Fishing on the river Monnow over the weekend there were a fair few different flies on the wing for the trout to munch and the fly fisherman to imitate.
While I was on one of the tributaries of the River Monnow, the Dore, there was a good hatch of Large brook duns. These can be imitated well with Greenwells Glory size 12-14 or a Parachute Greenwell. I tried both of these patterns and neither really raised much interest from the trout. Another of the flies that were hatching were midges or chironomids so I tried a small black shuttlecock (see above in the Usk entry for link to tying instructions). This was the choice of patterns for a good part of the afternoon until I saw a mayfly or two hatch from one pool. From then on I fished a mayfly nymph with a gold bead on until the evening. I caught a few fish with it including this nice brownie from a deep rooty run.
Wild brown trout caught on the River Dore a tributary of the River Monnow using a Walkers Mayfly nymph
Once evening came and the Large brook duns fell as Large brook spinners, I fished a parachute Adams variant with two large fibbets tied in as tails. The trout took this fly with gusto. They were some of the best dry fly fishing takes I have had so far this season.
The tying for a parachute Adams can be found here:
Step by step for Adams Parachute.
For the Greenwell variant: change the colour of the dubbing and hackle to suit.
This may also help:
Frank
