Category 3 Fly Company | All

For slow water, where the fish gets a long look Fast water forces a quick decision and a fish will take something imperfect. Slow water does the op...

Tactical means you get the weight you actually asked for The word gets used loosely, but on a nymph it means something specific: a slim profile, a ...

Bead and rib in the same metal, and it looks it The copper bead is the version that matches the fly to itself: the same warm metal as the wire rib ...

CdC on a sunk fly, which is less common than it should be CdC is thought of as a dry fly material, but the same barbules that trap air also trap ti...

Two white biots, and nothing in the river looks like that The white goose biots laid along the back are what make a Prince a Prince, and they are t...

Drift it, swing it, drag it or bomb it Some nymphs only work one way. This is not one of them, and that is the argument for carrying it: the same f...

The dry that does two jobs at once A foam underwing gives this one far more lift than its size suggests, which is what makes it a genuine dry-dropp...

Trout Love Blowflies! Lots of foam high floating and easy to see on the water. Tied on a  Tiemco 2488 wide gape fine wire hook.

For the fish that has already refused two flies Some fish rise steadily and refuse everything, and the answer is rarely a bigger or brighter fly. I...

The one to tie on when the fish have seen everything A bright bead is a liability on hard-fished water. Black is the stealth option: it adds the tu...

Rubber legs keep moving when the fly is not The point of a big searching nymph is that a fish notices it from a distance, and rubber legs do that b...

A spot of red, for the reason nobody can quite explain Trout show a persistent liking for a touch of red on a nymph, and the red tungsten bead puts...

The standard, and still the one that gets the first cast Gold is the bead most nymphs are built around, and there is a reason it has not been displ...

Epoxy over the back, and it stays looking new A clear coat over the wing case does two things. It holds a smooth, hard surface that reflects light ...

The flash is on the back, where a fish looking up will see it Position matters as much as colour. A strip of red laid along the top of the fly rath...

For the light where a drab fly simply vanishes There is a point in the evening, and in glare on a bright day, when a natural-coloured dry becomes i...

Chur Bro, ya know Churnobyl? There's no nuclear in New Zealand but there is a nuclear option when it comes to trout flies. This Chubby Chernobyl An...

Pearl and UV, for the last hour of light The pearl body carries a high ultra violet content, and that matters most when visible light is running ou...

The olive one, for the days that look too rough to fish Blue winged olives are contrary insects: they hatch hardest in the weather most anglers giv...

A trigger in the body, not on the head This is the odd one in the family and the most useful on tricky water. The hare's fur is blended with UV fla...

Loud and clear, which is the whole idea Five by five is radio-speak for a signal coming through perfectly, and that is a fair description of this o...

A pheasant tail that stopped pretending to be subtle A plain pheasant tail is an imitation. Add legs, UV dubbing and a flashback and you have somet...

Chur Bro, ya know Churnobyl? There's no nuclear in New Zealand but there is a nuclear option when it comes to trout flies. This Chubby Chernobyl An...

Turn over a rock and see how much of it is black Most of what lives on a river bed is small and dark, and a black nymph covers more of it than any ...