A Traditional March Brown Nymph
Here is an old fashioned March Brown Nymph dressed on one
of Veniards new series of hooks.
March Brown Nymph
Hook: #12 Veniard Light Nymph
Silk: Pearsall hot orange.
Tail: Three cock pheasant fibres.
Rib: Fine gold wire.
Body: Pheasant tail fibres.
Thorax: Dark hare's ear fur.
Hackle: Partridge.
Donald,
Very nice. Sort of a soft hackle or flymph?
It is a nymph pattern from before WW2, based on Skues via Lawrie.
A popular fly then on the Tweed.
Is it fished as a nymph - bouncing on the bottom; or as a soft hackle on the down and across cast with resultant swing at the end?
It is unweighted, it is fished subsurface. Skues nymphs were not leaded.
The use of lead on nymphs was more post war.
They were sometimes used with a Spider or a Dry fly.
Have a look at W.H. Lawrie's book 'The Rough Stream Nymph'.
This is identical to Leisenring's Pheasant Tail Nymph.
Both Lawrie and Leisenring were influenced by Skues, unsurprisingly.
Very nice tie Donald! On my last fishing trip the best producing fly for me was very similar to that but black thread and the hackle being one of the brown "church window" feathers from a cock ringneck pheasant. It was tied on a size 10 hook, and I think probably taken for a cranefly, but there were one or two size 14 brown mayflies sporadically hatching. Anyway, I've done well on a number of pheasant tail herl bodied soft hackles with a darkish spotted hackle that I entirely approve; hmmm, perhaps I should call it a PTHBDSSH (pheasant tailed herl bodied dark spotted soft hackle), pronounced by sticking one's tongue out between pursed lips and vibrating it? Perhaps not.
- Jeff
Am fear a chailleas a chanain caillidh e a shaoghal. -
He who loses his language loses his world.
Good looking fly, and beautifully presented, Donald.
My most productive nymph / wet fly is quite similar, and I tend to refer to it as a "soft hackle" pheasant tail nymph, and have fished it for other than March Browns, e.g. BWOs and PMds in various sizes with only minor variation in color.
John
The fish are always right.
Hi Donald
What a beautifully tied version of a traditional pattern. I have found the March Brown, tied as a classic nymph with wing case etc ,works wonders on backwater browns in my part of the world (NZ). I usually tie it
in # 16 or # 18.
Cheers
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