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1-Le Tipule ou cousin
The "cousins" or tipules come out in very large numbers at this time of year, and you'll usually find them stuck to the windows of your house, attracted by the light as early as September.
They don't fly well, and come out at a time of year when it's often windy. As a result, they get swept away by the wind and fall into our rivers and lakes.
In the reservoir, the trout wait impatiently for them, as they represent a great mouthful!
A must-have for late summer and early autumn.
Assembly sheet
Kamasan B170 hook in size 6 or 8 or equivalent
UTC 70 mounting wire, black or brown, or equivalent
First, mount a loose body of brown or beige foam on a needle.
To do this, cut a strip 3 mn wide and 5 cm long.
Use Uni Mono nylon thread. Fold the strip in half and secure it at the end where the two foam ends meet, then wind the mono thread towards the tip, making spaced coils that will create bulges to simulate the plump, ringed body of the tipula.
Come to the bend of your hook and secure the detached body firmly with your mounting line.
Then attach two V-shaped grizzly hackle points of a length depending on the size of your hook, say about 2 to 2.5 cm. Not too long to limit twisting.
To represent the legs, take boar hair (or pheasant hair, less strong) and knot them to imitate the joints. Attach 3 on each side of your fly in front of the hackle tips.
Form a small ball of brown dubbing to form a pre-thorax. Then attach a 2 cm-long strip of foam to the back. Attach a brown rooster hackle and roll up.
Place the hairs towards the back and fold the foam strip over them, then cut the foam, leaving 1 to 2 mm protruding.
Final knot.
Tips and tricks
This imitation floats low on the water while remaining unsinkable thanks to the foam. Perfect for fishing in wind-formed ripples where trout come to snatch them!
When you arrive at the edge of your reservoir, observe whether there are any gobies and/or tipules flying around you. If so, it's a good idea to position yourself where the tipules are likely to be blown over by the wind.
The trout are usually busy, but even if you don't see any tipules on the water or gobbling, give it a try, as they know this prime prey and are waiting with bated breath.
This fly can be used with or without animation. If trout don't land on it, you can make the fly move by lifting the tip and "wiggling" the rod to create vibrations, alternating with short pauses. This often triggers recalcitrant trout.
If fish are spotted or you see noisy gobbling, cast close by and wait - a raging gobble will soon follow!
2-Chiro for river and reservoir
The "chiro" or chironoma is a dipteran insect that can be found wherever the environment is a little eutrophic or lentic. Also known as mud worms, they form the basis of the food chain, and all fish feed on them at some stage in their lives.
With climate change, some rivers are warming up and seeing their chiro population increase. As a result, this fly is becoming a must-have imitation in your tackle box, so you don't miss out on those moments when trout focus on this little insect so well known to reservoir anglers.
Assembly sheet
Hook Daichi 1167 size 14
UTC 70 mounting wire, Olive color.
Attach a small tuft of white Poly Yarn to the bend of the hook.
Then attach a trimmed olive-coloured peacock quill and wind it in, having first made a slightly tapered underbody out of mounting wire. Wind the quill up to the curvature of the flat part of the front of the hook.
Form a small thorax from grey squirrel dubbing. Then attach a new tuft of white Poly Yarn to form the parachute.
Fix grey CDC feather fibers in a dubbing loop and cut them to the desired length, adapted to the hook size. Make several turns with the CDC around the Poly Yarn, without loading. Secure the thread and make a small head.
Final knot.
Tips and tricks
This chiro model works in both rivers and reservoirs. It is available in various sizes (20 to 12) and colors (red, black, green, gray).
On the lower, warmer parts of even first-category rivers, chiros are becoming more and more abundant, and the trout know how to appreciate them. I prefer olive and grey.
I like to use these floating parachute patterns very low down, especially in rivers, although sometimes a pattern with a small rooster hackle may be preferred by the fish.
If you see gobages but no mayflies or whipworms, opt for a chiro and you may be surprised.
In reservoirs, don't hesitate to assemble a train of several chiros of different colors and sizes to find the one the fish likes best.
3- End-of-season trout and grayling cul de canard
Various ephemera are released in autumn, and small duck or CDC butts are often excellent at the end of the season. By varying colors and sizes, it's possible to represent the little sailboats that will hatch at this time of year. Don't forget the "spent" (dead insect) stage, which can sometimes be the key to success.
Installation sheets (same formula for both colors, just adapted materials)
Tiemco 100 hook size 16
Uni-thread 8/0 Wine/olive mounting silk
Attach some grey pardo rooster fibers to the bend. If you wish, you can separate them or mount them a little higher (not sure the trout will care).
