Each pack contains
- Floating Aeshnidae - Floating Dragon Nymph
- Predacious Diving Beetle
- Back Swimmer
- Snail
Floating Aeshnidae - Floating dragonfly nymph. They are the apex predator of freshwater aquatic insect life and behave rather like a crocodile, moving stealthily along and then darting as if they are turbo charged to attack their prey. The floating fly allows one to fish along or amongst weed beds and the ability to vary the
depth depending on the weight of the nymph one fishes in tandem with the floating dragonfly pattern. Long slow pulls and the occasional fast pull creates a realistic retrieve.
Predacious Diving Beetle – All aquatic insects need to come to the surface to get oxygen, thus they are continually moving through the water column, their movement does not spook fish. Hence fished as a dry fly is very forgiving, if you do not have a drag free drift. The fish are not suspicious if the beetle moves. The advantage of the beetle it can be fished as a dry, used in a dry dropper rig or fished in tandem with a weighted nymph, all of which can be striped to give it life.
Back Swimmer – These guys aggregate in the water, very often mid water and love feeding on larvae and mosquitos. There is the clue, lots of mosquitos around, chances are the fish are feeding on back swimmers, stomach contents of fish, often reveal literally hands full of these, what Alan refers to as “insect risotto”
Snail – They attach themselves to substrate below the surface and require oxygen to survive, dislodging themselves and floating up to the surface for fresh oxygen, before returning down to the structure. The tell is if you are being hit on the drop, then the fish are feeding on snail. Thus, they are a year round food source, probably the most under used food source, imitated as a fly. Once the snail is dislodged, they are
often washed by wave action on a windy dam from one side of the lake to the other, totally exposed. Drifting a snail, often with a bloodworm as a dropper on choppy water can turn a “bad weather day” into a successful session.
Alan Hobson's fishing journey began in the early 1970’s. Being self-taught, his fly tying began out of curiosity in the dark ages, before YouTube, in the early 1980’s. It has been a journey of intrigue, frustration in not being able to work things out and absolute joy as one develops. He has been a registered R.E.F.F.I.S. guide for fifteen years and time at the water has fuelled his passion and creativity in developing fly patterns that are
both imitative and realistic. As he says “Mother Nature provides the clues to fly fishing consistency” through observation, he matches the hatch, taking the entomology of the area home and then developing the fly. He has fondly become known as the “beetle guy” and the “Simpson pimp” with twenty-three versions of the Mrs Simpson. It is his practical approach to what he has learnt that has brought us
interesting fly patterns and techniques. Alan has pioneered Wild Fly Fishing in the Karoo, developing the Somerset East area into a diverse fly fishing destination, where you can target seven freshwater species on fly, where Dinosaurs once roamed. His fly patterns are sent all over the world.
