The fly box · No. 03 of 36
Royal Wulff
Nothing in particular; a bold attractor that suggests a large fly or a beetle on rough water.
- Kind
- Dry
- Hook sizes
- 10–16
- Season
- Summer, autumn
- For
- Trout
- At the vice
- An involved tie
The dressing
| Hook | Standard dry fly, slightly heavier wire, barbless or barb flattened, sizes 10–16 |
|---|---|
| Thread | Black, 6/0 (140 denier) |
| Tail | Moose body hair or brown bucktail, shank length |
| Body | Peacock herl at the rear, a band of red floss in the middle, peacock herl in front |
| Rib | None |
| Hackle | Two brown (natural red) cock hackles, wound full |
| Wing | White calf body hair or calf tail, upright and divided |
Tying it
- Stack a bunch of white calf hair, tie it in a third back from the eye with the tips forward, then stand it up and divide it with figure-of-eight turns.
- Taper the butts and cover them to make a smooth underbody.
- Tie in a small stacked bunch of moose hair for the tail.
- Wind three or four turns of peacock herl at the tail, tie down, and carry the herl forward under a band of red floss.
- Wind a second short section of herl in front of the floss and tie off behind the wings.
- Tie in two brown hackles and wind them densely behind and in front of the wings.
- Whip finish and varnish the head well.
Fishing it
Save it for pocket water, tumbling runs and the bouncing seams below weirs, where a delicate fly would drown and a fish has a second to decide. A short line, a high rod and a drift of a metre or two is enough. Use 4X (0.18 mm) tippet; the fly is wind-resistant and will twist anything finer. It is also a kind choice in failing light, when the white wings stay visible long after everything else has gone.
Where it comes from
Around 1930 the American angler Lee Wulff began replacing feather wings and tails with animal hair, wanting dry flies that would ride heavy water and survive many fish. Dressed this way, the old Royal Coachman became the Royal Wulff. The peacock and red band are pure fancy, yet the fly floats like a cork and its white wings show in any light.