The fly box · No. 19 of 36
Hawthorn Fly
The hawthorn fly, a black land-bred fly with long trailing hind legs.
- Kind
- Terrestrial
- Hook sizes
- 12–14
- Season
- Spring
- For
- Trout
- At the vice
- A moderate tie
The dressing
| Hook | Standard dry fly, barbless or barb flattened, sizes 12–14 |
|---|---|
| Thread | Black, 8/0 (70 denier) |
| Tail | None |
| Body | Fine black dubbing or black floss, slim |
| Rib | Fine silver wire |
| Hackle | Black cock, three or four turns |
| Wing | Pale grey or white poly yarn, or two pale hackle tips, tied low and sloping back over the body |
| Also | Legs: two black-dyed pheasant tail fibres, each knotted once, trailing back below the body; thorax of black dubbing, a little fuller than the abdomen |
Tying it
- Run the thread to the bend and tie in the silver wire.
- Form a slim black abdomen over two thirds of the shank and rib it.
- Tie in the two knotted legs, one each side, trailing well beyond the bend.
- Tie in the pale wing so it slopes back low over the body.
- Dub a small, fuller thorax over the wing roots.
- Tie in and wind the black hackle.
- Whip finish with a neat black head.
Fishing it
Late April to mid-May, on bright days with a gusty wind off the land. Stand where hedges, hawthorn or rough pasture meet the river and watch for splashy rises under the bank. Fish the fly dead drift on 5X (0.15 mm), a size 12 on most waters. A hawthorn that has sunk a little into the film is often taken more readily than one riding high, so do not be too quick to dry it between casts.
Where it comes from
The natural appears around St Mark’s Day, 25 April, which gave it its scientific name, and for two or three weeks it drifts on the breeze along hedgerows with its long hind legs hanging. Dressings are traditional and many. The features worth copying are few: a black body, a pale wing and that pair of trailing legs.