Anyone ever heard of a pattern called "Mayfly"?

[mikechell 0]

Looks like a match to me, C. Where is the discrepancy?

[FLdk 0]

Ah, didn´t even see that, thanks C !

Looks like the tyer forgot to put the tail on the fly in the picture.
Other than that, pattern list looks okay to me.

[FLdk 0]

Found the pattern description in french, and one word (possibly more) got lost in the translation to english.

Should say OPTIONAL on the tail.

French description:

Hameçon: 6 à 12

Fil de Montage: Noir

Corps: Herl de Paon

Cerclage: Tinsel doré et fil rouge

Hackle: Perdrix brune

Queue: Perdrix brune (facultatif)

Source: Mouche noyée originaire des bords de l’Ourthe.

Utilisation: A utiliser en début de saison en pointe ou en potence, et même en lac où elle fait régulièrement des cartons.

I don´t trust google translate on this one, so if anyone could do it ?

[redietz 0]

As best as I can make it out:

 

Hook: 6 -12

Tying Thread: Black

Body: Peacock Herl

Rib: Gold tinsel and red thread

Hackle: Brown Partridge [i.e. Hungarian, not Chukkar]

Wing: Brown Partridge

 

Source: (probably the title of the book) Wet flies ["flies drowned"] originating on the banks of the Ourthe

Use: Use at the beginning of the season on point [i.e as the "stretcher", the fly furthest from the line] or "in power" [i think this means as both parts of the team, but I'm not sure] and the same in a lake where it regularly fills boxes [i assume this mean creels].

[Crackaig 0]

Sorry, it is just one of those things that gets me going. When I learned to tie I was hungry for new things yo try to tie. I got very frustrated when I couldn't tie a pattern to look like the illustration. I presume that at least some beginners feel this way today. If you keep a look out for it you will see it is very common, especially in magazines.

Cheers,

C.

[ale_viola 0]

Hi guys,

I'm a new member living in Belgium and I thing I can help on this: Craddock is the name of a quite old (around 1980 or earlier) Belgian fly still used today as a wet fly in rivers and occasionally as a streamer (i.e. lure) in rivers and ponds. I am not fishing it often - actually I am not using it at all nowadays - but there are still some "old hands" here who consider it an essential pattern especially in the early season, March and April. There are many variants, to an extent that I am not able to tell you what is the "true" original formula; considering the level of fly fishing literature here in the eighties I wonder if a formally "true" pattern has ever existed. As mentioned in the website of the Royal Casting Club de Belgique, it originated on the river Ourthe, devised by local fishermen whose names are in part lost in time. It was popularised by Marc Reckinger and Raphael Courte.

 

The page given by FLdk is the only one where I found one of them on the web, I add here a couple of photos of different versions taken from the Belgian fishing magazine “Pêcheur Belge”. The photo in the webpage of RCCB is odd for two reasons: tail is missing, and head is black; a regular feature that I have always seen in every Craddock is the brilliant RED colour of the head (I am told that some use a BRIGHT GREEN head as well).

 

The EN translation of the formula provided by the RCCB does not match their own French text exactly, here a better translation

Hook 6 to 12

Thread Black

Body Peacock herl

Rib Golden tinsel and red thread

Hackle Brown partridge hackle

Tail Brown partridge (optional)

Source Wet fly invented by the Ourthe’s fly fishermen (this is not, of course, the title of a book)

Use Used in early season, as point or bob fly. It is also very effective in closed waters.

 

There are many variants: the brown partridge for the hackle can be replaced by grey partridge, grouse or mallard fibers, the hackle can be tied “wing style” (as in one of the annexed photos), for the tail some use pheasant or mallard fibers, and silver tinsel for ribbing.

Best regards to all,

Ale

[planettrout 0]

What they are talking about is a Mayfly imitation. Using Mayfly in its correct sense as a member of the Ephemerella group, rather than it's generic sense of any up winged fly. This will usually indicate a dry pattern as, if a nymph or wet fly was called for, it would normally be specified. The meaninglessness of "Mayfly" has come about by abusing the name into meaning any up wing fly. A BWO, for example is NOT a mayfly, its a blue winged olive. Certainly this side of the big pond it aint.

 

Cheers,

C.

 

 

Maybe you should alert Rick Hafele & Dave Hughes that they have it all wrong:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Western-Mayfly-Hatches-Rick-Hafele/dp/1571883045

 

...and while yer' at it, these guys need to be corrected too !

 

http://www.west-fly-fishing.com/entomology/mayfly/bwo.shtml

 

...and here as well:

 

http://www.troutnut.com/common-name/8/Blue-Winged-Olives

 

Nope, it's not a Mayfly...even by European standards:

 

http://globalflyfisher.com/fish-better-patterns/euro-bwos

 

Oh wait...yes it is...

 

 

PT/TB

[SilverCreek 0]

There is no need to get upset. You are both correct.

George Bernard Shaw said, "England and America are two countries divided by a common language.”

My understanding is the term mayfly originated in Great Britain to describe flies that hatched in May, hence “Mayflies.” Since then we know that this species hatches all times of the year but I believe the etymology or origin of term mayfly referred to a specific hatch of Ephemera danica.

http://freshwaterblog.net/2011/05/16/the-curious-history-of-the-mayfly/

”Depending where you live and fish, the term mayfly will represent different things. In the north of England and most of Scotland the term mayfly is generally used for all species in the order Ephemeroptera. However, in the south of England if you use the term ‘mayfly’ to refer to anything but Ephemera danica you will be hung, drawn and quartered and fed to the trout!

The use of ‘mayfly’ to refer to all members of the Ephemeroptera is a relatively recent development. The name is quite misleading because this group of insects can appear throughout the year. In fact, at one point they were called dayflies due to some of the species having an adult life of a single day. The common name comes from the habit of one species, Ephemera danica, which emerge as adults when the Mayflower or Hawthorn is in bloom.”

http://www.first-nature.com/insects/e-ephemera-danica.php

”In Britain and Ireland the term Mayfly has traditionally been reserved for this species (Ephemera danica) and two other members of the same genus that are very similar in size and appearance. Anglers in the USA refer to all members of the order Ephemeroptera as Mayflies (although 'Dayflies' might be more appropriate as a reference to their brief lives as adult flies).