That's a great fly and would be used as a beetle imitation here in Australia. We have a black grass beetle here that hatches in great numbers at certain times of the year, belongs to the scarabidae family.

http://i1265.photobucket.com/albums/jj514/gingerdun/LanceGoldPete_0620_zpsd7956d6c.jpg http://i1265.photobucket.com/albums/jj514/gingerdun/LeisenringSpider_3735_zpsbcd438a5.jpg Lance, Just an observation, the original flies look like a portion of the thread has been wound through the hackle after t...

Thanks for starting this thread William and the other posters for contributing. The link to your page with NCS listed is helpful, many of them I've never heard of let alone seen examples. I did some searches through google and found links to tubes & photos on many of those in the list and found ...

William,

Please do start a thread; I'll be reading with interest.

Cheers

Thanks for those descriptions on how to use spiders, with the where and how you have success with them. It's certainly an interesting tying approach and has some attractions, not only in the tying but also in the fishing from what I can tell from your descriptions. Without intending to divert attent...

I am unable to fully understand the leader techniques, but I'm hoping to get a better grasp of the matter this summer. I'm assuming you're referring to the way the two flies are tethered? It's really simple; the top fly - dry - is attached the the tippet in the normal way. The bottom fly is attache...

I don't know much about these types of flies but they are sparse and simple!

I'm guessing that's the aim, and that these are good examples of the art.

Yeah, that's the stuff Ray. But the also do a tapered leader which is what I'm going to try with their tippet also. My only criticism with furled leaders is they can get twisted on sudden release after being stretched. This is how it goes, hook a fish and put lots of pressure on it then the hook pul...

Great report. Could you post the pattern details? There's really nothing to it. Hook - #18 G Black magic but you could use others with a similar profile. If you use a heavier hook you'll need more CDC than one feather. You'll have to try it in a glass of water to see how much you need. body - black...

Here are the black mayflies, this one had already moulted and was now a spinner.