you fly box, this winter is a great time to correct the situation.
~Parnelli
terrestrials are my favorite form of fly, especially crickets in the fall. usually my eyes and ears are sufficient "seines" for identifying the best time to use them.
in preparation for a trip to Yorkshire, i had asked the guide what to tie up before i arrived. the usual suspects (and some interesting patterns) were suggested, but my offering of crickets was turned down flat. i just assumed that habit and ignorance were at work, but not so!
in 5 days of fishing the River Wharfe this past September i was astonished to hear not one cricket or grasshopper. rainy days, sunny days, morning, evening--nope, no crickets. my hosts are avid hikers, and as we walked through the fields i kept my ears open--nope, nothing.
perhaps the British disdain of terrestrials is more rooted in fact than one might initially assume. as for where the bugs might be: the place was alive with birds of all kinds...
The 'lowly' ant may be the best fly of all time.
What other insect is so numerous and yet packing the nutritional content of an ant? (Well to a fish or anteater that is)
I thoroughly enjoyed the article, but have to write the author up on his views on terrestrial pattern use in the UK... they simply aren't true (I live in north west England). Anglers here use many different terrestrial patterns, in fact I think you'd struggle to find a box without at least a beetle imitation in it.
It is true we don't use much in the way of grasshopper patterns and the like - but for good reason, they are relatively few and do not end up in rivers all that frequently. Many of the north-country spider imitations could be argued to represent terrestrials, a few are tied directly to imitate them. A lot of anglers use ant patterns, though I've always found them more useful on wind-swept lakes than rivers, but thats just my experience.
Interesting article, just not sure about the Uk bashing :D
All the best, Steve J.
Only applying some logic here, as well as opinion based on reading and experience--my guess is that terrestrial patterns took second chair to mayflies from the beginning because anglers were not at all opposed to using bait in the early days, and many terrestrial insects were both easier to capture and easier to attach to a hook than were mayflies, so they simply saw no need for imitations. Once fly fishing developed into a distinct sport, with "rules," terrestrial patterns may have taken a back seat because there were already mayfly imitations aplenty, and traditions tied to fishing various aquatic hatches.
I remember, growing up in the US in the 50's and 60's, that the fly rod was considered by many to be an excellent means of delivering lightweight, fragile baits, like worms, crickets, and hoppers. Bait fishing with a fly rod lost favor over the 70's and 80's, and by the 90's was forbidden on most trout waters, so interest in terrestrial patterns grew as anglers wanted more time on the water and aquatic insects didn't. The growing interest in midge patterns followed the same timeline, and likely for the same reason--they are more reliable hatchers, year-round (that, and the availability of thinner tippets and high-quality tiny hooks).
-CC
Having an opportunity to comment on Tom's article is fun for me too - something you might consider is history shows that Halford who greatly influenced UK fly fishing was a dry fly man. Big time. He didn't just promote dry flies, he discouraged anything else. Anything that wasn't a dry fly was awful, terrible, simply not done.
And you see something WRONG with this???:rolleyes: Hugs!!Quote:
Originally Posted by LadyFisher