BLACK & GREEN TADPOLE

Materials required:

• Long Shank hook - usually size 10
• Lead wire
• Black tying thread
• Black turkey marabou
• Black chenille
• Lime green chenille

Tying:

1. Take a long shank hook and tie in the thread at the eye. Using tight butting turns take the thread all the way down the shank to the top of the bend. The lead wire is optional and as much or as little as you require can be added. If you use the lead wire, wind it down the shank from the eye to the top of the bend in touching turns. It is best at this stage to wind the thread over the lead to secure it.

2. Take a large plume of marabou about twice the length of the hook shank and tie it on top of the hook shank to form a tail.

3. Tie in the black chenille at the same point where you tied in the marabou. Wind the thread up to almost the eye - wind the black chenille tightly up the hook shank and tie off leaving enough space for another couple of turns.

4. Tie in the lime green chenille and take the thread up to the eye. Wind the lime green chenille a couple of turns around to form a nice head providing a contrast to the plain black marabou. Whip finish the head, tie off and varnish.

Fishing the Fly

This is a superb all round fly and can take fish at all times of year but it really comes into its own when water temperatures are low.

It can be fished on all types of line from floater through intermediate to various sinkers. Normally best responses come to a slow figure of eight retrieve with the occasional pause. It also works well with a medium strip retrieve as each pause allows the weighted fly to fall through the water so that the action of the fly is erratic.

Takes, as often with marabou tailed flies, can often be felt as a series of taps and you should resist the temptation to strike at these. Just continuing the retrieve is normally enough for the trout to take the fly very confidently.

Fish it all through the winter and into late Spring. If stockies have been introduced then this is our first fish bashing fly - it always works! When it is fished slowly as described above it takes more than its share of fish which have seen everything and become difficult.

Try it also on rivers using the strip retrieve - you will find that brown trout love this fly!