Rising Hopes for the Mayfly

So the rain contunues to fall and we've had some proper downpours. It will be welcomed by the salmon anglers and it is more than welcome for my local streams and rivers. With them already running low, hopefully this will help them to pick up some pace, clean through any silt that had built up so early and give the fish a good belt of fresh water to get them in the feeding mood. Yes, a little colour may occur in all but the luckiest of chalkstreams, but I have always found a little colour gives the fish confidence to feed. The forescast suggests the weekend will be a mixture of sunny spell, more showers and some broken cloud. With the winds easing, but possibly becoming more easterly, we wait to see if the fishing picks up.

In hoping for a hatch of Mayflies / E. Danica / Greendrakes (call them what you will) here's a slightly bigger pattern... just in case. Many mayfly patterns I see are heavily dressed and oversized. Sometimes, perhaps, even with the huge meal that these are offereing, something sparser will be the ticket:



Hook: TMC 103BL #11
Thread: Sheer 14/0, tan
Tail: Silver Badger hackle fibres
Abdomen: Porcupine Quill (Olive)
Wing: TMC Aero-wing, tan
Thorax: Rabbit
Hackle: Silver Badger, two turns

~Dave.