Fulling Mill Black & Peacock

For the half hour before anything starts rising

Insects coming off without fish showing is the most frustrating part of a session, and it usually means the trout are taking them under the surface rather than on it. A dark, round-bodied fly fished slowly is the answer, and peacock herl has an iridescence in the water that flat black dubbing cannot match. Tom Ivens built this one just after the war and it reads convincingly as a beetle, a snail or a drowned terrestrial. Retrieve it slowly and stay in touch.