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Fishing Bockan Bay on Harray Loch |
August 2008
August can be Orkneys’ warmest month and long sunny days can be detrimental
to sport on the lochs. A lot depends on where the trout are feeding, and
what’s’ on the menu. Daphnia and Caenis nymphs will find the
fish in open water, and usually at depth, driven down by the sunshine. You
can also find the trout feeding hard on the stones in very shallow water,
gorging on snails, falls of cow dungs and the like. Each of the flies for
August will certainly fit the bill for putting fish in your bag.
On the top dropper is probably one of the most consistent flies in bright
sunny conditions, which works on all of Orkney’s lochs, and that’s
the Doobry Muddler. It has all the necessary ingredients for a suuny day,
orange, black and gold and the orange muddler head certainly transforms
the original pattern into an immense taker of fish.
In the middle is one for the snail feeders, The Petersen’s Pennel
. Like the original Doobry, this fly pattern was conceived by Stan Headley.
It was devised at an International on Loch Melvin in Ireland, and as a general
rule of thumb, what generally works in the Irish waters, usually works well
in Orkney, and this one certainly does. Other instances include Dabblers,
Bumbles, Green Peter, Octopus, etc.
The Emu fills the point position on the cast, a tremendous pattern when
the fish continue to feed on Caenis. This pattern was devised by local angler
Andrew Morgan, and I’m sure it has found its way into most Orkney
anglers fly boxes by now, a sure indication of its ability to catch fish.
Being predominately hares ear, it can appeal to fish at any time, but works
at its best when the wind has increased following a Caenis hatch and the
fish are mopping up the stragglers in the surface layers.
Early and late fishing will greatly increase your chances of good fishing
at this time of year, before breakfast and after dinner is worth remembering.
Other patterns worth a swim would definitely include Hedgehogs, Dunkeld,
Snaily Fly, Viva, Donnie Murdo, Dabblers, Merkister Maid, Erlend.s Cat and
suspender buzzers.
KK
click on fly to view larger image
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All trout flies tied and photographed by Jim Adams text by Ken Kennedy