Block a trimmed "red" or "olive" peacock quill, then wind it up to ¾ of the shaft in adjoining coils.
Attach a red or wine (burgundy) or olive goose biot and keep it on standby.
Attach a tuft of bluish-grey CDC to each side, then form a small thorax from grey squirrel dubbing. Fold down the biot to separate the CDC and form the wings. Finish with a small head in mounting silk.
Final knot.
Tips and tricks
The low-floating CDC imitates the insect engulfed in the film, and are very gripping.
A model with flattened wings in gray CDC, to imitate the dead or spent insect, is also a must-have when the fish focus on it a few hours after hatching, often at the stroke of evening and sometimes early morning.
It's important to observe on the water which insects and colors come out in the majority, especially the stadium. Try different colors and sizes if you don't get any results or refuse.
4- Reservoir Streamer
This streamer is a cross between a zonker and a sparkler that works very well from the start of the reservoir season as it is both inciting and imitative, but also throughout the season, especially on fish freshly introduced into the lake or when there are white fish present and trout are hunting in the shoals (which happens frequently).
Installation sheets
Varivas 2500V streamer hook in size 4 or 6
UTC 70 white mounting silk or equivalent.
Fluorescent orange brass ball in size 3.3 or larger, depending on the stroke required.
Attach a few fibers of the chenille fleece to make a tail, then attach the white rabbit strip, leaving a 2/3-centimeter overlap. Keep the rabbit on standby and attach the silver polar chenilla, wrapping it around the entire shaft, stopping 2 minutes from the bead.
Fold the chenille fleece back before positioning the rabbit bandellette to secure it firmly. Roll up some Dubbing Hends spectra flash color N°91 to cover the area where you've attached the bandellette, and add some shine.
Final knot.
Tips and tricks
This streamer imitates small fry and fish but is also very bright and eye-catching with its orange bead!
It can be used as a floating line, but also as an inter or diving line. For plunging lines, I use it unweighted and even in booby rigs.
When it comes to animations, you have to vary to find what works on the big day. Slow, jerky animation, especially in cold water, but stop-and-go and rolly-poly are my favorites.
It can be assembled in several sizes to suit the forage fish and the season.
It's a formidable weapon. Give it a try!
5-Pike treamer: roach
After the summer heat, which often makes pretty pike lethargic, early autumn is often a very good time. Forage fish are plentiful and still on the edges. Carnivores follow them and floating silk fishing close to the banks in the aquatic vegetation is still possible. The most beautiful specimens will probably stay on the breaks or near a deeper area, but will still come to the edges to "hit" the forage.
The roach and whitefish are very active, attracting our beloved esox.
An imitation small roach, size 10/12 cm, is the weapon of choice.
Assembly sheet
Pike hook of your choice in sizes 1/0 to 2/0.
Nano silk 12/0 mounting wire, white.
Attach to the bend of the silver chenille fleece and wind a few turns.
Then form a small ball of fluorescent orange dubbing to create a tag (incentive).
Then attach two white hackles on either side of the ball (to keep them apart).
Re-attach silver chenille fleece and wind it in contiguous turns up to 4/5 ème of the shaft.
Then assemble a mix of white (low-fibre) and silver flashabou of the same length as the white feathers.
Add a grizzly hackle of the same length on each side as the white feather to form the lateral line.
Then attach a tuft of grey nayat to the top, taking care to spread it across the width of the top of the fly, keeping some of the undercoat to create volume.
On the underside of the fly, attach a tuft of fluorescent orange pseudo marabou or predator dubbing to form the throat, and on the top a small tuft of black nayat to represent the back.
Attach two 8 mm 3D eyes. Consolidate with UV Thick resin or epoxy.
Tips and tricks
At this time of year, white fish often appear on the surface and gobble up the chiros that are hatching en masse. It's not unusual to see swirls, gobbles and waves. No doubt the pike won't be far away.
For edges, mount the streamer on a floating line or hoover.
Then, depending on fish activity and depth, you can switch to inter silk.
At the height of winter, its younger brother in the larger 3/0 size is also a fly of choice for use with diving silks, as roach are one of the most common prey species in all the pike spots of France.
In terms of animation, each day will be different in terms of activity, so you'll need to try out different approaches. Slow, fast with pauses, stop and go, rolly-poly...
If the roach doesn't catch, try using a perch or very colourful flies to trigger them and play up the aggressiveness!
