Smut dry flies

Everyone has had the days on a stream or hill loch where the fish are feeding and rising, but you just cant see what they are feeding on! This is generally referred to as the fish "smutting", with a smut a general term for a small fly. IT is often seen in pressured water, and they are usually very selective whilst feeding on them, ignoring larger flies.

Around Oban, and all of Scotland really, we also get huge clouds of midges. They are a nightmare, and I'm sure Il be complaining about them in subsequent reports. They are about a size 32, but leave a size 12 red and itchy bite mark. With one square metre in heathland containing up to half a milllion larvae, they can create massive hatches, especially on a warm damp evening. They are terrestrials though, so the emerger pattern below isnt the most ideal.

In preparation for midge season, I have tied up 3 variations of CDC smut flies for fishing with the 2wt gear, and 7x tippets. CDC are Cul-De-Canard, feathers from the rump of a duck, which have amazing air-bubble trapping properties, meaning they float as long as the presentation is delicate. They are all sparsely dressed with 18/0 semperfli thread to keep them afloat, with a generous amount of CDC. I have tied a selection of them on sizes between 18 and 24, because I didn't have anything smaller, so we will have to see if this works well enough!

CDC emerger

First up we have a simple emerger, with the CDC tied in towards the hook eye, so the hook shank sits just below the surface film, similarly to a klinkhammer. I'm expecting this to be my most used, and most successful fly. The hill lochs around Oban have great hatches where the trout are feeding on small emergers in warm summer evenings.

CDC midge spinner

Next up, we have a spent spinner, with classic outstretched wings. These are a bit fiddly to tie and get the wings perpendicular, but very satisfying once finished and you have a tiny spinner pattern.

CDC F-fly

Finally, an F fly, a very basic winged pattern. I have tied a few light and dark ones to see what works, but it is a couple CDC feathers swept back and tied in. I haven't used any cement or resin to try keep the weight of the fly down. Remember your amadou patch and silica powder to keep these guys floating throughout a session though!