flyfishwales.co.uk

History

This fly started out life in the wallet of World Fly Fishing Champion Tony Pawson. I met him on a school fishing trip to Avington Trout Fishery back in 1982. Tony was fishing in the furthest lake at Avington and pulling out some monster Rainbows. I sat by him a while until I could pluck enough courage to ask him what he was using. Well he presented me with a very tangled messy green lump but after washing it carefully I could just make out a small beaded nymph with an olive marabou tail. There was some gold ribbing and what looked like a black and white speckled hackle. He gave me one and I proceeded to fish. Tony in the meantime had disappeared and minues later I had hooked a 3 pound Rainbow which took off down the lake like a steam boat!. Soon after landing this trout I proceeded to carch my limit and headed back for the club house showing off my specimens. How the other boys were Jealous!. On returning home I decided to make up a few of these”magic” flies for myself. Trial and error awaited me but soon I developed my “Wiggle” nymph and it hasn’t stopped catching fish since that day back in 1982.

The Pattern

Hook: Size 10 longshank or even an 8 longshank.

Thread: Black or Dark Olive.

Underbody: Very fine lead wire.

Tail: Olive Marabou plumes..about 1.5 inches long.

Body: Olive Seal’s fur..if you can’t get proper Seal’s fur then a good substitute will suffice.

Rib: Bright Gold lurex. The brighter the better. There was a definate disadvantage to suing a fly with discoloured and ripped ribbing

Hackle: Partridge Hackle – Hen or a soft Cock hacle will do

Head: Lead split shot or Gold bead. If you use the Split shot then paint it jet black and put two small white dots on either side.

Fishing the Fly

Use this fly almost always on a sink tip floater. Preferably with a braided leader and quite a long 5lb leader. There are a few techniques I have found with this fly. The first being a quite fast retrieve as soon as the fly has landed. This works well if the fish are surfacing. I feel that the “plop” of this heavy fly is indicative of the trout pellets in the stock pond and trout being as investigative as they are will go to the “plop” of the fly. Trout often take this fly with a sudden smash so be careful…I have often burnt my fingers on the line!. The second method is to let the fly sink for about 30 seconds and then a slow figure of eight. Any tightening of the line indicates that a trout may well be taking an interest. Keep the retreive going until you definately feel resistance and then strike with quite a firm blow. More often than not slight resistance is all you feel even after you strike and you wonder if you really have a fish on.

Conclusion

I have not found a fishery that this fly hasn’t worked and it has often saved the day for me and my fishing collegues. The picture at the top of this page is not the actual version but one I found in a recent Trout Fisherman Magazine. It’s quite and accurate representation. I hope this fly will bring you as much luck as I have had!. Should you not have the time or patience to tie this fly then if you’re in the Whitchurch Road area of Cardiff then visit Garry Evans Tackle shop who sells the above fly and it catches as much fish as my version of Tony Pawson’s original “Wiggle” Nymph.